Large mammal hunting and use of aquatic food resources in the Early Palaeolithic (finds from Early Acheulean sites in the southern Azov Sea region)

Food sources and techniques of food procurement in the Early Palaeolithic have long been of interest to researchers. However, this is a complex and debatable problem; its solution is complicated by a lack of relevant archaeological data. This article describes and interprets archaeological evidence from a time transgressive series of sites belonging to the Taman Early Acheulean industry (Tamanian) in the southern Azov Sea region (similar to 2.0-1.0 Ma). Analysis of the finds leads to the conclusion that makers of the Tamanian industry were hunters of large mammals, mainly southern elephants (Archidiskodon meridionalis tamanensis) and Caucasian elasmotherium (Elasmotherium caucasicum). Active hunting of these mammals as a way to procure meat emerged thanks to the particular environmental conditions of the southern Azov region in the Lower Pleistocene and the cognitive capabilities of prehistoric people. A specific strategy was devised and applied, i.e. hunting inside calderas of mud volcanoes that were present in numbers across the region. People took into consideration the behaviour of elephants and elasmotherium which came to calderas in order to drink or 'take a bath' in volcanic muds. It allowed prehistoric people to effortlessly hunt animals, which were immobilized in spongy mud, and to procure substantial meat supplies. Alongside hunting of large mammals, the makers of the Tamanian industry engaged extensively in a special form of gathering, i.e. beach gathering of high-protein food like shellfish, carcasses of sea animals, and fish. This reliable source of nutrition likely was one of the main reasons why the Tamanian sites were located on beaches adjacent to coastal lagoons and estuaries.