The study of skeletal part proflles: anambiguoust zaphonomic tool for zooarchaeology.

Sin resume

Identifying dietary stress in marginal environments: bone fats, optimal foraging theory and the seasonal round

Reproduced with permission of the publisher. Copyright © Oxbow Books and the individual authors, 2004The importance of fat in the diet is outlined and the importance of bones as a reliable source of fat is explained. Different patterns of bone marrow and grease exploitation are discussed with particular reference to marginal environments and how levels of exploitation will be related to levels of dietary stress. The possible role of Optimal Foraging Theory in addressing this issue is outlined and adaptations of Marginal Value Theorem and Diet Breadth specific to bone fat exploitation are put forward and described. The methodologies for studying patterns of bone fat exploitation within archaeological assemblages are outlined and four example applications relating to Norse and Pale-Eskimo Greenland, Norse Iceland and Middle Neolithic Gotland are used to illustrate what these methods can show. These case studies are discussed with specific reference to identifying dietary stress in marginal environments and the role of seasonality to this issue

Family provisioning is not the only reason men hunt

pre-printGurven and Hill (2009) ask, "Why do mean hunt?" As they say, "The observation that mean hunt and women gather supported the simplistic view of marriage as a cooperative enterprise. Greater sophistication suggests that males may often be motivated by mating and status rather than offspring investment" (p.60). We agree (e.g., Hawkes 1990, 1991; Hawkes et al. 1991, 2001 a, 2001b). This is the revision we first proposed nearly 20 years ago (Hawkes 1990) and have elaborated several times since. Having endorsed our point, Gurven and Hill then reject it, expressing continuing confidence in the idea that "men's food production efforts are mainly motivated by a concern for familial welfare" (p.68). Their rejection of our argument and related reaffirmation of conventional wisdom stem from a misunderstanding of data from the Paraguayan Ache and Tanzanian Hadza and a failure to appreciate the importance of other sources of information. We elaborate this critique on four key points

Applied Models and Indices vs. High-Resolution, Observed Data: Detailed Fracture and Fragmentation Analyses for the Investigation of Skeletal Part Abundance Patterns

Reproduced with permission of the publisher. Copyright © 2004 Prometheus Press/Palaeontological Network Foundation.This is the published version of an article published in the Journal of Taphonomy 2(3), pp.167-184The history and development of skeletal part abundance studies is briefly discussed. Two principal strands of this sub-discipline are the application of indices of food utility and bone mineral density to the interpretation of skeletal part abundance patterns. Both food utility and bone mineral density indices are derived from modern observations, underwritten by uniformitarian assumptions, and are used to model behavioural and taphonomic patterns in the selection and survival of bone elements. The application of such models is critiqued. It is argued that, whilst such models remain extremely valuable, they will always suffer from equifinality with regard to end interpretations. The solution to this problem does not lie in improving these models, or the data they derive from, though this may be desirable, but in the more time-consuming option of improving the resolution of archaeologically observed data. Several ways of doing this are briefly discussed. One of these options, fracture and fragmentation analysis, is outlined in detail. Sample applications of such an approach are presented and discussed. These include the use of fracture and fragmentation analysis to identify specific practices that can severely skew skeletal part abundances, such as bone grease rendering, and the identification of levels of pre-depositional and post-depositional fracturing within the taphonomic history of bone assemblages

Taphonomic perspectives on hominid site use and foraging strategies during Bed II times at Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania

The faunal assemblages excavated by Mary Leakey in Bed II of Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania, have, like the more well-known Bed I assemblages, traditionally been interpreted as the result of hominid butchering activities in the lake margin and riverine settings of the paleo-Olduvai Basin. A reexamination of all of Leakey’s Bed I sites has shown that hominids played little or no role in the formation of all but one of those faunal assemblages, a finding that prompted the reanalysis of the Bed II sites presented here. We expand upon a previous taphonomic study that provided systematic data for HWK East Levels 1–2, MNK Main, and BK. In addition to these assemblages, we provide data on HWK East Levels 3–5, FC West, TK, and SHK. Our data contradict previous interpretations of MNK Main as a hominid accumulation but uphold the contention that BK represents a primarily hominid accumulation reflecting early access to carcasses. The small and poorly preserved assemblages from FC West and TK are difficult to link un-ambiguously to either hominids or carnivores. Site MNK Main and HWK East Levels 3–5 appear to be death arenas where carcasses accumulated via natural deaths and/or serial predation. Site SHK is severely biased by selective retention and therefore little can be said of its formational history. Nevertheless, no hominid modifications were documented in this assemblage. Comparisons with other Olduvai sites indicate a more conspicuous hyena taphonomic signal during Bed II times than Bed I times, which appears to mirror the changing configuration of the large carnivore guild. These findings also beg the question of what activities were being carried out by hominids with the stone tools discarded at these sites. Although it seems clear that hominids were utilizing stone tools to carry out subsistence activities unrelated to carcass butchery, more excavation and techniques such as phytolith analysis should be employed to explore alternative explanations

Demografía y cambio ambiental. Hipótesis para el cambio económico en el Cantábrico Oriental durante el Tardiglacial

El registro arqueozoológico disponible en los yacimientos del Cantábrico Oriental durante el Tardiglacial posee claras evidencias de la existencia de un cambio económico gradual desde posiciones especializadas a otras más diversificadas, en una tendencia progresiva de ampliación del nicho ecológico. No existe, sin embargo, un acuerdo general sobre las causas que motivaron esta evolución, pudiéndose distinguir las tesis demográficas, que abogan por un crecimiento sostenido de la población humana y sus necesidades energéticas como factor determinante, de las ambientales, que establecen la mejoría del clima y la reforestación como elementos precursores. En el presente trabajo se aborda esta cuestión a partir de la confección de un modelo matemático de simulación de la interacción entre los ciclos biológicos naturales de varios ungulados y las actividades de caza humana, estableciéndose finalmente la hipótesis demográfica como la más plausible de las dos.The zooarchaeological record available in Eastern Cantabrian sites during the Late Glacial shows clear evidences of a gradual economic change from specialized hunting strategies to more diversified ones, in a progressive trend towards an ecological niche enlargement. However, there is not a general agreement on the causes that triggered this evolution, with two main opposite points of view: a demographic theory, which proposes a continuous growth of human population and its energetic requirements as the determining factor, and an environmental one, which establishes the improvement of the climate and the reforestation as precursor elements. In this paper, the question is assessed by building a mathematical model that simulates the relationship between the biological cycle of some ungulates and the human hunting, finally establishing the demographic hypothesis as the most likely one

Zooarchaeological and Taphonomic Perspectives on Hominid and Carnivore Interactions at Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania

Thesis (PhD) - Indiana University, Anthropology, 2007This dissertation examines variability in the foraging strategies of hominids and large carnivores during Bed I and II times (1.9-1.2 million years ago) at Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania. Nine levels from six sites are analyzed and three major issues addressed: (1) the relative roles of hominids and large carnivores in the formation of each faunal assemblage; (2) the identity of the carnivore(s) responsible for carcass accumulation and modification; and (3) the intensity of on-site competition for carcass resources. Competition is utilized as a unifying concept because of its ecological importance and taphonomic visibility. Other than BK in Bed II, little or no evidence for hominid carcass processing is present in the Olduvai faunas examined here. In Bed I, DK likely represents a predation/death arena that was sporadically utilized by hominids for carcass parts while FLKNN 2 and FLKN 5 reflect repeated carcass transport by felids to eating areas. Poor preservation at the Bed II sites of FC West and TK hinders a definitive link to either hominid or large carnivore behavior. A significant portion of the BK assemblage is the result of carcass part transport and processing by hominids. A strong felid taphonomic signature exists in the Bed I faunas, while in the Bed II assemblages hyena involvement with carcasses is much more pronounced. All of the Bed I sites examined here formed in relatively low competition settings. Concomitant with a general shift in site location during Bed II times, FC West, TK and BK all occur in higher competition environments. The co-occurrence of stone tools with fauna that lack butchery damage, especially at the Bed I sites, has important implications for hominid site use. A combination of the faunal and lithic data suggests that hominids were using these sites for activities unrelated to carcass processing. These finding highlight variability in hominid site use at Olduvai Gorge and beyond

Reflexiones sobre etnoarqueología contemporánea

This article discusses some of the central topics in ethnoarchaeology and approaches them from a Latin American perspective. The development of the subdiscipline is summarized and analyzed, and case studies in the region are provided. Moreover, since ethnoarchaeology in Latin America cannot be detached from the state of the discipline in the rest of the world, there are references to global developments that aim to contextualize these case studies. Some of the criticisms made against the subdiscipline are included as well, and they are discussed in the light of the current situation. Ethnoarchaeology’s contributions to the interpretation of the archaeological record and to theory building in archaeology are examined. It is concluded that one of the main contributions of ethnoarchaeology is the mitigation of the ethnocentrism that permeates the archaeological view of the people in the past and the interpretation of long-term human processes. With its particular purview on contemporary societies, ethnoarchaeology is providing substantial input, not only to the understanding of human behavior, but also to archaeological theory.Este artículo analiza algunos de los temas centrales de la etnoarqueología y se acerca a ellos desde una perspectiva latinoamericana. Resume y discute el desarrollo de la subdisciplina y proporciona ejemplos de esta región. Además, dado que la etnoarqueología en América Latina no puede entenderse desligada de los avances de la disciplina en el resto del mundo, se incluyen referencias a otros ámbitos geográficos a escala mundial para contextualizar estos ejemplos. También se incluyen algunas de las críticas formuladas contra la subdisciplina y se discuten teniendo en cuenta las tendencias actuales. Se examinan las contribuciones de la etnoarqueología a la interpretación del registro arqueológico y a la construcción de la teoría arqueológica. El artículo concluye que una de las principales aportaciones de la etnoarqueología es que ayuda a mitigar el etnocentrismo que impregna la interpretación arqueológica de las poblaciones pasadas y la interpretación de los procesos humanos a largo plazo. Con su enfoque particular en las sociedades contemporáneas, la etnoarqueología está proporcionando una aportación sustancial, no sólo para la comprensión de la conducta humana, sino también para la construcción de la teoría arqueológica

A symbolic Neanderthal accumulation of large herbivore crania

Funding for this research was provided by the Dirección General de Investigación e Innovación Tecnológica de la Comunidad de Madrid, grant no. H2019/HUM-5840 (co-financed by the European Social Fund), and by the Agencia Estatal de Investigación of the Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades, grant no. PCG2018-094125-B-100 (MCIU/AEI/FEDER, UE). (...)Baquedano E., Arsuaga J.L., Pérez-González A., Laplana C., Márquez B., Huguet R., Gómez-Soler S., Villaescusa L., Galindo-Pellicena M.Á., Rodríguez L., García-González R., Ortega M.-C., Martín-Perea D.M., Ortega A.I., Hernández-Vivanco L., Ruiz-Liso G., Gómez-Hernanz J., Alonso-Martín J.I., Abrunhosa A., Moclán A., Casado A.I., Vegara-Riquelme M., Álvarez-Fernández A., Domínguez-García Á.C., Álvarez-Lao D.J., García N., Sevilla P., Blain H.-A., Ruiz-Zapata B., Gil-García M.J., Álvarez-Vena A., Sanz T., Quam R., Higham T