Late Paleolithic whale bone tools reveal human and whale ecology in the Bay of Biscay

Krista McGrath; Laura G. van der Sluis; Alexandre Lefebvre; Anne Charpentier; Ana S. L. Rodrigues; Esteban Álvarez-Fernández; François Baleux; Eduardo Berganza; François-Xavier Chauvière; Morgane Dachary; Elsa Duarte Matías; Claire Houmard; Ana B. Marín-Arroyo; Marco de la Rasilla Vives; Jesus Tapia; François Thil; Olivier Tombret; Leire Torres-Iglesias; Camilla Speller; Antoine Zazzo; Jean-Marc Pétillon

doi:10.1038/s41467-025-59486-8

Late Paleolithic whale bone tools reveal human and whale ecology in the Bay of Biscay

Krista McGrath
, Laura G. van der Sluis
, Alexandre Lefebvre
, Anne Charpentier
, Ana S. L. Rodrigues
, Esteban Álvarez-Fernández
, François Baleux
, Eduardo Berganza
, François-Xavier Chauvière
, Morgane Dachary
, Elsa Duarte Matías
, Claire Houmard
, Ana B. Marín-Arroyo
, Marco de la Rasilla Vives
, Jesus Tapia
, François Thil
, Olivier Tombret
, Leire Torres-Iglesias
, Camilla Speller
, Antoine Zazzo

Jean-Marc Pétillon (Corresponding author)

Department of Evolutionary Anthropology

Publications: Contribution to journal › Article › Peer Reviewed

Abstract

Reconstructing how prehistoric humans used the products obtained from large cetaceans is challenging, but key to understand the history of early human coastal adaptations. Here we report the multiproxy analysis (ZooMS, radiocarbon, stable isotopes) of worked objects made of whale bone, and unworked whale bone fragments, found at Upper Paleolithic sites (Magdalenian) around the Bay of Biscay. Taxonomic identification using ZooMS reveals at least five species of large whales, expanding the range of known taxa whose products were utilized by humans in this period. Radiocarbon places the use of whale products ca. 20–14 ka cal BP, with a maximum diffusion and diversity at 17.5–16 ka cal BP, making it the oldest evidence of whale-bone working to our knowledge. δ ¹³C and δ ¹⁵N stable isotope values reflect taxon-specific differences in foraging behavior. The diversity and chronology of these cetacean populations attest to the richness of the marine ecosystem of the Bay of Biscay in the late Paleolithic, broadening our understanding of coastal adaptations at that time.

Original language	English
Article number	4646
Number of pages	15
Journal	Nature Communications
Volume	16
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-59486-8
Publication status	Published - 27 May 2025

Funding

We thank the people and institutions that granted access and sampling permissions for the material studied: I. Alonso Garcia and M. A. Pedregal Montes (Museo arqueológico de Asturias); F. Bοn, L. Bruxelles, M. Jarry and C. Pallier; J. Cook and C. Lucas (British Museum); J. Darricau (site d’Isturitz) and C. Normand; L. Ducamp (Maison de la dame, Brassempouy); P. Fatás Monforte (Museo nacional y centro de investigación de Altamira); G. Fleury (Muséum d’histoire naturelle de Toulouse); A. Fort, R. Nespoulet and M. Lebon (Musée de l’Homme); N. Fourment (Musée national de Préhistoire); S. Fraile Gracia (Museo nacional de ciencias naturales); E. Galán (Museo arqueológico nacional); I. García Camino (Arkeologi museoa in Bilbao); D. Haro-Gabay (abbaye d’Arthous); the musée de Lespugue; V. Merlin-Anglade (Musée d’art et d’archéologie du Périgord); R. Ontañón (Museo de Prehistoria y Arqueología de Cantabria); J. Primault; L. Rodriguez (Musée de Borda); C. Saint-Martin and P. Alard (musée du Mas d’Azil); S. San Jose Santamarta (Gordailua center); C. Schwab (Musée d’archéologie nationale); A. Simonet; M. Street (RGZM) and C. Langley; and É. Tartar. Thanks to L. Agudo Pérez and A. Cicero Cabañas for their help with the ZooMS analyses, to C. Merlet for his help with the material from Duruthy, to P. Reimer for her help on calculating the new DeltaR for the reservoir correction, and to D. Fiorillo (SSMIM, Service de Spectrométrie de Masse Isotopique du Muséum) for analyzing samples on the IRMS. We thank the York Center for Excellence in Mass Spectrometry (University of York) and the Laboratori de Proteòmica CSIC (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona), for allowing access to their MALDI-TOF-MS. This work contributes to the ICTA-UAB María de Maeztu Program for Units of Excellence of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (CEX2019-000940-M), and EarlyFoods (SGR-Cat 2021, 00527). This study was funded by projects HumAntler (PCI2021-122053-2 B) (A.L.), Whalebone (HORIZON-MSCA-2021-PF-01-101059605) (A.L.) and PaleoCet (ANR-18-CE27-0018) (J.-M.P., A.Z.). This work is dedicated to É. Campmas and G. Marchand.

Austrian Fields of Science 2012

601003 Archaeology
107001 Archaeometry

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10.1038/s41467-025-59486-8Licence: CC BY 4.0

Cite this

McGrath, K., Sluis, L. G. V. D., Lefebvre, A., Charpentier, A., Rodrigues, A. S. L., Álvarez-Fernández, E., Baleux, F., Berganza, E., Chauvière, F.-X., Dachary, M., Matías, E. D., Houmard, C., Marín-Arroyo, A. B., Vives, M. D. L. R., Tapia, J., Thil, F., Tombret, O., Torres-Iglesias, L., Speller, C., ... Pétillon, J.-M. (2025). Late Paleolithic whale bone tools reveal human and whale ecology in the Bay of Biscay. Nature Communications, 16, Article 4646. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-59486-8

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title = "Late Paleolithic whale bone tools reveal human and whale ecology in the Bay of Biscay",

abstract = "Reconstructing how prehistoric humans used the products obtained from large cetaceans is challenging, but key to understand the history of early human coastal adaptations. Here we report the multiproxy analysis (ZooMS, radiocarbon, stable isotopes) of worked objects made of whale bone, and unworked whale bone fragments, found at Upper Paleolithic sites (Magdalenian) around the Bay of Biscay. Taxonomic identification using ZooMS reveals at least five species of large whales, expanding the range of known taxa whose products were utilized by humans in this period. Radiocarbon places the use of whale products ca. 20{\textendash}14 ka cal BP, with a maximum diffusion and diversity at 17.5{\textendash}16 ka cal BP, making it the oldest evidence of whale-bone working to our knowledge. δ 13C and δ 15N stable isotope values reflect taxon-specific differences in foraging behavior. The diversity and chronology of these cetacean populations attest to the richness of the marine ecosystem of the Bay of Biscay in the late Paleolithic, broadening our understanding of coastal adaptations at that time.",

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McGrath, K, Sluis, LGVD, Lefebvre, A, Charpentier, A, Rodrigues, ASL, Álvarez-Fernández, E, Baleux, F, Berganza, E, Chauvière, F-X, Dachary, M, Matías, ED, Houmard, C, Marín-Arroyo, AB, Vives, MDLR, Tapia, J, Thil, F, Tombret, O, Torres-Iglesias, L, Speller, C, Zazzo, A & Pétillon, J-M 2025, 'Late Paleolithic whale bone tools reveal human and whale ecology in the Bay of Biscay', Nature Communications, vol. 16, 4646. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-59486-8

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T1 - Late Paleolithic whale bone tools reveal human and whale ecology in the Bay of Biscay

AU - McGrath, Krista

AU - Sluis, Laura G. van der

AU - Lefebvre, Alexandre

AU - Charpentier, Anne

AU - Rodrigues, Ana S. L.

AU - Álvarez-Fernández, Esteban

AU - Baleux, François

AU - Berganza, Eduardo

AU - Chauvière, François-Xavier

AU - Dachary, Morgane

AU - Matías, Elsa Duarte

AU - Houmard, Claire

AU - Marín-Arroyo, Ana B.

AU - Vives, Marco de la Rasilla

AU - Tapia, Jesus

AU - Thil, François

AU - Tombret, Olivier

AU - Torres-Iglesias, Leire

AU - Speller, Camilla

AU - Zazzo, Antoine

AU - Pétillon, Jean-Marc

PY - 2025/5/27

Y1 - 2025/5/27

N2 - Reconstructing how prehistoric humans used the products obtained from large cetaceans is challenging, but key to understand the history of early human coastal adaptations. Here we report the multiproxy analysis (ZooMS, radiocarbon, stable isotopes) of worked objects made of whale bone, and unworked whale bone fragments, found at Upper Paleolithic sites (Magdalenian) around the Bay of Biscay. Taxonomic identification using ZooMS reveals at least five species of large whales, expanding the range of known taxa whose products were utilized by humans in this period. Radiocarbon places the use of whale products ca. 20–14 ka cal BP, with a maximum diffusion and diversity at 17.5–16 ka cal BP, making it the oldest evidence of whale-bone working to our knowledge. δ 13C and δ 15N stable isotope values reflect taxon-specific differences in foraging behavior. The diversity and chronology of these cetacean populations attest to the richness of the marine ecosystem of the Bay of Biscay in the late Paleolithic, broadening our understanding of coastal adaptations at that time.

AB - Reconstructing how prehistoric humans used the products obtained from large cetaceans is challenging, but key to understand the history of early human coastal adaptations. Here we report the multiproxy analysis (ZooMS, radiocarbon, stable isotopes) of worked objects made of whale bone, and unworked whale bone fragments, found at Upper Paleolithic sites (Magdalenian) around the Bay of Biscay. Taxonomic identification using ZooMS reveals at least five species of large whales, expanding the range of known taxa whose products were utilized by humans in this period. Radiocarbon places the use of whale products ca. 20–14 ka cal BP, with a maximum diffusion and diversity at 17.5–16 ka cal BP, making it the oldest evidence of whale-bone working to our knowledge. δ 13C and δ 15N stable isotope values reflect taxon-specific differences in foraging behavior. The diversity and chronology of these cetacean populations attest to the richness of the marine ecosystem of the Bay of Biscay in the late Paleolithic, broadening our understanding of coastal adaptations at that time.

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U2 - 10.1038/s41467-025-59486-8

DO - 10.1038/s41467-025-59486-8

M3 - Article

SN - 2041-1723

VL - 16

JO - Nature Communications

JF - Nature Communications

M1 - 4646

ER -

Late Paleolithic whale bone tools reveal human and whale ecology in the Bay of Biscay

Abstract

Funding

Austrian Fields of Science 2012

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Author Correction: Late Paleolithic whale bone tools reveal human and whale ecology in the Bay of Biscay: (Nature Communications, (2025), 16, 1, (4646), 10.1038/s41467-025-59486-8)

Cite this

Late Paleolithic whale bone tools reveal human and whale ecology in the Bay of Biscay

Abstract

Funding

Austrian Fields of Science 2012

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Research output

Author Correction: Late Paleolithic whale bone tools reveal human and whale ecology in the Bay of Biscay: (Nature Communications, (2025), 16, 1, (4646), 10.1038/s41467-025-59486-8)

Cite this