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[QUOTE]Originally posted by DD'eDeN: [QB] Beneath Still Waters - Multistage Aquatic Exploitation of Euryale ferox (Salisb.) during the Acheulian https://www.researchgate.net/publication/265605768_Beneath_Still_Waters_-Mu ltistage_Aquatic_Exploitation_of_Euryale_ferox_Salisb_during_the_Acheulian [DD: also at Ein Gedi Oasis?] Remains of the highly nutritious aquatic plant Fox nut (Euryale ferox Salisb., Nymphaeaceae) were found at the Acheulian site of Gesher Benot Ya’aqov, Israel. Here, we present new evidence for complex cognitive strategies of hominins as seen in their exploitation of E.ferox nuts. We draw on - excavated data & - parallels observed in traditional collecting & processing practices from Bihar, India. We suggest that during the early-Mid-Pleistocene, hominids implemented multi-stage procedures, comprising underwater gathering & subsequent processing (drying, roasting & popping) of E.ferox nuts. Hierarchical processing strategies are observed in the Acheulian lithic reduction sequences and butchering of game at this and other sites, but are poorly understood as regards the exploitation of aquatic plant resources. We highlight the ability of Acheulian hominins to resolve issues related to underwater gathering of E.ferox nuts dur 1. Introduction Studies of the evolution of hominin cognitive abilities & the origins of intelligence & language focus primarily on stone tool manufacture & on the exploitation of medium-sized to large terrestrial mammals. Here, we examine additional aspects of these cognitive abilities, as reflected in a little-known example of skilled behaviour patterns: the exploitation of aquatic flora & fauna in the wetland habitats of paleo-Lake Hula. Although wetlands play an important role in supplementing human diet & enhancing its nutritional balance (Joordens cs 2009, Wrangham cs 2009, Cunnane & Steward(sic) 2010), few studies have explored the nutritional and/or medicinal properties of wetlands plants in the archaeological context (Stewart 1994, 2010, Colonese cs 2011, Cortés-Sánchez cs 2011, Hardy & Moncel 2011, Verhaegen & Munro 2011). Along with Trapa natans (Water chestnut), they formed part of the botanically rich aquatic habitat of paleo-Lake Hula (>24 spp of water plants). Both spp are currently extinct in the Levant. E.ferox & T.natans are floating annual aquatic plants, that grow in low-energy or still-water bodies, generally c 1.5 m deep, occurring within a wetlands ecosystem that was exploited by the GBY Acheulian hominins. The prickly nature of E.ferox (prickly waterlily) renders gathering & processing its nuts far more difficult than those of T.natans. Here, we present novel evidence for advanced cognitive abilities of Acheulians at GBY, as attested by their adoption of complex multi-stage procedures for collecting & processing E.ferox nuts. E.ferox is widely prevalent in tropical & subtropical regions in ecological contexts similar to paleo-Lake Hula. In many such places, it is collected & processed, using traditional methods by predom.fresh-water fishing communities. The range of these strategies, particularly evident in the water-bodies of N-Bihar (Madhubani District, India), is of immense relevance when examining the archaeological context of E.ferox nut remains at GBY. The Acheulian site of GBY (GBY fm) is located on the shores of paleo-Lake Hula, Upper Jordan Valley, Dead Sea Rift. This Early- to Mid-Pleistocene sedimentary sequence documents an oscillating freshwater lake, and represents ~100 ky of hominin occupation (MIS 18-20), beginning earlier than 790 ka (Feibel 2001, 2004). Studies of the 15 excavated archaeological horizons indicate that Acheulian hominins - repeatedly occupied lake-margins, - produced stone tools, - systematically butchered & exploited animals, - gathered plant food & - controlled fire. The prickly waterlily is an annual or perennial plant with long-petiole leaves, whose large rounded blades (normally up to 1.3, occasionally 2.4 m in diameter) float on the water surface. The long petiole & veins that protrude from the bottom of the blade are densely covered with sharp prickles. The rhizome is sunk deep in the ground with groups of thick & fleshy roots. The plant develops 15–20 spongy fruits, each of which contains 30–40 nuts. When the fruit is ripe, it dehisces & releases the nuts, which are covered by a mucilaginous arillus. The plant grows in shallow stagnant water, generally 0.3–1.5m deep, at a neutral pH. In the study region in Madhubani District, water-depths reach up to 3.5 m. Flowering occurs in April–May, and the fruits ripen & dehisce between June & August, when spherical nuts are released. The nuts have a mucilaginous arils, that holds them above the water-surface for several days, after which they sink to the bottom of the water body. The plant germinates in early winter, and grows with surprising speed, the bio-mass doubling each month from January to July. The maximal biomass found in a pond in India was 1.7 kg/m² fresh weight in July. Tp has a profound effect on the rate of biomass production. E.ferox nuts contain - 12.8 % moisture, - 9.7 % protein, - 0.1 % fat, - 0.5 % minerals, - 77 % carbohydrates, - 0.9 % P, - 0.02 % Ca, - 1.4 mg/100 g carotene. The calorific value is - 362 kcal/100g for raw E.ferox, - 328 kcal/100g for popped nuts. Popped nuts are comparable with wheat & rice. The essential amino acid indices (EAAI) in the raw & popped parts of edible E.ferox nuts are 93 & 89 % resp., cf - rice 83, - wheat 65, - Bengal grain 82, - soya bean 86, - amaranth 57.5, - human milk 81.5, - cow's milk 89, - fish 89, - mutton 87. E.ferox nuts are superior to dry fruits (almonds, walnuts, coconuts, cashew nuts) in sugar, protein, ascorbic acid & phenol content. E.ferox was present in Europe in the geological past, becoming extinct during the Quaternary. Fossil nuts have been reported from the the Pleistocene in Poland & England ... ... we draw on ethnographic analogies, citing traditional methods of E.ferox exploitation in the water-bodies of N-Bihar. Planned sequential procedures & decision-making strategies are employed by local communities in collecting processing E.ferox nuts. The procedures adopted in Bihar imply an excellent knowledge of the environment & seasonality & the plants' life cycle. The prickles/spines on mature fruits make them very difficult to harvest with bare hands. Once the mature fruits burst, the seeds float near the leaves, then sink to the base of the pond, from where they are collected (Fig.5-8). Gathering is carried out by adult males, assisted by a few adolescent boys, with a division of activities that is related to age and/or experience: 1) the equipment required (bamboo collection baskets of various types) is organized, 2) bamboo poles fixed to the base of the pond serve as guides to demarcate spaces selected for underwater gathering of the nuts, and are shifted as collection proceeds across the water body, 3) adults repeatedly dive underwater, to collect nuts that have sunk to the pond bed, at the base of the plant, 4) the nuts are scooped into bamboo baskets (sieves), 5) in larger ponds, the nuts are scooped into a large cane basket, and given a preliminary cleaning underwater by repeated rotation, 6) an adolescent (inexperienced in diving) floats on the water surface (with the aid of pitchers or jerry cans) and employs a sieve to collect stray nuts that float to the surface, 7) the nuts brought to the shore are cleaned, by trampling to remove roots, plant matter & associated mollusks Children actively participate in gathering molluscs, crabs & other plants that are associated with the E.ferox roots and are washed up on the shore during the gathering & cleaning procedure. (beautiful photos) ... there are several ways to harvest & process E.ferox nuts. The major difficulty is the presence of prickles/spines, that make processing the fruit difficult. Further difficulties involve collection of seeds after the fruit bursts. The Bihar method described here overcomes both of these problems through adoption of underwater collection procedures: a) gathering of E.ferox seeds takes place after they ripen & sink to the bed of the water body, b) gathering by diving is a necessity: the plants grow in still waters, and seeds are not washed to the edges of the water body, c) the work necessitates observation of the life-cycle of the plant & of the prime time for gathering seeds, d) drying & popping seeds was done at a distance from the water body, where fire & dry land facilitated later stages of processing, e) roasting & popping are both procedures requiring the technology of fire & that of anvils & hammers, f) a well-established division of labour was associated with each stage of gathering & processing. ... the archaeological record of GBY, which includes the use of fire & the presence of pitted stones, anvils & hammerstones in association with E.ferox seeds, strongly supports the use of analogies with traditional modes of gathering & processing, such as that practiced by communities in Bihar. Studies of the GBY archaeological record provides information on the co-occurrence of a range of finds that may be compared with the ethnographic data. 1) In each of the archaeologically rich horizons, there were spatial concentrations of burned flint micro-artifacts. Analysis of these concentrations suggests the presence of phantom hearths, the earliest evidence for the control & continual use of fire in W-Eurasia. High-resolution data from excavations enables estimation of the size of these hearths: c 0.49 m long, 0.35 m wide. 2) Pitted stones & hammerstones + newly identified thin basalt anvils were also found in each of these horizons. 3) In all archaeological horizons, remains of T.natans & E.ferox were discovered. The pristine taphonomic context of the archaeological horizons at GBY + the significant patterns of association noted between various find categories discussed above provide a background for our discussions of the spatial patterning of past activities. Spatial analysis of these associations & analyses of Layer II-6 Levels 2 & 6 provide further insight into the proximity of hearths & pitted stones (on both blanks & blocks). This correlation of nuts, phantom hearths & pitted stones at GBY leads us to suggest that some key aspects of the methods of collecting & processing noted in Bihar (incl. roasting & subsequent popping of the seeds) may be of greater relevance for the GBY data than those described from elsewhere in India. Greater precision in spatial associations between the nuts & other features in the vicinity of the paleo-lake is not possible, owing to the light weight of the seeds. However, common aquatic taxa in the Upper Jordan Valley (Lake Hula), the Acheulian site of GBY & Bihar (India) reflect the extent of ecological similarity, despite their great bio-geographical distance. The habitat & surrounding environment of paleo-Lake Hula was a rich & diverse Mediterranean one, as evidenced by the identification of an array of 60 edible taxa recorded at GBY + a wealth of fish, crustaceans, birds & mammals. E.ferox grows in water-bodies with water-depths ranging from c 0.3 to 1.5 m, up to 2.5 or 3.5 m. Although Acheulian hominins may have consumed seeds raw, this would have entailed considerable effort in harsh conditions, owing to the prickly nature of the plants. With the technology enabling them to process nuts using fire, anvils & percussive tools, hominins could avoid the difficulties posed by exploitation of raw seeds. The fluctuating water level of paleo-Lake Hula would have been an obstacle to adopting simpler methods for gathering nuts, in view of the plant's life cycle & the water-depths & geochemistry required for its growth & survival. A desiccation scenario of fluctuating lake-levels would have resulted in the death of plants, unable to regenerate (germination occurs under water). Exposure to atmospheric conditions would have resulted in the complete decomposition of the macro-botanical remains found at the site. The entire issue of organic preservation is based on anaerobic conditions (= inappropriate conditions for bacteria responsible for the decomposition of organic material). Irrespective of the depth of the water, hominins would have had to collect nuts from beneath the lake surface, entailing some amount of time spent underwater. We do not suggest that Acheulian hominins followed modes of collecting or processing that were identical to those practiced today, particularly in the case of elements dictated by modern economic conditions, e.g. use of bamboo poles to demarcate underwater areas, sieves for sorting nuts for sale, gender-based division of labour. Such cognitive procedural abilities of planning & performance in aquatic habitats (particularly when combined with exploitation of fish) have not previously been reported for Acheulian hominins. Ethnographic analogies demonstrate that exploitation of E.ferox nuts is performed by communities of fishermen in water-bodies that are also used for fishing. The most abundant fish spp currently exploited in habitats associated with E.ferox include 3 families of air-breathing fish: - Cyprinidae carps, - Clariidae catfish & - Bagridae catfish. At GBY, remains of Cyprinidae & Clariidae were recovered, predom. Cyprinidae, mainly the large Barbus sp & Barbus longiceps. The cyprinids remains were recovered in association with living floors excavated in Area B. The archaeological association between E.ferox nuts, large quantities of cyprinid remains & other cultural activities documented at GBY presents novel evidence for intensive exploitation of the aquatic fauna & flora of paleo-Lake Hula. The advanced & sophisticated cognitive abilities described above are supported by a series of additional observations, drawn from various multi-disciplinary studies of the GBY Acheulian record, e.g. - aspects of planning & communication, as derived from stone-tool production sequences, - spatial cognition of the landscape & intra-site spatial organization, - procedural cognition, technical & procedural know-how & specialization, - social cognition. These cognitive abilities are expressed in the multi-phase process of realisation of the plan for achieving a particular goal. This is seen especially in the chaîne opératoire of basalt bifaces (handaxes & cleavers), documenting cognitive abilities in the structure of the long-term processes involved in biface manufacture. The site is characterised by both richness & diversity of spp, contributing substantially to the reconstruction of hominin knowledge of the environment in exploitation of - terrestrial wildlife, e.g. modern-like processing of Dama sp, - aquatic resources such as turtles & fishPalaeobotanical evidence contributes to our understanding of the multiple facets of the environmental knowledge of Acheulian hominins and their ability to structure modes of exploitation of diverse resources. Discussion ... Ethnographic analogies, when considered with archaeological evidence of nuts, pitted anvils & charred organic material, among other features, point to the possibility of a complex sequence of exploitation of an aquatic nut, that included gathering by diving, underwater processing, drying, roasting & possibly popping. This process adds to a plethora of evidence of Acheulian hominin activities & diverse associated cognitive abilities, all of which emerge from the analyses of early-Mid-Pleistocene Acheulian finds from the Levantine Corridor. [/QB][/QUOTE]
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