Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-fbnjt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-06T04:10:03.956Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Taphonomy of Guanaco Bones in Tierra del Fuego

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Luis Alberto Borrero
Luis Alberto Borrero*
Affiliation:
CONICET, B. Mitre 1970, Piso 5, 1039 Buenos Aires, Argentina
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Guanaco carcasses are deposited in great quantities in Cabo San Pablo, Tierra del Fuego (Argentina), as a result of winter stress. Taphonomic studies indicate that the gnawing action of foxes on guanaco (Lama guanicoe) carcasses produces only very tenuous marks on the bones. Lack of sustained interest in the carcasses by carnivores results in slow disarticulation. The articulated and disarticulated bones are exposed to heavy trampling by guanacos, a process that produces vertical migration of small/dense bones and fracturing of the most weathered bones. An understanding of this ongoing process is important for local archaeology, since modern bones are migrating into archaeological contexts. A regional approach to taphonomy is the most appropriate instrument to solve this and other related problems.

Type
Articles
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 34 , Issue 3 , November 1990 , pp. 361 - 371
Copyright
University of Washington

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

Behrensmeyer, A.K. Dechant Boaz, D.E., (1980). The recent bones of Amboseli National Park, Kenya, in relation to East African paleoecology Behrensmeyer, A.K. Hill, A.P. Fossils in the Making Univ. of Chicago Press Chicago 72–92 Google Scholar
Behrensmeyer, A.K. Gordon, K.D. Yanagi, G.T., (1986). Trampling as a cause of bone surface damage and pseudo-cutmarks Nature (London) 319 768–771 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Binford, L.R., (1981). Bones. Ancient Men and Modern Myths Academic Press New York Google Scholar
Binford, L.R., (1983). In Pursuit of the Past Thames and Hudson London Google Scholar
Borrero, L.A., (1986). Sites in Action: The Meaning of Guanaco Bones in Fuegian Archaeological Assemblages Paper presented at the Fifth International Congress of Archaeozoology Bordeaux Google Scholar
Borrero, L.A., (1988). Tafonomia regional Ratto, N.R. Haber, A.F. De Procesos, Contextos y otros Huesos Univ. de Buenos Aires Buenos Aires 9–15 Google Scholar
Fiorillo, A.R., (1987). Taphonomy of Hazard Homestead Quarry (Ogallala Group) Hitchcock County, Nebraska Unpublished M.Sc. Thesis University of Nebraska Google Scholar
Gifford-Gonzalez, D.P., (1984). Taphonomic specimens, Lake Turkana Research Reports. 1976 Projects National Geographic Society 419–428 Google Scholar
Haynes, G., (1982). Utilization and skeletal disturbances of North American prey carcasses Arctic 35 266–281 Google Scholar
Haynes, G., (1983). Frequencies of spiral and greenbone fractures on ungulate limb bones in modern surface assemblages American Antiquity 48 102–114 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Haynes, G., (1988). Longitudinal studies of African elephant death and bone deposits Journal of Archaeological Science 15 131–157 Google Scholar
Hill, A. Behrensmeyer, A.K., (1984). Disarticulation patterns of some modern East African mammals Paleobiology 10 366–376 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Magoun, A., (1976). Summer Scavenging Activity in Northeastern Alaska Unpublished M.Sc. Thesis University of Alaska Google Scholar
Morlan, R.E., (1980). Taphonomy and archaeology in the upper Pleistocene of the Northern Yukon territory: A glimpse of the peopling of the New World National Museum of Man Mercury Series, Archaeological Survey of Canada 94 Ottawa Google Scholar
Myers, T.P. Voorhies, M.R. Corner, R.G., (1980). Spiral fractures and bone pseudotools at paleontological sites American Antiquity 45 483–490 Google Scholar
Raedeke, K., (1976). El guanaco de Magallanes, Chile. Distribución y biologia Corporación Nacional Forestal de Chile Punta Arenas Google Scholar
Richardson, P.R.K., (1980). Carnivore damage to antelope bones and its archaeological implications Paleontologica Africana 23 109–125 Google Scholar
Stallibrass, S., (1984). The distinction between the effects of small carnivores and humans on post-glacial faunal assemblages Grigson, C. Clutton-Brock, J. Animals and Archaeology. 4. Husbandry in Europe BAR International Series Oxford 259–269 Google Scholar
Todd, L.C., (1986). Taphonomy of the Horner II Bone Bed Frison, G.C. Todd, L.C. The Horner Site. The Type Site of the Cody Cultural Complex Academic Press Orlando 107–198 Google Scholar
Toots, H., (1965). Sequence of disarticulation in mammalian skeletons Contributions to Geology 4 37–39 Google Scholar