Hunter or prey ?

Abstract

Hominins' entry into the predator guild changed their relationship with large carnivores. They went from being potential prey to competitors. However, this transition was gradual and these two roles are not mutually exclusive. There are many examples of predation by one carnivore species on another. Human/carnivore interactions thus cover a wide spectrum of situations, including direct confrontation and its inherent risks, dependence on the consumption of carrion, competition for prey and the co-evolutionary phenomena this entails, competition for the use of caves, direct predation by carnivores on hominins, and vice versa, the hunting of carnivores by hominins, and finally commensalism and domestication.

The Pliocene and Pleistocene saw a far greater diversity of carnivore species of all sizes than exists in the world today. Not only were the species present in the areas occupied by Hominins in Africa and Eurasia more numerous than during the Holocene, but particular types of carnivores such as saber-toothed felines or running hyenas (genus Chasmaporthetes) have no equivalent in recent prehistory. In ancient times, carnivores undoubtedly played an important role in the accumulation of Australopithecus and Paranthropus hominin remains at certain South African sites - Sterkfontein, Swartkrans and Kromdraai in particular. Examples of predation by large carnivores on humans have also been observed in more recent periods : in the Inner Pleistocene at Dmanissi (Georgia), in the Middle Pleistocene at the Casablanca quarries (Morocco) and in the Upper Pleistocene with Neanderthals at Marillac (France). The latter site contains both human teeth showing traces of digestion by hyenas and human remains bearing cutting marks left by other humans. Carnivores (cave bears, wolves, small carnivores, etc.) were hunted mainly by Homo sapiens in the Upper Paleolithic. These game animals were hunted for their meat and/or fur, and in some cases for symbolic reasons (the cave lion). Some older sites are known, such as Taubach (Germany) and Biache-Saint-Vaast (France), which demonstrate the exploitation of brown bears by Neanderthals.

The impact of human groups on faunas was felt in East Africa as early as the Lower Pleistocene, with a notable rate of extinction among large carnivores, while the number of small species increased. However, it was only with the geographical expansion ofHomo sapiens after 50 000 years that the richness of large carnivore faunas was affected, particularly in areas that had previously been unaffected by human presence.