Earliest evidence for hunter-gatherer impacts on raven diet and ecology in the Gravettian of Southern Moravia

Abstract

Abstract The Early Gravettian of Southern Moravia – the Pavlovian – is notable for its corvid-rich faunal assemblages dominated by common ravens (Corvus corax). Based on the available zooarchaeological and settlement data from the Pavlovian, it has been hypothesized that ravens were attracted by human domestic activities and subsequently captured by Pavlovian people for food and feathers. Here, we report independent δ15N, δ13C and δ34S isotope data obtained from twelve adult common ravens from the Pavlovian key sites of Předmostí I, Pavlov I and Dolní Věstonice I. We show that these ravens had diets surprisingly rich in mammoth, thus strongly aligning in feeding preferences with contemporary early Homo sapiens foragers. We isolate two groups of ravens with distinct dietary profiles and argue that these opportunistic-generalist feeders were both attracted from adjacent regions and encouraged locally through human activity. These data provide the earliest direct evidence for incipient synanthropism among Upper Palaeolithic ravens. We suggest that subtle anthropogenic ecosystem engineering, including carrion supply dynamics, furnishes unique contexts for the emergence of synanthropism, affirming deep-historical roots in Late Pleistocene hunter-gatherer contexts. The coalescence of synanthropic niches can promote novel foraging opportunities and human-environment feedback dynamics and is thus important for understanding early human ecosystem impacts.