Formation processes of desiccated and carbonized plant remains – the identification of routine practice

The taphonomic or formation processes of desiccated and carbonized plant remains are reviewed and compared. Both types of assemblage frequently consist of material of mixed origin, but despite a high degree of mixing, the various routes of entry are still identifiable, and it is concluded that archaeological plant assemblages are more robust than often assumed. Case studies where the accurate identification of the formation processes has been critical are examined and guidelines on how to assess the formation processes are presented. It is argued that the coherence of archaeobotanical assemblages is due to the fact that they represent day-to-day routine behavioural practices. As these routine practices are socially and culturally structured, the identification of formation processes of plant remains can help identify social and cultural behaviour and changes therein.     

Tending and drive hunting: A density-mediated attrition model can explain age profiles of white-tailed deer at Iroquoian village sites

In a 1993 paper, Noble and Crerar suggested, based on the age and sex distribution of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) longbones from four Attawandaron Iroquoian sites around the western end of Lake Ontario, that the contact-period Attawandaron were managing local deer populations, in response to the aboriginal trade in hides. Having observed similar patterns of differential preservation of elements and epiphyseal fusion at nearby Iroquoian sites that are not ascribed to the Attawandaron, and which pre-date the hypothesised trading period, we argue that these patterns may instead relate to bone density and/or vulnerability to taphonomic effects of late-fusing epiphyses. We further support our argument through age profiles based on dental eruption and wear.     

To catch a chameleon,or actualism vs. natural history in the taphonomy of the microvertebrate fraction at Qesem Cave,Israel

Qesem Cave is a unique Middle Pleistocene, hominin-bearing site in Israel that contains a rich microvertebrate accumulation. The microvertebrates are highly unusual in that half of them are from small reptiles, and most of the reptiles are chameleons, which are otherwise rare in the fossil record. Analysis of the lower vertebrate component shows uniform taphonomic characteristics: on average 17.6% of specimens show evidence of corrosion (the vast majority light), and specimen breakage is between 4.9 and 12.0%, depending on metric. Charring is negligible. Most species are small (body mass <60 g). These taphonomic attributes do not vary in the studied portion of the stratigraphic profile, nor do they systematically vary between taxa. Thorough study of all skeletal parts suggests that most individuals probably entered the cave as whole animals; the only exception is the large glass lizard, Pseudopus, which is represented mostly by the tail. These taphonomic data suggest a Barn Owl as the predominant accumulator. However, natural history observations on Barn Owls and chameleons are strongly at odds with this actualistic inference: Barn Owls are nowhere recorded as a major predator on chameleons. We argue that a focus on extant, especially European, populations could distort our understanding of their feeding biology and is vulnerable to counterexample. We propose a scenario that harmonizes actualism and natural history. We further identify a possible owl roost in Qesem Cave, the first time such a roost has been identified in a collapsed cave setting. These conclusions may have conservation implications for chameleons. They also suggest that the hearth adjacent to the microvertebrate concentration was situated in the twilight zone.     

Experimental study of cut marks made with rocks unmodified by human flaking and its bearing on claims of ∼3.4-million-year-old butchery evidence from Dikika, Ethiopia

In order to assess further the recent claims of ∼3.4 Ma butchery marks on two fossil bones from the site of Dikika (Ethiopia), we broadened the actualistic-interpretive zooarchaeological framework by conducting butchery experiments that utilized naïve butchers and rocks unmodified by human flaking to deflesh chicken and sheep long limb bones. It is claimed that the purported Dikika cut marks present their unexpectedly atypical morphologies because they were produced by early hominins utilizing just such rocks. The composition of the cut mark sample produced in our experiments is quite dissimilar to the sample of linear bone surface modifications preserved on the Dikika fossils. This finding substantiates and expands our earlier conclusion that—considering the morphologies and patterns of the Dikika bone surface modifications and the inferred coarse-grained depositional context of the fossils on which they occur—the Dikika bone damage was caused incidentally by the movement of the fossils on and/or within their depositional substrate(s), and not by early hominin butchery. Thus, contrary to initial claims, the Dikika evidence does not warrant a major shift in our understanding of early hominin behavioral evolution with regard to carcass foraging and meat-eating.     

Changes in human bones boiled in seawater

The differences between boiled or unboiled bones are not often studied. However, they are crucial to understand postmortem rituals and to establish defleshing procedures and mortuary practices. In this work, human bones boiled in sea or fresh water are characterized. The bone composition, as well as the compounds present in the resulting materials, shows that salt alters the boiling process mechanism. Hence, from structural and morphological criteria, it is possible to distinguish if a bone has been boiled in salt or fresh water. In both sets of samples, the smoothness of the bone surface depends on boiling time, but only in bones boiled in seawater, filaments are observed apparently pouring out of the pores.Those differences which are mainly morphological (smoothness of the surface) are explained in terms of a collagen diffusional mechanism favored by sodium and chloride ions. For a boiling time of 6 h, the surface is covered by a thick layer or crusts of degraded collagen. Experiments with seawater may be used as model experiments to simulate taphonomical alterations in bones exposed to salt water.     

The Mousterian bone retouchers of Noisetier Cave: experimentation and identification of marks

Retouchers are fragments of bone used during the Paleolithic to strike stone flakes in order to transform them into retouched tools. Our experiments show that the mark produced on retouchers differs depending on whether they were used to strike flint or quartzite. Our results suggest that numerous pits, most often with an ovoid form, characterize the retouching of quartzite flakes. Most of the scores produced with this material have a sinuous morphology with rough interior faces. The areas with superposed traces have a pitted appearance. On the other hand, the retouching of flint flakes, produces pits that are most often triangular in form. Most of the scores have a rectilinear morphology with smooth interior faces and their superposition results in the formation of hatch marks. There is also a relationship between the characteristics of the mark and the relative state of freshness of the retouchers. The validity of the criteria identified was confirmed by a blind test. These diagnostic criteria were applied to archaeological retouchers from the Mousterian site of Noisetier Cave. The results obtained improve our knowledge of the technical behaviors of Neanderthals and allow us to address questions concerning their techno-economic implications.     

Icelandic volcanic ash from the Late-glacial open-air archaeological site of Ahrenshöft LA 58 D, North Germany

Cryptotephra of Icelandic origin from the open-air archaeological site of Ahrenshöft LA 58 D (Kr. Nordfriesland, Schleswig-Holstein), northern Germany overlies a Late-glacial Havelte lithic assemblage, hitherto dated by ¹⁴C and biostratigraphy to the earliest part of the Late-glacial interstadial (GI-1e to GI-1c₃). Peaks in ash shards are observed in two profiles. Major and minor element geochemistry indicates volcanic ash originating in the Katla system. Precise correlation to previously described tephra is uncertain due to overlapping chemical characteristics. The Ahrenshöft ¹⁴C determinations, litho- and bio-stratigraphy encompass a broad age-span for the cryptotephra bearing sediments, from the end of the Allerød to the Preboreal. The most plausible volcanic eruption correlates are the Vedde Ash (∼Younger Dryas), already known from the European mainland, tephra AF555 (late Younger Dryas) and the Suduroy tephra (∼Preboreal/Boreal), hitherto recorded only in the North Atlantic region. These three ash horizons have been dated to, respectively, 12,171 ± 57 yr b2k in the NGRIP ice-core, c.11,500 cal BP, in Scotland and c.8000 cal BP, by radiocarbon from the Faroe Isles. Ongoing research on deposits from the type sites for the tephra layers may in the future differentiate these markers leading to better discrimination of the chemistries and a resolution of this question.     

Neotaphonomic measures of carnivore serial predation at Ngamo Pan as an analog for interpreting open-air faunal assemblages

Here I present a neotaphonomic account of natural bone accumulations that have resulted from carnivore serial predation at Ngamo Pan, a vast complex of seasonal water holes located in Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe. Reconstructing the taphonomic histories of faunal assemblages from open-air archaeological sites is burdened with a host of interpretive complications, and this study is offered as a referential means for evaluating instances where stone tools and bone accumulations are associated in apparent archaeological contexts. While the presence of stone tools implies some involvement on the part of humans, open-air sites near water would also have served as prime locations for serial predation by large carnivores to ambush prey—a situation that, over time, can mimic archaeological bone accumulations. The taphonomic and zooarchaeological signatures of carnivore serial predation at Ngamo Pan show marked similarities with the open-air faunal accumulation from Kalkbank, a late Pleistocene site in Limpopo Province, South Africa, located along the margins of a relict pan. Many potential archaeological sites within the interior of southern Africa dating to the Middle Stone Age are known from open-air settings near permanent or ephemeral bodies of water, and the ability to decipher between hominin and non-hominin carnivore involvement with bone accumulations is paramount in determining the hunting and scavenging behaviors of our early ancestors. As much of our understanding of hominin subsistence during the Middle Stone Age is drawn from coastal cave locations, this study is intended to encourage a broadening of our perspective on the taphonomic histories of faunal accumulations dating to the Middle Stone Age by incorporating supplementary evidence provided by these open-air sites.     

Macroscopic and microbiological alterations of bird and small mammal bones buried in a Cerrado biome (south western Brazil)

In this paper, we present the results of an experimental approach developed to study the macroscopic and microbiological alteration of bird and small mammal bones buried under a Cerrado biome. The first experiment evaluated the macroscopic alteration of cooked and fresh carcasses buried through the dry and rainy seasons. The second experiment analyzed the mycobiota associated to the decomposition of a complete bird that remained buried for almost a year. Results show that in tropical forest environments: 1) bone structure and pre-taphonomic factors determine its differential alteration by biochemical processes; 2) fungal populations associated to the decomposition of animal remains depend on soil chemistry and ecological dynamics; 3) even in a corrosive environment, bird bones are more capable of surviving to several mycological decomposition steps.     

Taphonomic analysis of leporid remains obtained from modern Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus) scats

Distinguishing leporid bones accumulated by diurnal raptors, owls, mammals and humans is essential to understand not only past human subsistence activities but also past ecology. This is particularly relevant in Iberian Palaeolithic sites where leporid remains usually constitute the most abundant taxon. As far as terrestrial mammal carnivores are concerned, the Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus) would be the main leporid predator in the Iberian Peninsula. Up until now its contribution as a rabbit bone accumulator in archaeological sites has never been properly assessed. In order to investigate the taphonomic signature of this predator the analysis of 33 samples of modern Iberian lynx scats was carried out. Results show that leporid remains consumed by this carnivore appear very fragmented and exhibit a strong degree of corrosion digestion. Cranial elements are most abundant followed by long bones. Whereas there seem to be clear differences in relation to breakage and digestion alteration caused by owls, some of the patterns obtained are closest to those established with diurnal raptors.