Shell game: Neanderthal use of the European pond turtle (Emys orbicularis) in the Last Interglacial landscape of Neumark-Nord (Germany)

Data on palaeolithic subsistence is often obtained through studies of faunal palimpsests, containing remains of animal processing activities accumulated over non-quantifiable amounts of time. Compounding such site-specific data with evidence from other sites distributed over large areas - i.e. integrating data spanning large temporal as well as spatial scales - results in coarse-grained reconstructions of past prey diversity. In contrast, here we present prey diversity data from what is—geologically speaking—a “snapshot” of a ~ 25-hectare area frequented by Neanderthals during the Last Interglacial, with a focus on their exploitation of the pond terrapin Emys orbicularis. These data constitute the first evidence of turtle exploitation by Neanderthals north of the European mountain chains, beyond the Mediterranean basin. This Neumark-Nord record demonstrates that Last Interglacial foragers exploited a wide range of archaeologically visible resources available in this lake area, from small (~ 1 kg) pond terrapins up to and including the largest terrestrial mammals of the Pleistocene, straight-tusked elephants, with adult males weighing more than 10 tonnes. The abundance of intensively exploited medium- and large-sized mammals found alongside these Emys remains suggests that other variables than macronutrients per se played a role in the repeated harvesting of pond terrapins from these water bodies.