A new Early Permian bivalve fauna from the Río Genoa Formation,Patagonia, Chubut Province,Argentina

Fourteen Bivalvia species are described from the Lower Permian Río Genoa Formation, exposed in the southern Tepuel-Genoa Basin (Chubut Province, Argentina), of which one, Fletcheripecten genoensis, is new. The studied specimens are well preserved, retaining fine details of the ornament and shell morphology. Palaeotaxodonta is represented by two species of Nuculopsis and four species of Phestia; Pteriomorphia by five species in five genera; and Heteroconchia by three informal species. Most of the species recorded also occur in the northern part of Tepuel-Genoa Basin and allow demarcation of new and distinct marine intervals in the Río Genoa Formation, which was classically interpreted to represent continental deposits. The bivalve fauna confirms a Cisuralian (Early Permian) age for the Río Genoa Formation and offers potential for improved regional and global correlations.     

Evaluation of bone strontium as a measure of seafood consumption

The recognition that bone strontium/calcium ratios reflect dietary levels of strontium and that seawater has a high strontium content led some archaeologists to infer that seafood consumption produces high Sr/Ca ratios in bone. Analyses of seawater and of marine organisms reveal, however, a marine trophic effect comparable to the trophic effect seen in terrestrial food chains. This marine trophic effect reduces the Sr/Ca levels in seafood such that marine dietary resources have Sr/Ca levels comparable to those of terrestrial resources. Thus, bone Sr/Ca ratios can not differentiate consumption of marine and terrestrial resources. Also, Sr/Ca of bones from archaeological sites where seafood was an important component of diet were found to be within the range of entirely terrestrial diets. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Early Permian Jakutoproductus (Productida: Brachiopoda) from Patagonia,Argentina

The productid brachiopod genus Jakutoproductus, dominant in the Early Permian marine faunas of northeastern Siberia, is described for the first time from the southern hemisphere. Jakutoproductus australis sp. nov. is described from the Rio Genoa Formation, Chubut Province (Patagonia), Argentina. The age of the Patagonian species is considered to be Sakmarian (Early Permian), possibly Sterlitamakian.     

The bioerosion of bird bones

This study presents a synthesis of the evidence for modern archaeological, and palaeontological bioerosion of vertebrate tissue. It describes the first evidence for the bioerosion of modern, archaeological and fossil bird bones. A new form of bone bioerosion, known as Hackett tunnels, is defined. The bioerosion of vertebrate tissue by cyanobacteria and algae in modern marine and lacustrine environments is also described. Archaeological evidence indicates that the destruction of bone by bioerosion occurs in other terrestrial environments, such as cave deposits and middens. Bone from marine and lacustrine environments that appears to be macroscopically well preserved can have large amounts of microscopic fabric destruction. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Fauna and biostratigraphy of the Cambrian (Series 2, Stage 4; Ordian) Tempe Formation (Pertaoorrta Group), Amadeus Basin,Northern Territory

A new faunal assemblage is reported from the Tempe Formation (Cambrian Series 2, Stage 4; Ordian) retrieved from the Hermannsburg 41 drillcore, Amadeus Basin, central Australia. Two trilobite taxa, including one new species Gunnia fava sp. nov., four brachiopod taxa, including the age-diagnostic Karathele napuru (Kruse), Kostjubella djagoran (Kruse) and Micromitra nerranubawu Kruse, together with a bradoriid, helcionellids, hyoliths, echinoderms, chancelloriids, sponges and problematic tubes are described. The fauna has close links to those of the neighbouring Daly, Georgina and Wiso basins and suggests that the Tempe Formation correlates with the Australian Ordian stage (either the Redlichia forresti or Xystridura negrina assemblage zones). The Giles Creek Dolostone in the eastern Amadeus Basin, previously regarded as coeval with the Tempe Formation, has recently been reported to be of early Templetonian age in its type section. The described taxa from the Tempe Formation confirm that these two sedimentary units are not contemporaneous and that regional stratigraphic schemes should be amended.     

Prehistoric Butchery and Consumption of Birds in the Kingdom of Tonga,South Pacific

We evaluate the preservational attributes (element frequency, breakage, burning, cut-marks, rodent gnawing, and age) of ca. 500 bird bones from three prehistoric archaeological sites on the Polynesian islands of Foa and Lifuka in the Ha‘apai Group, Kingdom of Tonga. Two of the sites lie in calcareous beach sands whereas the third is the refuse infilling of a well. Although differing in age, all three sites are unequivocally cultural in origin, as evidenced by rich artifact assemblages and various sedimentological features (pits, hearths, etc.) that reflect human activities. The sites also contain bones from a diverse assemblage of marine fish, marine and terrestrial reptiles (sea turtles, iguanas), and terrestrial mammals (fruit bats, rats, pigs, dogs). We find no evidence for deposition of bones (bird or otherwise) in these Tongan sites by non-human agents. This is expected given that we are unaware of any non-human species or geological process that would concentrate the bones of fishes, reptiles, birds, and mammals on a beach ridge or in a well in Tonga. This is especially the case since the species range from very small to very large, and represent marine, fresh water, coastal, and forested habitats. Nevertheless, clear evidence of cultural involvement cannot be discerned on most individual bones, whether bird or non-bird. Furthermore, most taphonomic attributes (element frequency, breakage, burning, and cut-marks) of bones of a domesticated species (the chicken, Gallus gallus) resemble those found on bones of indigenous landbirds. We believe that all bones in any zooarchaeological assemblage should be evaluated carefully to determine who or what was responsible for their deposition. We see no reason, however, why bird bones should be held to some standard higher than those applied to the bones of other taxa, as some have suggested.     

Terrestrial and maritime taphonomy: differential effects on spatial distribution of a Late Pleistocene continental drowned faunal bone assemblage from the Pacific coast of Chile

Site GNL Quintero 1 (GNLQ1), located on the central coast of Chile, is the only documented Late Pleistocene drowned terrestrial site along the Pacific Coast of South America. Faunal evidence at the site is varied, and so far, remains of the following taxa have been found: extinct Camelidae, Cervidae, Equidae, Mylodontidae, Xenarthra, but also Myocastoridae, Canidae and Octodontidae. Both geological and paleoenvironmental data indicate that GNLQ1 developed in a floodplain or low-energy environment during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). Prior to the post-glacial rising of the sea level, the site would have been located several kilometres inland as the paleoshoreline was farther out on the continental shelf. In accordance with this background, the present study addresses the analysis of the spatial distribution of the bone deposits of GNLQ1 by considering both scenarios, the terrestrial phase related to the formation and modification of the fossil assemblage prior to the transgression, and the marine phase, subsequent to inundation. Results indicate modifications related to low-energy flow environment and carnivore activity dominated during the terrestrial phase and the action of marine organisms during the marine phase. Other taphonomic modifications are not easily attributable to either one or the other environmental context.     

Feeding behaviour and taphonomic characterization of non-ingested rabbit remains produced by the Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus)

The rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) is usually the most abundant taxon found in the Palaeolithic and Epipalaeolithic archaeological sites of southern Europe and the Mediterranean Basin. These accumulations may be the result of different abiotic factors, biotic agents and/or the interaction of both. For these reasons, over the last decades actualistic research has been conducted on different predators of rabbits. Among them, the Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus) is an excellent candidate for study because: 1) its diet is based almost exclusively on this leporids and 2) its historical distribution overlaps with one of the most interesting areas for small game research, the Iberian Peninsula and southern France. Here we present the taphonomical analysis of non-ingested rabbit remains collected from two Iberian lynx captive breeding centers located in southern Spain. Our results show: i) predominance of the distal segment of the appendicular skeleton; ii) variable breakage patterns, with a high proportion of whole bones of the autopodium and heavy breakage of the zeugopodium and stylopodium; iii) rare bone surface modifications. Comparison of these results with those obtained for other terrestrial carnivores, such as the fox, reveals great similarities, the only difference being the more abundant tooth marks present on fox non-ingested rabbit assemblages.     

Lower Cretaceous Anacoracidae? (Lamniformes: Neoselachii); vertebrae and associated dermal scales from Australia

Partially disarticulated shark vertebrae from the Lower Cretaceous Toolebuc Formation in central Queensland and the Bathurst Island Formation in the Northern Territory provide probable evidence of the Anacoracidae in Australia, and are possibly referable to Pseudocorax. Associated with large shark vertebrae from Canary Station, near Boulia, Queensland, are numerous placoid scales of four primary types which indicate a large pelagic shark. The Canary specimen is one of the few Mesozoic sharks known where scales have been found associated with vertebrae. Problems in referring the new shark material to the Anacoracidae and Pseudocorax are discussed. The significance of vertebral structure and scale morphology in Mesozoic shark evolution and ecology is examined. ‘Lamna daviesii’ Etheridge 1888 is considered a nomen dubium as vertebrae of this kind also occur in other genera in the Lamniformes, Orectolobiformes, and Carcharhinidae.     

Diet,nutritional status and oral health in hunter‐gatherers from the central‐northern coast of Patagonia and the Chubut river lower valley,Argentina

Archaeological research in central‐northern Patagonia (Atlantic coast and lower the valley of Chubut river) showed that this area was used since at least the Middle Holocene. Stable isotope analyses (¹³C and ¹⁵N) of human bone samples indicate that hunter‐gatherers living in that area had a terrestrial‐marine diet including guanaco meat, land plants, mollusks and pinnipeds. Despite this general trend, intersite variability and changes through time were noted, especially after the late Holocene. These results have been reinforced by archaeofaunal, technological and bioarchaeological records. In this paper, three hypotheses are examined: (a) the diet of these populations was complete and rich enough to ensure good health status and avoid nutritional deficiencies; (b) carbohydrate consumption increased progressively after 1000 BP, when pottery technology was adopted and (c) this kind of mixed diet would have been qualitatively more nutritious than that of other populations of the region, which would have resulted in better nutritional and healthy conditions. These three hypotheses are compared with dental results obtained from 563 permanent teeth from 45 individuals (34 adults and 11 juveniles from both sexes), rescued from burial sites. Indicators of oral health were assessed through the observation of caries, abscesses, wear, pulpar cavity exposure and ante mortem loss. Features of nutritional status such as enamel hypoplasia, porotic hyperostosis and cribra orbitalia were also examined. Given the availability of direct radiocarbon dating for most of the sample, three temporal series were determined: ‘Before 1000 BP’, ‘1000–5000 BP’ and ‘Post‐contact’. No evidence of alimentary stress or iron deficiency was found in individuals from the three series, which accounts for healthy and good nutritional life conditions. After 1000 BP, the results show a progressive increase in the caries percentage and a decrease in abscesses, dental wear and ante mortem losses frequency. This is possibly related to more consumption of processed foods in the last 1000 years. These results were compared with similar studies based on samples from different environments and latitudes of Patagonia. Evidence suggests that mixed diets (marine‐terrestrial) would have been more appropriate and nutritionally complete than exclusively marine or terrestrial diets. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Unique marine taphonomy in human skeletal material recovered from the medieval warship Mary Rose

The effect of skeletal exposure in a marine environment is an area of taphonomy that has been little investigated at the microscopic level. Understanding the peri‐mortem and subsequent post mortem history of deposition and/or redeposition is extremely important for event reconstruction and to identify deliberate or accidental redeposition. The material used for this study comes primarily from the Mary Rose shipwreck (a marine mass fatality dated AD 1545), and forensic material recovered from marine, lacustrine and terrestrial contexts is retrospectively referenced. Work presented here outlines a definitive type of marine exposure seen in temperate shallow off‐shore and intertidal marine contexts, and illustrates how it may be differentially identified from terrestrial deposition and exposure. Furthermore, the effects of rapid deposition on skeletal remains have been documented, and results indicate that marine organism fouling activity can be fully inhibited by rapid deposition of sediment. The responsible organism itself remains unidentified, but produces tunnels which are peripheral in their distribution and maintain fixed dimensions and morphology and are here associated with marine exposure. This type of microstructural change is unique and is not found in terrestrial or freshwater contexts. The study demonstrates a taphonomic microstructural change to bone and teeth which may be identified microscopically and interpreted as evidence of marine exposure. Secondarily, the history of depositional exposure between the two main Tudor layers has provided a new level of detail concerning exposure and site formation processes. The earliest Tudor layer formed rapidly over a period of months and contained no evidence of microstructural tunnelling, whereas microstructural tunnelling was seen exclusively in the second Tudor layer, formed over a period of decades, a period during which the ship's hull collapsed and a more open marine environment dominated. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Same island, different diet: Cultural evolution of food practice on Öland, Sweden, from the Mesolithic to the Roman Period

The Mesolithic–Neolithic transition in north-west Europe has been described as rapid and uniform, entailing a swift shift from the use of marine and other wild resources to domesticated terrestrial resources. Here, we approach the when, what and how of this transition on a regional level, using empirical data from Öland, an island in the Baltic Sea off the Swedish east coast, and also monitor changes that occurred after the shift. Radiocarbon dating and stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analyses of bones and teeth from 123 human individuals, along with faunal isotope data from 27 species, applying to nine sites on Öland and covering a time span from the Mesolithic to the Roman Period, demonstrate a great diversity in food practices, mainly governed by culture and independent of climatic changes. There was a marked dietary shift during the second half of the third millennium from a mixed marine diet to the use of exclusively terrestrial resources, interpreted as marking the large-scale introduction of farming. Contrary to previous claims, this took place at the end of the Neolithic and not at the onset. Our data also show that culturally induced dietary transitions occurred continuously throughout prehistory. The availability of high-resolution data on various levels, from intra-individual to inter-population, makes stable isotope analysis a powerful tool for studying the evolution of food practices.     

Temporary consolidation and packaging of fragile cultural relics at underwater archaeological sites to maintain their original state during extraction

The flexible sponge/epoxy composite can wrap underwater artefacts in any shape and forms a protective shell after curing, thus effectively wrapping and reinforcing the artefacts. However, the hydroscopicity of the sponge itself limits the underwater application of the sponge/epoxy composite. In this study, a novel polyurethane sponge was prepared by modified with super-hydrophobic multi-wall carbon nanotubes (SH-MWCNTs@PU sponge). Compared with the pristine PU sponge, the water-contact angle on the surface of SH-MWCNTs@PU sponges increased from 103.3 ± 1.82 to 152.6 ± 1.54^o, and oily epoxy resin was able to cover the surface completely. The study shows that when SH-MWCNTs@PU sponges/epoxy resin composite material is used underwater, it prevents both water from entering the sponge and also the inside epoxy resin from overflowing into the water. Moreover, the composite materials have excellent toughness after reinforcement under water (flexural strength = 3.56 MPa) and the soft sponges can be moulded to wrap any type of underwater artefacts. In the laboratory, when taking a broken, three-dimensional blue-and-white porcelain pot as a research subject, the entire retrieval process—temporary stabilization, packaging, extraction and reinforcement material removal—was simulated to evaluate systematically all the technological aspects of safely excavating fragile underwater relics.     

Dietary change in Fijian prehistory: isotopic analyses of human and animal skeletal material

We examine evidence for prehistoric diet in the Fiji Islands through the analysis of stable isotope ratios (δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N) for 26 samples of human and animal bones from various archaeological sites, time periods, and local environments. The oldest individuals in this study, dating to about 2700 BP and living on the small island of Waya, consumed a predominantly marine-based diet. Subsequent populations on this island showed reduced consumption of marine resources, with greater reliance on terrestrial ones, throughout the cultural sequence. In contrast, populations of humans and pigs living inland on Viti Levu, the largest island, relied on terrestrial resources since at least 1500 BP. Thus, our results suggest that human and pig diets throughout Fijian prehistory relied variably on marine or terrestrial resources, and this distinction is largely a product of geography. This finding and our analyses provide a model for understanding ancient diets in Remote Oceania.     

Great white shark teeth used as pendants and possible tools by early‐middle Holocene terrestrial mammal hunter‐gatherers in the Eastern Pampas (Southern South America)

Two great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) teeth recovered in a terrestrial mammal hunter‐gatherers context in the Pampas are described. Associated lithic (mainly quarzite) tools, and the predominant exploitation of the Lama guanicoe relate the ancient inhabitants of the site with those of the early‐middle Holocene sites of the Area Interserrana of the Provincia de Buenos Aires. According to the stratigraphic context and the terrestrial fauna, the age of the deposit seems to be constrained to the early‐middle Holocene. The root tips of the shark teeth are marked by an artificial transvers groove fitted to tie a thread. Tooth edge serrations are strongly eroded, suggesting they were used as tools. We favour the hypotheses that the fish could have stranded on the beach or a small estuary in the neighbourhood, or that the teeth were obtained from the body of a pinniped attacked by a shark and sobsequenty found by humans. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Who ate the birds: the taphonomy of Sarakenos Cave,Greece

The taphonomic analysis of avian remains from Sarakenos Cave reveals that, contrary to previous suggestions, many bird bones excavated there represent food remains of the Eagle Owls rather than humans. The conclusion is based on the presence of traces of digestion, beak and claw punctures, and indirect evidence that includes relative preservation of particular elements, species composition, the lack of cut marks, and the absence of numerous traces of burning. Specimens with medullary bone and traces of digestion indicate that the owls killed breeding females in spring. Since it is unlikely that owls shared the cave with humans at the same time, it supports the notion based on archeological evidence that human groups did not inhabit it permanently.     

Marine Mammal Train Oil Production Methods: Experimental Reconstructions of Norwegian Iron Age Slab-Lined Pits

Seal hunting and whaling have played an important part of people’s livelihoods throughout prehistory as evidenced by rock carvings, remains of bones, artifacts from aquatic animals and hunting tools. This paper focuses on one of the more elusive resources relating to such activities: marine mammal blubber. Although marine blubber easily decomposes, the organic material has been documented from the Mesolithic Period onwards. Of particular interest in this article are the many structures in Northern Norway from the Iron Age and in Finland on Kökar, Åland, from both the Bronze and Early Iron Ages in which these periods exhibited traits interpreted as being related to oil rendering from marine mammal blubber. The article discusses methods used in this oil production activity based on historical sources, archaeological investigations and experimental reconstruction of Iron Age slab-lined pits from Northern Norway.     

The youngest non-lepidosirenid lungfish of South America (Dipnoi,latest Paleocene–earliest Eocene,Argentina)

The first lungfish tooth plate from the Las Flores Formation, Chubut, southern Argentina, is described. This is the youngest ceratodontid known from the continent. In Africa, ceratodonts disappeared in the Eocene. Afterwards, they are only known from Australia until their extinction during the Pleistocene. The Las Flores tooth plate also represents the southernmost lungfish known since the Coniacian (early Late Cretaceous).     

What is past is prologue: excavations at the Econfina Channel site,Apalachee Bay,Florida, USA

Offshore submerged sites can retain valuable data concerning many questions of interest to archaeology, including what form coastal occupations may have taken during periods before the establishment of modern coastlines and late Holocene climate and ecological conditions. However, submerged offshore sites experience postdepositional forces entirely unlike those in terrestrial contexts, including erosion/deflation of sediments, and degradation of artifacts and/or features caused by the marine environment. Methodological and theoretical approaches to assessing submerged marine sites, versus terrestrial ones, must be adjusted accordingly to extract valuable data and interpretations from them. This study demonstrates the application of these different approaches at the Econfina Channel site (8TA139) in Apalachee Bay, Florida, USA. The site appears to contain significant evidence for coastally adapted occupation during the final part of the Middle Archaic period (～8600–5000?cal?BP), but we needed to address marine site formation processes before we could assess human activities at the site. Sedimentological and archaeological traces of human activities can be teased out using geoarchaeological methods, which differentiate between nonhuman postdepositional processes and the cultural material remains left behind by those who used the site before it was abandoned and subsequently submerged.     

Cambrian–Ordovician non-marine fossils from South Australia

Newly discovered trace and body fossils from the Grindstone Range Sandstone of South Australia reveal evidence of megascopic life on land during the Cambrian–Ordovician. Arthropod trackways (Diplichnites gouldi) are interpreted here to have formed on land. The most persuasive evidence for this view is that footprints vary in clarity along the length of the trackway as it traversed moist then dry silt, then biological soil crust. Compatible, though not diagnostic of walking on land is trackway symmetry, without one side buoyed up by current. The footprints bulge outward and are partially filled with miniature talus cones. Footprints also are alternate as in walking, rather than opposite as in sculling. Arthropod resting traces (Selenichnites sp. indet.) have 11 lateral furrows, and footprints are bundled into sets of 8–11, most like euthycarcinoids. No arthropod dwelling burrows were found in associated palaeosols, so the track maker was more likely amphibious than fully terrestrial. Associated trace fossils include a new ichnotaxon of burrow, Myrowichnus arenaceus gen. et sp. nov. Thallose impressions (Farghera robusta gen. et sp. nov.) have the radiating dichotomous form of lichens, algae and liverworts. All these trace and body fossils were found in weakly developed palaeosols. Other palaeosols in the same formation are evidence of terrestrial ecosystems of modest biomass, weathering, carbon sequestration and stability in dry tropical regions.