Human consumption of carnivorans during Prehistory. The case of the Iberian Peninsula

Abstract

Zooarchaeological evidence of the consumption of carnivorans (order Carnivora) by Palaeolithic and Epipalaeolithic/Mesolithic humans on the Iberian Peninsula is scarce, but it is still significant enough to be studied as a phenomenon on its own. In this work, we conduct an updated and comprehensive review of the data on the human butchering and consumption of carnivorans in pre-Neolithic Prehistory on the Iberian Peninsula. Chronologically, the evidence spans from the time of Homo antecessor (950-800 Ka BP) to the Epipalaeolithic/Mesolithic-Neolithic transition (6-5 Ka BP) and includes a wide taxonomical variety of carnivorans: canids, mustelids, ursids, pinnipeds, felids and hyenids. We propose several alternative interpretations regarding why the hunter-gatherers of the Iberian Peninsula hunted and consumed these animals based on ethnographical data from recent human communities that still engage in these practices. Additionally, we explore the role that hunting and consuming carnivorans may have played in the hominin-carnivoran coevolution process. Our findings ultimately broaden the scope of the current understanding of the subsistence strategies of hunter-gatherers on the Iberian Peninsula and highlight the importance of carnivoran remains in archaeological contexts.