Relational Cohesion in Palaeolithic Europe: Hominin-Cave Bear Interactions in Moravia and Silesia Czech Republic During OIS3

This book examines how human interactions with animals, in particular now extinct cave bears (Ursus spelaeu), affected the social lives of prehistoric hunter-gatherers (hominins - Neanderthals and AMH) living in Central Europe (Moravia and Silesia/Eastern Czech Republic) during OIS3 (c. 60,000-24,000 Cal. BP). The author adopts a multidisciplinary approach, using published literature, animal remains, digital data, and GIS, together with odontometric and tooth-wear analyses, and spatial reconstruction techniques to identify potential interactions between hominins and cave bears. New theoretical concepts are used to interpret the results and as a means for making statements about the role that cave bears, and potential interactions with cave bears, played in the social lives of hominins.