Paleolithic population growth pulses evidenced by small animal exploitation

Variations in small game hunting along the northern and eastern rims of the Mediterranean Sea and results from predator-prey simulation modeling indic ate that human population densities increased abruptly during the late Midd le Paleolithic and again during the Upper and Epi-Paleolithic periods. The demographic pulses are evidenced by increasing reliance on agile, fast-repr oducing partridges, hares, and rabbits at the expense of slow-reproducing b ut easily caught tortoises and marine shellfish and, concurrently, climate- independent size diminution in tortoises and shellfish. The results indicat e that human populations of the early Middle Paleolithic were exceptionally small and highly dispersed.