Mesolithic Hunter-Gatherer Adaptations to Small Mediterranean Island Ecosystems

The discovery that the Maltese archipelago was reached by Mesolithic hunter-gatherers has upended the long-held view that the colonisation of small and remote Mediterranean islands was beyond the capabilities and/or desires of pre-agricultural societies. However, understanding of the corpus of knowledge required to both undertake long-distance sea journeys and survive on a small land-mass is still at an early stage. Here, we present a detailed zooarchaeological study of the vertebrates from the earliest Mesolithic (Phase V) at Latnija Cave, Malta, in order to explore how hunter-gatherers engaged with small insular environments. Based on morphological and collagen fingerprinting (ZooMS) identifications, a dwarf form of red deer, significantly smaller than their Sicilian and mainland counterparts, constituted the primary terrestrial source of proteins and fats for the site’s occupants. Besides a human fragment, the assemblage also includes testudines, fish, birds, seals, and dolphins. The results demonstrate the exploitation of a diverse range of habitats, indicating flexible diets and subsistence strategies, and a sophisticated understanding of island ecologies. Beyond illuminating early seafaring lifeways, these findings provide new insights into Malta’s early Holocene ecosystems prior to intensive human impact, establishing the first empirical baseline for assessing long-term ecological change and informing future restoration efforts.