Hunting lesions in Pleistocene and early Holocene European bone assemblages and their implications for our knowledge on the use and timing of lithic projectile technology

Abstract

This paper presents a review of our current state of knowledge about hunting lesionsHunting lesions in faunal assemblages from Pleistocene and early Holocene contexts. Differences in the character of hunting lesions throughout the Pleistocene and early Holocene are described. This evidence is contextualized against the archaeological record and its potential for assertions on human hunting tactics is outlined. From the evidence considered here a relatively late onset of lithic projectile technology in human evolution can be implied, which was regularly in use no earlier than the Late Glacial period.