An Upper Paleolithic horse mandible with an embedded lithic projectile: insights into 16,500 cal BP hunting strategies through a unique case of bone injury from Cantabrian Spain

Abstract

Embedded artifacts in osteoarchaeological remains may be key to approaching hunting strategies and other behavioral-related issues such as technological development. However, that kind of evidence is not common within the archaeological record and often not well-characterized, especially for faunal remains from prehistoric sites. Here, we present and discuss a unique case of a horse (Equus caballus) mandible with an embedded lithic remains from the Upper Paleolithic (ca. 17,300-16,200 cal BP) from La Garma cave in Cantabria, Spain. Our macro- and microscopic faunal and lithic integrated analysis suggests that the case presented here is a potential perimortem hunting lesion, representing an uncommon hunting strategy during the Magdalenian period. Furthermore, this study, representing the first case of its kind in the Iberian Peninsula, emphasizes the importance of the taphonomic analysis of bone surfaces to approach the understanding of past human behaviors.