| The fish remains sampled from archaeological sites are generally the result of human food refuse; therefore, the study of retrieved fish scales may provide reliable information on the season of capture and on paleoclimate and paleoenvironmental changes. Among Western European freshwater fishes, the grayling, Thymallus thymallus¸ has the most easily recognizable scales and is a commonly recovered species from Paleolithic contexts. This study, therefore, is based on the growth pattern analysis of modern and archaeological scales from grayling specimens. The modern specimens were collected monthly in France (n = 22), Switzerland (n = 16), Finland (n = 20) and Sweden (n = 10). Scale growth patterns were measured using numerical analysis to a high accuracy. The... |
