15. 3. 5 Conclusions

On the basis of the mammal remains, local environmental conditions during the Middle Paleolithic occupation of Douara Cave can be reconstructed with some confidence. The rodent fauna, dominated by gerbillines (mainly Meriones, together with Psammomys and Gerbillns), suggests low rainfall and summer drought; an annual average rainfall close to the modern figure of 125 mm is suggested if the temperature regime was similar. The large mammals give similar indications: samples are dominated by Caprini and Gasella, together with Camelus and Equus, and species that need more water, such as Bos, Sus, and cervids, are absent. An open vegetation of dry steppe plants is indicated, probably dominated by perennial Chenopodiaceae Gramineae and Artemisia, with patches of scrub and occasional low trees; this is probably the vegetation that would regenerate today if overgrazing and tree-cutting were stopped.

Without more precise dating, the relationship of the Middle Paleolithic occupation at Douara Cave to the Palmyra Basin pluvial lake and to the Levant Coast sequence cannot be established with any certainty. It seems unlikely, however, that the Middle Paleolithic occupation of the cave could have been contemporary with the wetter phase that has been postulated while the Palmyra Basin lake was in existence. The similarity between modern conditions in the Palmyra area and those indicated for the Middle Paleolithic occupation also makes it unlikely that the Palmyra area has undergone the progressive desiccation postulated by Tchernov for the Upper Pleistocene of the Near East; a history of climatic fluctuation with fairly constant limits, as suggested by Bate and other authors, seems to fit the available data better than any unidirectional model.

Three agencies, it is suggested, were responsible for the accumulation of the bones in the cave: bats lived and died in the cave; owls roosted in the cave, leaving pellets rich in rodent, lizard and small bird bones; and man left his food-remains.

Man's diet, as indicated by these remains, depended largely on ungulates, and especially on gazelles, caprines, camels and equids. Juvenile camels may have been selectively hunted; for the other species there is no indication of selective hunting of the kind that has been suggested as an early stage in animal domestication. Medium-sized animals, such as hedgehogs and hares, were also eaten; but there is no evidence that rodents and other smaller animals were eater. There is no evidence either for the consumption of any food-plants; it seems unlikely that these were completely ignored, but the vegetation suggested for the area would have offered relatively little. Water supply must also have been a problem at some times of the year, and it seems likely that the occupation of the cave was sporadic and seasonal (though no direct evidence can be offered for this suggestion). The area around the cave would have offered most in late winter through to early summer, and least in the long, dry summer and autumn, when the occupants of the cave might have moved nearer the coast or to permanent sources of water, such as oases or the Euphrates. More than anything else, the picture that emerges is one that, in human terms, attests to the adaptability of Middle Paleolithic man and to his ability to live in unfavorable conditions.

Acknowledgments

I am deeply grateful to Dr. T. Akazawa for inviting me to study the animal bones from the 1974 excavations at Douara Cave, and for all his help and kindness during the time I spent in Tokyo working on the material. I thank the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science and Dr. Y. Abe, Head of Exchange of Persons Division, for the funding that made this work possible.

In Tokyo, working facilities were kindly made available by the National Science Museum and by the Museum of Anthropology of the University of Tokyo; I would thank the following for their kindness: Dr. B. Endo, Prof. K. Hanihara, Prof, I. Kobori, Prof. T. Matsutani, Dr. H. Sakura, Dr. B. Yamaguchi and Dr. M. Yoshiyuki.

In England, facilities were kindly made available by the Museum of Zoology of the University of Cambridge, and by the British Museum (Natural History); I would thank the following for their kindness: Dr. J. Clutton-Brock, Mr. A. Currant, Dr. A. W. Gentry, Mr. M. Grant, Mr. J. E. Hill, Dr. K. A. Joysey and Dr. A. J. Stuart.

For comments on specific questions, and on drafts at various stages, I am grateful to: Dr. B. Beebe, Dr. J. Clutton-Brock, Mr. L. M. Colvin, Dr. S. Davis, Dr. C. Grigson, Dr. J. M. Hansen, Prof. B. Kurten, Dr. R. H. Meadow, Mrs. R. J. Payne, Dr. Mark Sheehan and Mr. J. P. N. Watson.

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