Hunting, without destroying the natural balance, for millennia was a necessity, not a choice. A Sustainability in hunting It is based on a detailed knowledge of the environment, on operation cycles, which allow species to regenerate in group solutions that do not endanger the resources of the near future.
This principle was born not as an environmental strategy, but as The main mechanism of survival In contexts where the only poorly controlled hunt can be weeks of hunger. Far from indignant practices, many Prehistoric groups used forms of hunting that allowed Maintain environmental stability environment. These relations were recorded in a recent conclusion in The Great Dolina de AtapierkaField
Sustainable hunt arose as a practical reaction to environmental problems
Archaeologists restored tests after a long sequence of campaigns, in the deep layers and with a high concentration of the remains. Kit More than 60 bison skeletons It has recovered in two decades of systematic excavations in TD10.2-BB levelKey archaeological unit in the study of the average playstock.
The team headed Guillermo Rodriguez-HomeFrom the University of Madrid, and Antonio Rodriguez-HidalgoFrom the Institute of Archeology Merida (CSIC-JUST de Extradura), collected the exceptional amount of data that allow you to restore How these community hunts were organizedThe IPHES-CERCA field, the National Museum of Natural Sciences-CSIC (MNCN), UNED, CENIEH and the Atapuerca Foundation, also took part in the work.
The key to analysis was in Interpretation of mortality profile: The curve in which the bison is distributed, without visible selection. This age variety is due to the fact that in archaeozological terms is called Catastrophic mortalityA template that appears only when everyone is packaged at the same time, without discrimination by age or physical condition.
This characteristic is explained by the researchers in an article published in Scientific reportsIndicates human groups Organized collective buns with a high degree of efficiencyRodriguez-Hidalgo notes that “the age distribution shows catastrophic mortality with people of all age lanes, which indicates a lack of selection.”
Bison growth rate indicates that human pressure was supposed
Although the bodies of animals are fragmented and scattered, zoooarchaeological tests made it possible to evaluate The average body weight is 270 kg for an approximateThe team calculated the energy potential from this drawing with a field, in which one of these hunting would make: Between 165,000 and 198,000 kilocaloriesA sufficient amount to feed about 30 people for several weeks.
The output utility is not only in the amount of meat used, but also the fact that it was Use compatible with demographic stability Bison themselves. According to Rodriguez-Gome, “the population of the bizont presented Pure growth rate 9.9% per year”
This balanced connection between intensive hunting and the continuity of the resource casts doubt on some inherited ideas about the alleged Systematic super -exploration Hominids environment. The demographic structure of animals, restored through models of life tables, suggests that Human pressure did not change a significant balance species.
The murder reveals a society with a high coordination ability
Deposits such as Gran Dolina allow you to rethink the way our ancestors controlled their environment, not from modern parameters, but from Practical solutions adjusted taking into account the availability of resources. Rodriguez-Hidalgo himself explains that “hunting did not jeopardize environmental stability.”
This work not only documents specific hunting methods, but also offers reflection The type of social organization is necessary Perform a hunt for such a value. Collective killings require Coordination, distribution of tasks and subsequent use flesh and bones, all in environment without metal tools or transportField
Excavations of the level of TD10.2, directed by iPhes-cerca, made it possible to recover so much Animals remain lyrical toolswhich enhances the idea of the planned occupation of space. Palmyra SaladieThe co -author of the study indicates that “the quality of registration is the result of more than 20 years of strict field work and allows us to understand the collective dynamics and the efficiency of the use of the resources of these human groups.”
Practice Hunting compatible with the environment It began not with environmental awareness, but with Adaptive logic This avoided a tedious food base. In this sense, information restored in Atapuerca expands knowledge of the interaction between hominids and fauna in Europe before arrival Homo sapiensField
Thanks to a thorough reading of the registration of the fossil, researchers may comply with collective solutions that support without long -term forecasts, A surprisingly balanced system of natural existenceField