EmorphProject · Reconstructing habitat type and mobility patterns of Rangifer tarandus during the Late Pleistocene in Southwestern France: an ecomorphological study.

Reconstructing habitat type and mobility patterns of Rangifer tarandus during the Late Pleistocene in Southwestern France: an ecomorphological study.

Due to the fact that the question of the season occupation of human territories and the seasonal behaviour of reindeer remains open for Magdalenian sites (18.000-14.000 cal BP) in South-Western France, the present project proposes an actualistic approach to reconstruct migratory patterns of Paleolithic reindeer and how they affected human hunting strategies and socio-economic decisions, which allow us to better understand their behaviour and identify the precise role of reindeer in their economy. As an animal´s habitat and mobility patterns hypothetically affect bone density and limb bone morphometry, the goals of this project are two: 1) test this ecomorphological hypothesis for a given taxon (Rangifer tarandus), and; 2) establish a reference sample for this taxon that will enable a reconstruction of its habitat type and degree of mobility using bone samples recovered from archaeological sites. This project quantifies the link between habitat type and mobility and bone density and morphology using Computer Tomography (CT) and geometric morphometry (GMM). Once the relationship between habitat, mobility and bone structure has been quantified, the information collected was applied to faunal assemblages from Magdalenian archaeological sites in Southwestern France. Thus, the present 30-month study has provided a novel methodology to test mobility patterns (migratory and sedentary) according to metapodial bone shape (Geometric Morphometrics) and osteometric data from phalanges as well in combination with Machine Learning (ML) algorithms (that could successfully be included in the project). The inclusion of current reindeer as a reference and the implementation of new morphometric tools will bring decisive progress on this issue. The goals of the project have been successfully achieved. Shape analysis using Geometric Morphometrics Methods (GMM) allowed an identification of migratory and sedentary mobility patterns using metacarpal distal cross-section. Furthermore, ML algorithms using linear measurements and including phalanges as well, allowed to infer mobility pattern and habitat with accuracies higher than 90%. Regarding the second objective, a total of 20 Magdalenian sites have been analyzed. A successful classification of this sample according to mobility pattern (using both GMM and ML methods, providing both methodologies the same result, although the advantage of using ML is that allows a larger sample) and habitat type (with ML algorithms) has been possible.

Текст от CORDIS, на английски · Данни: CORDIS, © Европейски съюз