Strontium isotope evidence for migration in late Pleistocene Rangifer: Implications for Neanderthal hunting strategies at the Middle Palaeolithic site of Jonzac, France Kate Britton a, b, c, * , Vaughan Grimes a, d , Laura Niven a , Teresa E. Steele a, e , Shannon McPherron a , Marie Soressi a, f, g , Tegan E. Kelly h , Jacques Jaubert i , Jean-Jacques Hublin a , Michael P. Richards a, j a Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, Leipzig D-04103, Germany b Department of Archaeology, University of Aberdeen, St. Mary’s Building, Elphinstone Road, Aberdeen AB24 3UF, United Kingdom c Department of Archaeology, Durham University, South Road, Durham DH1 3LE, United Kingdom d Department of Archaeology, Memorial University, St. John’s, Newfoundland A1C 5S7, Canada e Department of Anthropology, University of California, One Shields Ave., 330 Young Hall, Davis, CA 95616-8522, USA f Institut national de recherches archéologiques préventives, Centre Archéologique d’Orléans 525, avenue de la Pomme-de-Pin, F-45590 Saint-Cyr-en-Val, France g UMR 7041 CNRS ArScAn/AnTet, 21, allée de l’Université, F-92023 Nanterre Cedex, France h Research School of Earth Sciences, Australian National University, 61 Mills Road, Canberra ACT 0200, Australia i PACEA, Institut de Préhistoire et de Géologie du Quaternaire, Université Bordeaux I, Avenue des Facultés, F-33405 Talence Cedex, France j Department of Anthropology, University of British Columbia, 6303 NW Marine Drive, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z1, Canada article info Article history: Received 24 January 2010 Accepted 21 February 2011 Keywords: Stable isotope analysis Sequential-sampling Reindeer Bison Migration Middle Palaeolithic abstract In order to understand the behaviours and subsistence choices of Palaeolithic hunteregatherers, it is essential to understand the behavioural ecology of their prey. Here, we present strontium isotope data from sequentially-sampled enamel from three reindeer (Rangifer tarandus ssp.) and a single bison (Bison cf. priscus) from the late Middle Palaeolithic site of Jonzac (Chez-Pinaud), France. The results are used to investigate the ranging and migratory behaviours of these important prey species. We found that the bison had isotope values most consistent with a local range, while the three reindeer had values indi- cating a seasonal migration pattern. Due to the similarity of the patterning of two of the three reindeer and in conjunction with zooarchaeological results, we suggest that they may have been from the same herd, were likely killed around the same point during their seasonal round and may therefore be the product of a single hunting event or a small number of successive hunting events. The isotope analyses complement the zooarchaeological data and have allowed greater insight into the palaeoecology of these species, the palaeoenvironment, and Neanderthal site use and hunting strategies. Ó 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Introduction Reconstructing the biogeography of archaeozoofauna is an important aspect of palaeoecology and also vital to understanding the living landscapes of the past. Establishing the seasonal movements, migrations and home-ranging habits of prey species ultimately provides the framework within which the subsistence choices of their human hunters can be interpreted. Herds not only provided game and raw material resources (e.g., meat, ivory, hide, etc.) but also their physical presence, dietary and range-size demands would have sha- ped the natural (and early human) world (e.g., Guthrie, 1990; Haynes, 2002). Understanding the ranging habits of such animals is therefore essential for reconstructions of landscape ecology and understanding how this may have influenced hunteregatherer populations and their ‘seasonal-rounds’ (Spiess, 1979). This is especially relevant to Palae- olithic archaeology, where prey species behaviour and ecology have been used to explain relationships between sites, landscape use, seasonal human movements and ranging, and hunting strategies in the Middle (Gaudzinski, 1996, 2006; Gaudzinski and Roebroeks, 2000; e.g., Costamagno et al., 2006) and Upper Palaeolithic (e.g., Bahn, 1977; Gordon, 1988; Straus, 1991; Burke, 1995; Bratlund, 1996; Burke and Pike-Tay, 1997; Enloe and David, 1997; Thacker, 1997; Jochim et al., 1999; Mellars, 2004). The phenomenon of migratory behaviour in terrestrial animals is the result of a complex interaction of demographic and * Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: kate_britton@eva.mpg.de, k.britton@abdn.ac.uk (K. Britton), vgrimes@mun.ca (V. Grimes), laura.niven@eva.mpg.de (L. Niven), testeele@ ucdavis.edu (T.E. Steele), mcpherron@eva.mpg.de (S. McPherron), soressi@eva. mpg.de (M. Soressi), tegan.kelly@anu.edu.au (T.E. Kelly), j.jaubert@pacea.u- bordeaux1.fr (J. Jaubert), hublin@eva.mpg.de (J.-J. Hublin), richards@eva.mpg.de (M.P. Richards). Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Human Evolution journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jhevol 0047-2484/$ e see front matter Ó 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2011.03.004 Journal of Human Evolution 61 (2011) 176e185