Stoneage Swabian Alb

The caves in the Swabian Alb (e.g. Geisenklösterle, Hohle Fels, among other locations) have for a long time been known for their rich finds of stone-age artifacts, bones and in particular, palaeolithic art. As in no other region of Europe, excavations for many decades have brought spectacular findings and data by the Tuebingen prehistory and early history department.

Of special interest is the time interval from the middle to the younger Palaeolithic, since it does not only mark the transition from the Neanderthal man to modern humans in this area, but is above all characterized by an important technological, social and culture revolution.

In co-operation with the Tübingen prehistory and early history department and archaeologist Nick Conard our group works archaeozoologically on the uncovered material of fish, amphibians and reptiles. A central question of these projects becomes how and whether the technological transition was accompanied from the Neanderthal man to modern humans by a change in the hunting behavior and in food intake.