Tafonomía multiservicio. valvas, basura y palimpsestos flotantes

We discuss the importance of widening the scope of taphonomy, arguing that it is critical to study of different classes of materials within this framework. We introduce several examples related to the deposition of marine shells and garbage. In particular, we focus on debris generated by tsunamis.Se presenta una discusión acerca de la importancia de ampliar el campo de la tafonomía, considerando distintas clases de materiales. Se presentan varios ejemplos, relacionados con la depositación de valvas marinas y el estudio de la basura en diferentes contextos. Se desarrolla en particular el caso de los desechos derivados de la acción de tsunamis.Fil: Borrero, Luis Alberto. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Saavedra 15. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Historia y Ciencias Humanas; Argentin

Investigating Variation in the Prevalence of Weathering in Faunal Assemblages in the UK: A Multivariate Statistical Approach

This article presents an exploratory multivariate statistical approach to gaining a more comprehensive understanding of variation in subaerial bone weathering in a British context. Weathering is among the most common taphonomic modifications and provides a crucial line of evidence for reconstructing the taphonomic trajectories of faunal assemblages and archaeological deposits. It provides clear evidence for prolonged subaerial exposure either before deposition in a context or because of later disturbance. In combination with other taphonomic indices such as gnawing, trampling, abrasion and fracture patterns, weathering can be used to reconstruct depositional histories and to investigate the structured treatment of different body parts or taxa in deposition. However, a broad range of factors affect the prevalence and severity of weathering, and therefore patterns can rarely be interpreted at face value. Many variables such as predepositional microenvironment cannot be traced archaeologically. Other contributory factors pertaining to the structural properties of elements and taxa can be discerned and must be taken into account in interpreting weathering signatures. However, disagreement exists regarding which variables are most important in mediating weathering. In addition for zooarchaeologists to interpret modification patterns, it is necessary for elements and taxa that are most likely to be affected by weathering to be defined. This is the case as deposits that are dominated by those classes of remains are likely to exhibit greater modification than those that are not, even if depositional histories were similar. Through a combination of classification tree and ordinal regression analysis, this article identifies which archaeologically recoverable variables explain the greatest variance in weathering and which anatomical elements and taxa are most likely to be affected in archaeological deposits in the UK

Aspects of the taphonomy of the Cambrian Explosion in North Greenland

This thesis describes and elucidates the taphonomic pathways responsible for the exceptional preservation of some of the most common elements of the Sirius Passet Lagerstätte (early Cambrian), North Greenland. Investigative techniques including cathodoluminescence, are tested first on silicified molluscs from the Oligocene of Antigua, associated with a volcanic source; described in chapter 2. By describing the depositional environment of the Sirius Passet biota in detail and using a combination of analytical techniques such as SEM, EDAX, SEM-CL and elemental mapping two published papers address a number of the key research questions surrounding the unique taphonomic pathways in the Sirius Passet biota and their broader significance in understanding Cambrian ecosystems. The papers are included in the form of chapters 3 and 4 and the published versions included in the appendices. A unique, mat-dominated, tissue specific taphonomic pathway is proposed, more akin to the Proterozoic than the typical Burgess Shale Type (BST) preservation seen elsewhere in the Cambrian. This together with mouldic preservation indicates a range of taphonomic styles concomitant with the range of new biotas at the dawn of the Cambrian Explosion

Taphonomy in the kitchen: culinary practices and processing residues of native tuberous plants of the south-central Andes

Presentamos material comparativo para la identificación de residuos culinarios de tubérculos cocidos de Solanum sp., Oxalis tuberosa y Ullucus tuberosus. Partimos de un concepto amplio de tafonomía que incluye el estudio de las modificaciones de las plantas resultantes de la preparación de alimentos; en este caso, aquellas que se deben al hervido y cocción al rescoldo de tubérculos frescos. Realizamos experimentos de cocción controlados y comparamos los resultados con muestras frescas. Describimos las modificaciones en los atributos morfológicos y ópticos de tejidos y partículas intracelulares resultantes de nuestros experimentos de cocción. Finalmente, discutimos la posibilidad de reconocer las técnicas de cocción a partir del análisis microscópico de vestigios de tubérculos.We present comparative material for the identification of culinary residues of cooked tubers of Solanum sp., Oxalis tuberosa and Ullucus tuberosus. We use a broad concept of taphonomy that includes the study of plant modifications resulting from the preparation of food, in this case the boiling and cooking al rescoldo of fresh tubers. We undertake a number of controlled cooking experiments and compare the results with fresh samples. We discuss morphological and optical modifications of tissue fragments and intracellular particles resulting from our cooking experiments. Finally, we discuss the possibility of recognizing cooking techniques from microscopic analysis of tuber remains.Fil: Babot, Maria del Pilar. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucuman. Instituto Superior de Estudios Sociales. Universidad Nacional de Tucuman. Instituto Superior de Estudios Sociales; ArgentinaFil: Lund, Julia. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales e Instituto Miguel Lillo. Instituto de Arqueología y Museo; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Olmos, Adriana Valeria. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales e Instituto Miguel Lillo. Instituto de Arqueología y Museo; Argentin

Bone modification and the conceptual relationship between humans and animals in Iron Age Wessex

archaeological records. As a result of the manner in which human and animal remains are traditionally studied and reported on, the analysis of taphonomic processes which affect the character of specimens between death and incorporation into forming deposits is often confined to butchery, burning and fragmentation. This paper argues that current methods of osteoarchaeological analysis fail to recognise the potential of a substantial and easily accessible source of information in paying little attention to the processes of weathering, gnawing, trampling, abrasion and longitudinal/spiral fracturing. More detailed taphonomic assessments have tended to focus on one specific process to answer a particular research question rather than taking a holistic approach to pre-depositional affects (e.g. Outram 2001). Consequently biographies of skeletal material are only partially complete, as the period in the material existence of bone prior to subterranean deposition is not fully investigated. The aforementioned taphonomic processes can provide substantial evidence for human decision making regarding the treatment of different classes of remains. This research explores the potential of holistic taphonomic analysis in a sample of c.9500 human and faunal specimens from the Iron Age sites of Winnall Down and Danebury. These sites were selected as they are located in the heart of Wessex, an area about which there has been considerable discourse and disagreement regarding the nature of human and animal bone treatment in the Iron Age. Through comprehensive taphonomic analysis, highly regulated, socially circumscribed behaviours surrounding bone handling were revealed. These results are suggestive of separate practices relating to the treatment of human and faunal remains with the latter exhibiting significantly greater evidence of exposure. The analysis of bone modification in features containing both human and faunal remains reveals a blurring of the boundary between human and animal identities, as the treatment of the two classes of material differs to a significantly lesser degree than when analysing the entire assemblage. Therefore each class of material is subjected to a more closely related mode of treatment. This might be seen as indicative of a conceptual proximity of human and faunal remains

A record of fossil shallow-water whale falls from Italy

Twenty-five Neogene-Quaternary whales hosted in Italian museum collections and their associated fauna were analysed for evidence of whale-fall community development in shallow-water settings. The degree of bone articulation, completeness of the skeleton and lithology of the embedding sediments were used to gather information on relative water depth, water energy, sedimentation rate and overall environmental predictability around the bones. Shark teeth and hard-shelled invertebrates with a necrophagous diet in close association with the bones were used as evidence of scavenging. Fossil bone bioerosion, microbially mediated cementation and other mollusc shells in the proximity of the remains informed on past biological activity around the bones. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that shallow-water whale falls differ from their deep-water counterparts. Taphonomic pathways are more variable on the shelf and whale carcasses may not go through all steps of the ecological succession as recognised in the deep sea. Whilst the mobile scavenger and the enrichment opportunistic stages are well represented, chemosynthetic taxa typical of the sulphophilic stage were recovered only in one instance. The presence of a generalist fauna among the suspension feeding bivalves and carnivorous gastropods, and the extreme rarity of chemosynthetic taxa, suggest that predatory pressure rules out whale-fall specialists from shallow shelf settings as in analogous cold seep and vent shallow-water communities. © 2014 The Lethaia Foundation