April 30 2021 13h: international seminar n° 21
Speaker
Jean-Baptiste FOURVEL
Laboratoire LAMPEA, Aix-Marseille Université
Topic
Quaternary social carnivores (hominins, carnivores):(palaeo)ecology of subsistence
Predation plays a major role in evolutionary mechanisms. During the Quaternary, hominins and carnivores evolved within the same ecosystems. The exploitation of similar resources (prey, habitats) led to interactions, which resulted in complex, often mixed, fossil assemblages. The characterisation of subsistence behaviours is key to defining the palaeoecological status and specific adaptability in predators, considering both human and non-human species. The research developed here focuses on the identification of foraging behaviours of human communities through the study of their closest analogues, the carnivores. This approach focuses on the role of predation and the competition pressure between humans and carnivores as a basis for the evolution of the ecological position of hominins (prey vs. predator). By studying archaeopaleontological assemblages covering a wide geochronological range (from 2. 5 Ma to the present; from southern Africa to western Europe), this research aims at i) identifying the factors inherent in the behavioural evolution of hominins (from hunter to hunted), ii) defining inter- and intra specific relationships and their evolution over time, and iii) appreciating the similarities and discriminating features of the predation processes (hunting and scavenging), acquisition (type of prey), accumulation and consumption of prey by hominins and carnivores. This project will identify the evolution of the exploitation of meat resources and, consequently, the evolution of the paleoecological status of predatory species, in particular in the human lineage, throughout the Quaternary.
Jean-Baptiste Fourvel achieved his PhD at the University of Toulouse Jean Jaurès in 2012 and was hired by the CNRS in 2019. He works on recognizing subsistence behaviours in human communities. He collaborates with research programs in South Africa, Namibia, Mozambique, Ethiopia, and in Europe.
Place
Videoconference