Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-g7gxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-09T08:00:17.714Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Intrasite Spatial Analysis of Bone: Subtracting the Effect of Secondary Carnivore Consumers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Curtis W. Marean  and
Leanne Bertino
Curtis W. Marean
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, State University of New York, Stony Brook, New York 11794-4364
Leanne Bertino
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Ball State University, Muncie, IN 47306
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Animal bones discarded by people are commonly subject to disturbance by carnivores. These carnivores are present throughout the world and include wolves, coyotes, hyenas, and many others. This disturbance not only modifies and destroys bone, but also moves many of the bone fragments away from their original position of discard. Intrasite spatial analyses of bone that seek patterns meaningful to human behavior thus need to subtract the effect of carnivore disturbance. Experimental studies with spotted hyenas show that the position of a bone fragment on a limb bone, combined with bone surface modification, can be used to identify a class of bone fragments that are minimally affected by carnivores and are thus the best indicators of spatial patterning resulting from human behavior. Limb-bone ends are moved significant distances, as are shaft fragments as a general class. However, middle-shaft portions of limb bones that preserve percussion marks from hammerstone breakage retain nearly the precise spatial position as originally discarded by hominids. Thus, any spatial analysis of bone, when carnivores are implicated as contributors or consumers at an archaeological site, should focus on middle-shaft portions of limb bones with percussion marks.

Resumen

Resumen

Los huesos animales desechados por la gente se hallan comúnmente expuestos a la perturbación por parte de carnívoros. Tales carnívoros están presentes en todo el globo e incluyen a lobos, coyotes, hienas y muchos otros. Estas perturbaciones no sólo modifican y destruyen el material óseo, sino que también ocasionan el transporte de muchos fragmentos óseos a lugares distantes del sitio donde inicialmente se encontraban. Los análisis espaciales de huesos que buscan patrones significativos del comportamiento humano necesitan por lo tanto considerar el efecto de esta perturbación por parte de los carnívoros. Ciertos estudios experimentales con hienas manchadas demuestran que la posición delfragmento óseo de una extremidad, junto con la modificación de la superficie ósea pueden ser utilizadas para identificar alguna clase de fragmentos escasamente afectados por carnívoros. Dicha clase de fragmentos óseos es la mejor indicadora de la distribución espacial resultante del comportamiento humano. Tanto las terminaciones de una extremidad como los fragmentos a lo largo del eje de ésta, en general, son desplazados distancias significativos. Sin embargo, las porciones correspondientes a los puntos intermedios de una extremidad, que conservan marcas de percusión ocasionadas por golpes de martillo, mantienen una ubicación espacial precisa, bastante próximo a aquélla en la que fueron originalmente desechados por los homínidos. Por lo tanto, cualquier análisis espacial de huesos que implique a carnivoros como contribuyentes o consumidores en un sitio arqueológico debe enfocarse en las porciones ubicadas en el punto intermedio de los huesos de una extremidad, acompanadas de señales de martillo.

Type
Reports
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 59 , Issue 4 , October 1994 , pp. 748 - 768
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 1994

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

References Cited

Bartram, L. E., Kroll, E. M., and Bunn, H. T. 1991 Variability in Camp Structure and Bone Food Refuse Patterning at Kua San Hunter-Gatherer Camps. In The Interpretation of Archaeological Spatial Patterning, edited by Kroll, E. M. and Price, T. D., pp. 77–148. Plenum Press, New York.Google Scholar
Bar-Yosef, O., Vandermeersch, B., Arensburg, B., Belfer-Cohen, A., Goldberg, P., Laville, H., Meignen, L., Rak, Y., Speth, J. D., Tchernov, E., Tillier, A-M., and Weiner, S. 1992 The Excavations in Kebara Cave, Mt. Carmel. Current Anthropology 33 : 497–550.Google Scholar
Binford, L. R. 1978 Nunamiut Ethnoarchaeology. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Binford, L. R. 1981 Bones : Ancient Men and Modern Myths. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Binford, L. R. 1987 Researching Ambiguity : Frames of Reference and Site Structure. In Method and Theory for Activity Area Research, edited by Kent, S., pp. 449–512. Columbia University Press, New York.Google Scholar
Binford, L. R., Mills, M. G. L., and Stone, N. M. 1988 Hyena Scavenging Behavior and Its Implications for Interpretation of Faunal Assemblages from FLK22 (the Zinj Floor) at Olduvai Gorge. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 7 : 99–135.Google Scholar
Blumenschine, R. J. 1986 Early Hominid Scavenging Opportunities : Implications of Carcass Availability in the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Ecosystems. BAR International Series 283. British Archaeological Reports, Oxford.Google Scholar
Blumenschine, R. J. 1988 An Experimental Model of the Timing of Hominid and Carnivore Influence on Archaeological Bone Assemblages. Journal of Archaeological Science 15 : 483–502.Google Scholar
Blumenschine, R. J., and Marean, C. W. 1993 A Carnivore's View of Archaeological Bone Assemblages. In From Bones to Behavior, edited by Hudson, J., pp. 273–300. Center for Archaeological Investigations, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale.Google Scholar
Blumenschine, R. J., and Masao, F. 1991 Living Sites at Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania? Preliminary Landscape Archaeology Results in the Basal Bed II Lake Margin Zone. Journal of Human Evolution 21 : 451–462.Google Scholar
Blumenschine, R. J., and Selvaggio, M. 1988 Percussion Marks on Bone Surfaces as a New Diagnostic of Hominid Behaviour. Nature 333 : 763–765.Google Scholar
Brain, C. K. 1981 The Hunters or the Hunted? An Introduction to African Cave Taphonomy. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.Google Scholar
Bunn, H. T. 1986 Patterns of Skeletal Representation and Hominid Subsistence Activities at Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania, and Koobi Fora, Kenya. Journal of Human Evolution 15 : 673–690.Google Scholar
Bunn, H. T. 1991 A Taphonomic Perspective on the Archaeology of Human Origins. Annual Review of Anthropology 20 : 433–67.Google Scholar
Bunn, H. T., and Kroll, E. M. 1986 Systematic Butchery by Plio/Pleistocene Hominids at Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania. Current Anthropology 27 : 431–452.Google Scholar
Bunn, H. T., and Kroll, E. M. 1988 Reply to Binford. Current Anthropology 29 : 135–149.Google Scholar
Bunn, H. T., Bartram, L. E., and Kroll, E. M. 1988 Variability in Bone Assemblage Formation from Hadza Hunting, Scavenging, and Carcass Processing. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 7 : 412–457.Google Scholar
Bunn, H. T., Harris, J. W. K., Isaac, G. LI., Kaufulu, Z., Kroll, E. M., Schick, K., Toth, N., and Behrensmeyer, A. K. 1980 Fxjj50 : An Early Pleistocene Site in Northern Kenya. World Archaeology 12 : 109–136.Google Scholar
Carr, C. 1991 Left in the Dust : Contextual Information in Model-Focused Archaeology. In The Interpretation of Archaeological Spatial Patterning, edited by Kroll, E. M. and Price, T. D., pp. 221–256. Plenum Press, New York.Google Scholar
Frank, L. G., Glickman, S. E., and Licht, P. 1991 Fatal Sibling Aggression, Precocial Development, and Androgens in Neonatal Spotted Hyenas. Science 252 : 702–704.Google Scholar
Frank, L. G., Glickman, S. E., and Zabel, C. J. 1989 Ontogeny of Female Dominance in the Spotted Hyaena : Perspectives from Nature and Captivity. In The Biology of Large African Mammals in Their Environment, edited by Jewell, P. A. and M, G.. Maloiy, O., pp. 127–146. Symposium of the Zoological Society of London No. 61. Zoological Society of London, London.Google Scholar
Gifford-Gonzalez, D. 1991 Bones Are Not Enough : Analogues, Knowledge, and Interpretive Strategies in Zooarchaeology. Journal of Anthropological Research 10 : 215–254.Google Scholar
Gregg, S. A., Kintigh, K. W., and Whallon, R. 1991 Linking Ethnoarchaeological Interpretation and Archaeological Data : The Sensitivity of Spatial Analytical Methods to Postdepositional Disturbance. In The Interpretation of Archaeological Spatial Patterning, edited by Kroll, E. M. and Price, T. D., pp. 149–196. Plenum Press, New York.Google Scholar
Hay, R. L. 1976 The Geology ofOlduvai Gorge. University of California Press, Berkeley.Google Scholar
Haynes, G. 1983 A Guide for Differentiating Mammalian Carnivore Taxa Responsible for Gnaw Damage to Herbivore Limb Bones. Paleobiology 9 : 164–172.Google Scholar
Hietala, H. J. 1984 Intrasite Spatial Analysis : A Brief Introduction. In Intrasite Spatial Analysis In Archaeology, edited by Hietala, H. J., pp. 1–3. Cambridge University Press, New York.Google Scholar
Isaac, G. LI. 1967 Toward the Interpretation of Occupation Debris : Some Experiments and Observations. Kroeber Anthropological Papers 37 : 31–57.Google Scholar
Kintigh, K. W., and Ammerman, A. J. 1982 Heuristic Approaches to Spatial Analysis in Archaeology. American Antiquity 47 : 31–63.Google Scholar
Klein, R. G. 1975 Paleoanthropological Implications of the Nonarchaeological Bone Assemblage from Swartklip I, Southwestern Cape Province, South Africa. Quaternary Research 5 : 275–288.Google Scholar
Kroll, E. M., and Isaac, G. LI. 1984 Configurations of Artifacts and Bones at Early Pleistocene Sites in East Africa. In Intrasite Spatial Analysis In Archaeology, edited by Hietala, H. J., pp. 4–31. Cambridge University Press, New York.Google Scholar
Kroll, E. M., and Price, T. D. 1991 Introduction. In The Interpretation of Archaeological Spatial Patterning, edited by Kroll, E. M. and Douglas, T. Price, pp. 1–6. Plenum Press, New York.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kruuk, H. 1972 The Spotted Hyena. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.Google Scholar
Leakey, M. D. 1971 Olduvai Gorge, vol. 3. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Makacha, S., and Schaller, G. 1969 Observations on Lions in the Lake Manyara National Park, Tanzania. East African Wildlife Journal 7 : 99–103.Google Scholar
Marean, C. W. 1990 Late Quaternary Paleoenvironments and Faunal Exploitation in East Africa. Unpublished Ph. D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley.Google Scholar
Marean, C. W. 1991 Measuring the Postdepositional Destruction of Bone in Archaeological Assemblages. Journal of Archaeological Science 18 : 677–694.Google Scholar
Marean, C. W., and Spencer, L. 1991 Impact of Carnivore Ravaging on Zooarchaeological Measures of Element Abundance. American Antiquity 56 : 645–658.Google Scholar
Marean, C. W., Spencer, L. M., Blumenschine, R. J., and Capaldo, S. 1992 Captive Hyena Bone Choice and Destruction, the Schlepp Effect, and Olduvai Archaeofaunas. Journal of Archaeological Science 18 : 101–121.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
O. Connell, J. F. O., Hawkes, K., and Jones, N. B. 1992 Patterns in the Distribution, Site Structure and Assemblage Composition of Hadza Kill-Butchering Sites. Journal of Archaeological Science 19 : 319–345.Google Scholar
Potts, R. 1988 Early Hominid Activities at Olduvai. Aldine de Gruyter, New York.Google Scholar
Potts, R., and Shipman, P. 1981 Cutmarks Made by Stone Tools on Bones from Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania. Nature 291 : 577–580.Google Scholar
Rigaud, J-P., and Simek, J. 1991 Interpreting Spatial Patterns at Grotte XV : A Multiple-Method Approach. In The Interpretation of Archaeological Spatial Patterning, edited by Kroll, E. M. and Douglas, T. Price, pp. 199–220. Plenum Press, New York.Google Scholar
Shipman, P. 1986 Scavenging or Hunting in Early Hominids : Theoretical Framework and Tests. American Anthropologist 88 : 27–3. Google Scholar
Simek, J. 1984 Interpreting Pattern and Context in Spatial Archaeology. Journal of Archaeological Science 11 : 405–420.Google Scholar
Simek, J., and Larick, R. 1983 The Recognition of Multiple Spatial Patterns : A Case Study from the French Upper Paleolithic. Journal of Archaeological Science 10 : 165–180.Google Scholar
Sutcliffe, A. J. 1970 Spotted Hyaena : Crusher, Gnawer, Digestor and Collector of Bones. Nature 227 : 1110–1113.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vesey-Fitzgerald, D. F. 1969 Utilization of the Habitat by Buffalo in the Lake Manyara National Park. East African Wildlife Journal 7 : 131–145.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vesey-Fitzgerald, D. F. 1973 East African Grasslands. East African Publishing House, Nairobi.Google Scholar
Whallon, R. 1984 Unconstrained Clustering for the Analysis of Spatial Distributions in Archaeology. In Intrasite Spatial Analysis In Archaeology, edited by Hietala, H. J., pp. 242–277. Cambridge University Press, New York.Google Scholar
Yellen, J. E. 1991 Small Mammals : Post-Discard Patterning of !Kung San Faunal Remains. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 10 : 152–192.Google Scholar