Cave Bears and Modern Human Origins

Download or read book Cave Bears and Modern Human Origins written by Robert H. Gargett and published by . This book was released on 1996 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book systematically examines an animal bone assemblage in order to ascertain its spatial patterning. The study was first undertaken to discover the likely animal actors responsible for any horizontal spatial patterning. There is much data to support the long-held notion that the cave was a hibernation den for bears. In this study, the author provides fresh insight by arguing that there is powerful evidence that these bear carcasses had been scavenged by wolves and hyenas. He also argues that animals can create spatial patterns in the absence of culture or modern human cognitive abilities. Gargett suggests that an effort must be made to identify distinctive spatial patterns that result from human cognitive processes, such as language and culture. Only then, he argues, will spatial analysis achieve its potential as a means to help resolve questions about the origins of modern humans. This book will appeal to Paleolithic archaeologists and Paleoanthropologists. Its analyses will interest vertebrate paleontologists and paleobiologists as well.