Paleoenvironment and human hunting activity during MIS 2 in southern Jordan: Isotope records of prey remains and paleosols

Stable carbon and oxygen isotopic compositions of faunal remains unearthed from the rock shelter site of Tor Hamar in southern Jordan were analyzed for reconstructing paleoenvironments and hunting activities in the region. The site is located at the Jebel Qalkha area and has archaeological deposits dated to the Early Upper Paleolithic (ca. 38–37 ka) and the Epipaleolithic (ca. 24–15 ka) periods. The excavations at the site have yielded remains of animal prey in addition to lithic tools enabling estimation of paleoenvironments during the late Pleistocene. Despite the poorly preserved condition of animal remains, which is typical of this region, we performed isotope analysis together with identification by morphological analysis and peptide sequencing on animal tooth fragments in addition to the isotope analysis on paleosol organic matters. The in-situ paleosol isotope data points to an environmental shift from a wetter condition in the older period yielding the Qalkhan artifacts (∼24–18 ka) to a drier condition in the later period yielding the Mushabian artifacts (∼15.5–15.2 ka). The results are consistent with the Pleistocene lake-level shift of Lake Lisan and its pollen data that indicate a sudden shift towards a drier condition since ∼15–16 ka. This evidence points to a paleoclimatic trend opposite to the one in Mediterranean coast and an even more prominent shift than is recorded in Soreq and Tzavoa cave speleothems during the terminal Pleistocene of the northern Negev. Yet the environmental shift around Tor Hamar was not mirrored in gazelle isotope data. The data show among the greatest isotopic variations in Levant suggesting a change in human hunting strategy that possibly targeted multiple different species of genus Gazella and/or a use of different hunting areas particularly between the Qalkhan and the Mushabian periods. •Epipaleolithic sites in the Levant were examined for paleoenvironment and hunting.•Gazelle C and O isotope data did not follow the aridification trend after ∼15 ka.•Environmental change of the site differed from that in Mediterranean coast.