Of buffalo and butchers : coupling traditional procurement studies with taphonomic analyses to explore intensive wild animal processing patterns at two Early Iron Age sites in the Kruger National Park

Located in northeastern South Africa in the Kruger National Park, the wilddominated faunal assemblages at Le6 and Le7 allow for a site-level examination of the treatment of wild species within the highly variable spectra of Early Iron Age animal use. Looking at hunting beyond pure subsistence choices, this paper couples traditional morphological analysis with taphonomic analysis and theoretical frameworks of intensification to ask new socially focussed zooarchaeological questions of these assemblages. Through this, both the procurement and processing methods utilized at Le6 and Le7 are identified and the significance of these choices is discussed. In so doing, the paper addresses possible specialization in both the hunting and the processing of large wild mammals. The socio-economic implications and potential drivers of these faunal choices are then considered within the broader context of the southern African Early Iron Age, and a potentially new faunal use strategy and site type are introduced.Les sites archéologiques Le6 et Le7 sont localisés dans le Parc National Kruger, au nord-est de l’Afrique du Sud. Les assemblages, qui sont dominés par des espèces sauvages, permettent une analyse intra-site du traitement spécifique des espèces sauvages au sein du large spectre des pratiques d’utilisation des ressources animales qui existent pour l’Age du Fer ancien. Dans cet article, la sphère cynégétique n’est pas abordée seulement sous l’angle des choix de subsistance. Il présente une approche plus large, qui recoupe les analyses morphologiques traditionnelles, les résultats taphonomiques ainsi que les cadres des théories d’intensification afin d’aborder des questions archéozoologiques novatrices, abordant l’aspect social des accumulateurs des ensembles fauniques. Ces méthodes d’analyse permettent d’identifier les stratégies d’acquisition et de traitement des ressources animales à Le6 et Le7 et de discuter l’importance des choix effectués. Parmi ces choix, nous discutons de la possibilité que les assemblages fauniques reflètent une spécialisation de la chasse et du traitement de grands mammifères sauvages. Les implications socio-économiques et les facteurs potentiels ayant mené à ces choix fauniques sont considérés dans le contexte de l’Age du Fer ancien d’Afrique australe. Enfin, sont introduits un nouveau type de stratégie d’utilisation des ressources animales et un nouveau type de site archéologique qui lui est associé.http://link.springer.com/journal/104372017-12-31hb2017Anthropology and Archaeolog

A critical zooarchaeological examination of animal use and processing at the Early Iron Age sites Le6 and Le7 in the Kruger National Park

Le6 and Le7 are Early Iron Age settlements located in north-eastern South Africa in the Kruger National Park. These two open-air sites, immediately adjacent to one another on the west bank of the Letaba River, likely date to circa 500-800 AD. The wild-dominated Le6 and Le7 faunal assemblages allow for a site-level examination of the treatment of wild species within the highly variable spectra of Early Iron Age animal use. Using previously unanalysed faunal material, this study moves beyond basic procurement interpretation to examine more than just the pure subsistence choices present at these hunting-dominated sites. Instead, new socially-focussed zooarchaeological questions are asked by coupling traditional morphological analysis with taphonomic analyses and theoretical frameworks of intensification. Through this, both the procurement and processing methods utilised at Le6 and Le7 are identified and the significance of these choices are discussed. The occupants at these sites showed an intensive preference for predominantly adult large wild mammals. These were then processed in similarly consistent manners, with explicit focus on the largest, most easily accessible muscle groups and in-bone fat sources. Among other factors, the scant evidence of cooking and signs of speed in processing suggests the majority of preparation was focussed not on immediate consumption, but possibly on secondary transport of the animal resources off these sites. Altogether, rather than traditional residential Early Iron Age sites, Le6 and Le7 are considered as repeatedly re-used, shorter-term hunting bases for intensified, and possibly specialised, large wild mammal-use a potentially new faunal use strategy and site type for the period and region. The socio-economic implications and potential drivers of these faunal choices are then considered within the broader context of the southern African Early Iron Age. The place of expanded zooarchaeological methods and theories in social archaeological questions and more emic lines of site interpretation is also introduced, here specifically presented in the context of re-exploring the role and significance of wild animals at two Early Iron Age sites.Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2016.Anthropology and ArchaeologyMAUnrestricte