Reindeer prey mobility and seasonal hunting strategies in the late Gravettian mammoth steppe

Abstract

Reindeer are part of the faunal suite that dominated central Europe during the last glacial cycle. Their importance to Late Gravettian hunters as prey and a source of raw materials (hide, bone, antler) is well attested, however the context of Late Gravettian reindeer predation is lesser understood. This paper presents an investigation of human and reindeer predator-prey interactions at the Late Gravettian kill-butchery site of Lubná VI, Czech Republic. We reconstruct seasonal mobility (87Sr/86Sr, δ18O), diet (δ13C, δ15N) and season of death (dental cementum) of up to nine reindeer prey, to inform on the strategic choices made by Late Gravettian hunters. Results indicate that most hunted reindeer lived year-round in the foothills of the Bohemian-Moravian highlands near where Lubná is located, at altitudes between ~ 200–450 m above present sea level, while a smaller number showed evidence of seasonal migration between this area and the open plains of the Elbe river corridor (Bohemian Cretaceous basin). No evidence for long distance migration of reindeer was detected, indicating that productive local environments were supporting reindeer herds within a single annual territory. Meanwhile, areas higher than ~ 450 m above present sea level were avoided entirely by all analysed individuals, consistent with these areas being topographic barriers to movement due to climate severity. We conclude that hunters visited Lubná as part of a logistically-organised subsistence strategy, deliberately targeting reindeer in late autumn when fat supplies, hides and antler are in prime condition knowing that they would reliably encounter their prey at this location.