Volume density of South American camelid skeletal parts

This paper provides a set of volume density values for skeletal parts of lama (Mammalia, Artiodactyla, Camelidae). The method by which these values were obtained is described and compared with published data of densitometries made on cervids, showing a high positive correlation between the bone densities of the two artiodactyls. The camelid bone density data are used to discuss the interpretation of skeletal patterning in an Andean archaeofaunal assemblage.     

Preservation of bird bones: erosion versus digestion by owls

Surface damage to bird bones from pellets of three species of owls (S. aluco, A. otus and B. bubo) was compared with that of bird bones exposed to weathering and soil corrosion (Záskogo Cave in the Western Balkan Mountains, Bulgaria and Ciemna Cave, southern Poland). Scanning electron microscopy and light microscope examinations indicate that the effects of weathering of bird bones (extensive pitting and flaking away on whole bones, holes with sharp edges, depressions with rough bottoms and sharp edges of breakage) are distinguishable from those of digestion (rounding of hole edges on articular ends and sometimes on shafts, rounding of breakage). However, soil corrosion may produce similar rounding to that of digestion, which may hamper taphonomic interpretations of fossil assemblages. Two stages of weathering in bird bone are distinguished. Generally, the kind of damage done to bird bones is similar to that done to mammalian remains. Taphonomic studies of fossil bird remains should take into account a combination of features, including surface damage, fragmentation and possible chemical alterations of bone tissues. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Relax,Don’t Do It: A Future for Archaeological Monitoring

Preservation in situ and the monitoring of archaeological sites have become important themes since the acceptance and implementation of the Valletta Treaty. In the last few decades, our knowledge of degradation processes has increased manyfold, and a range of techniques have been tested and applied for use in both assessment and monitoring. Despite these successes, all is not well. First, we have little notion of the speed of the decay processes involved. This makes it difficult to distinguish between acute and protracted degradation. Apart from that, many assessments and subsequent monitoring projects rely (too?) heavily on complex and costly specialist technology. For any future preservation — in situ — projects low-tech observations together with best estimates of decay rates and archaeological site information should be combined to make an accurate assessment of the effects of decay on the archaeological record. Monitoring for preservation purposes is only appropriate if (1) decay processes occur within a relevant and measurable time scale, and (2) if mitigating actions can be taken or preservation ex situ can be performed (i.e. a rescue excavation) if significant degradation takes place.     

The urban ecology of Iron Age Tel Megiddo: using microvertebrate remains as ancient bio-indicators

The potential of microvertebrate remains for reconstructing the paleoecology of urban sites remains largely untapped except for extensive research carried out at Roman and medieval sites in Britain. We apply taphonomic and ecological approaches to analyzing an assemblage of microvertebrate remains from the Iron Age IIA of Tel Megiddo, Israel. Sampling in a dense residential area including house floors and various fills produced 1080 identifiable specimens including fish, mammal, reptile and bird remains. The mammalian remains show a number of distinct patterns pointing to accumulation from the community of small animals which lived and died on-site. These patterns include evidence for fragmentation due to trampling and presence of burned specimens. The mammalian remains also differed in their taphonomy from an assemblage from Early Bronze Age II Megiddo which originated from predator accumulation during a period of abandonment. These analyses point to an especially low taxonomic diversity in the Iron Age residential assemblage suggesting that the urban environment of Megiddo supported a unique community of small mammalian animals. This differs markedly from ecological conditions in modern day cities which in some cases show greater than background levels of diversity and suggests a dense, homogenous urban environment. We suggest that reconstructing the evolution of urban fauna in greater detail will provide a sensitive tool for tracing historical processes of growth, decline and increasing complexity of urban sites in the Near East as well as other regions of the world.     

The taphonomy and palaeoenvironmental implications of the small mammals from Karain Cave,Turkey

The small mammal accumulations in the Pleistocene deposits of Karain Cave are investigated to identify the predators and possible biases in the fossil assemblages. Seven small mammal assemblages are studied in chronological order from two chambers of the cave, the main chamber E and the side chamber B. The lowermost level within the whole sequence is Proto-Charentien, which corresponds to an early stage of the Middle Palaeolithic. The main part of the material belongs to Middle Palaeolithic layers. The most important aspect of the fossil record in the cave is the human occupation without any interruption through the Pleistocene to Holocene. The small mammal fossil evidence in the cave denotes the presence of opportunistic predators throughout the sequence with one exception, and these produce balanced samples of small mammal faunas in the habitat. The lack of bias in the small mammal faunas allow the interpretation of local environments, showing that partial steppe and arid conditions existed during deposition of the lowermost levels of the Middle Palaeolithic in Karain Cave and that these shifted into more temperate and wooded habitat in the upper levels. Evidence from the side chamber indicates some differences, with a more open grassy environment. In the Mediterranean part of Anatolia the temperate and moist conditions in the Middle Palaeolithic were superseded by more arid conditions in the Upper Palaeolithic, followed by a decrease in steppe conditions during the Epi-Palaeolithic period.