On the tracks of Neandertals: The contribution of an experimental analysis on footprints to the knowledge of the biological features of the Rozel hominins

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Submitted on 11 Nov 2020

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On the tracks of Neandertals: The contribution of an experimental analysis on footprints to the knowledge of

the biological features of the Rozel hominins

Jérémy Duveau, Gilles Berillon, Corentin Biets, Gilles Laisné, Lancelot Lefevre, Christine Verna, Dominique Cliquet

To cite this version:

Jérémy Duveau, Gilles Berillon, Corentin Biets, Gilles Laisné, Lancelot Lefevre, et al.. On the tracks of Neandertals: The contribution of an experimental analysis on footprints to the knowledge of the biological features of the Rozel hominins. 5th Young Natural History scientists Meeting, Mar 2018, Paris, France. �hal-03000279�

From footprint length to stature

80,0 100,0 120,0 140,0 160,0 180,0 200,0

12,0 14,0 16,0 18,0 20,0 22,0 24,0 26,0 28,0 30,0

Stature (cm)

Footprint length (cm)

Stature = 5,7 x Length + 26 r² = 0,8

On the tracks of Neandertals :

The contribution of an experimental analysis on footprints to the knowledge

of the biological features of the Rozel hominins

Jérémy Duveau¹, Gilles Berillon¹, Corentin Biets², Gilles Laisné³, Lancelot Lefevre², Christine Verna¹ & Dominique Cliquet^{3 .}

1CNRS UMR 7194 Histoire Naturelle de l'Homme Préhistorique, Département Homme et environnement, Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, France, Paris

2Master in Quaternary and Prehistory, Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, France, Paris

3Direction Régionale des Affaires Culturelles, Normandie, France. PCR "Les Premiers Hommes en Normandie"

5^th Young Natural History scientists Meeting (6^th-10^th March 2018)

Application to the fossil footprints

Stature =

5,7 x Length + 26

Footprint length (cm) Stature (cm)

Frequency Frequency

Experimental protocol

Footprint length measurement

3D capture of the footprints by photogrammetry

(photos : J. Duveau)

Application to the fossil footprints:

39 complete footprints coming from a single occupation layer

(photos : D. Cliquet)

Creation of the

experimental trackways

(photo : J. Duveau)

Length-Stature correlation

Progression of each unshod participant (photo : J. Duveau)

1 2

3

5 4 6

24 individuals:

▪ Age : 1-36 years

▪ Stature : 87-182 cm

▪ No pathology

▪ 2 speeds : habitual walking and slow running Deposit conditions as close as

possible to the archaeological site

➢ 2 experimental trackways:

1-Sandy mud / 2-Dune sand

What is the relationship between the footprint length and the stature of each individual?

➢ Estimates of statures from the lengths of the Rozel footprints

Issue & Aim

The site of Rozel (Photo : J. Duveau)

Since 2012, about 300 hominin footprints have been discovered from the site of Rozel (Normandy, France). The archaeological material and the chronostratigraphic context (Mercier et al., 2018) associated to these footprints allowed to attribute them to Neandertals. The first studies dealing about these footprints highlighted the necessity to understand the impact of the paleodune substrate on the footprints’ morphology using the recent development of experimental studies.

We report here the first experimental analysis about these footprints in order to better understand the biology of the individuals who lived at Rozel 80 000 years ago.

This first experimental study allowed to obtain some information on the biology of a group which lived at Rozel 80 000 years ago. The important range of statures could reflect the presence of several individuals with different age class.

However, we must weight these interpretations because these regressions and estimates are based on the anatomically modern humans and don’t consider the Neandertal anatomical features. Nevertheless, this method is currently the most accurate to obtain biological information from the Rozel footprints’ morphology.

References

Dingwall, H.L., Hatala, K.G., Wunderlich, R.E., Richmond, B.G., 2013. Hominin stature, body mass, and walking speed estimates based on 1.5 million-year-old fossil footprints at Ileret, Kenya. Journal of Human Evolution. 64, 556–568.

Mercier, N., Martin, L., Kreutzer, S., Moineau, V., Cliquet, D., 2017. Dating the palaeolithic footprints of « Le Rozel » (Normandy, France). Quaternary Geochronology.

Sawyer, G.J., Maley, B., 2005. Neanderthal Reconstructed. The anatomical Record. 283B, 23-31

(Dingwall et al., 2013)

Neandertal reconstruction (left) next to a modern human skeleton

(Sawyer et Maley, 2005)