Studying prehistoric hunting proficiency: Applying Optimal Foraging Theory to the Middle Palaeolithic and Middle Stone Age

Middle and Late Pleistocene bone assemblages have been analysed to infer hominin hunting competence. Interpretations in terms of competence are usually based on the species represented in bone assemblages, such as the presence or absence of large and dangerous species. However, the sophistication of hunting strategies is not the only factor that influences the exploitation of prey species. Before interpreting an assemblage in terms of hunting proficiency, more parsimonious explanations of prey choice must be eliminated. One important reason to focus on certain species is that they are more economic to exploit than others. To test whether the presence or absence of species can be explained by economic motives rather than by hunting proficiency, Optimal Foraging Theory is applied to Pleistocene bone assemblages. The motives that drive prey choice are studied by modelling the behavioural characteristics of species and scrutinizing which characteristics the exploited species had in common. Application to Middle Palaeolithic sites in the Eemian of Germany shows that large and dangerous species were exploited frequently, but that solitary species are better represented at some sites than species living in herds. In another case-study from the Middle Stone Age in South Africa, the most important characteristic of selected prey species is their size. Large and dangerous species were preferred over smaller dangerous species. The better representation of large docile species can be ascribed to "common sense" and not, as has been suggested, to a lack of hunting proficiency. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA.