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Taphonomic identification of cut marks made with lithic handaxes: An experimental study
Abstract
Recent experimental studies have developed new diagnostic criteria to differentiate between trampling and cut marks. Within cut marks, these diagnostic criteria have been useful to differentiate between marks made with simple and retouched flakes. The present study expands the application of these criteria using a multivariate analysis to discriminate marks created with handaxes from those made with stone tool flakes. A discriminant analysis resulted in a selection of specific variables, which can successfully differentiate cut marks made with handaxes from those created with retouched flakes in more than 80% of occasions. The utility of this analogical taphonomic signature created by handaxes is discussed in the light of their potential value as butchering tools.
... Research has shown that the morphology of a cut mark depends on the type of tool that produced it and the material from which the tool was made. For example, retouched tools, such as bifaces, leave a characteristic mark (de Juana et al., 2010;Schick and Toth, 1998;Yravedra et al., 2010), but the material from which they are made, e.g., metal (Greenfield, 2006(Greenfield, , 1999Olsen, 1988), shell (Choi and Driwantoro, 2007;Toth and Woods, 1989) or bamboo (Spennerman, 1990;West and Louys, 2007) can also influence the mark's final morphology (Buccheri et al., 2016(Buccheri et al., , 2016Dewbury and Russell, 2007;Fernández-Jalvo and Cáceres, 2010;Fernández-Jalvo and Andrews, 2016;Maté González et al., 2015;Walker and Long, 1977). ...
... The type of tool is a variable that should be borne in mind when studying cut mark morphologies (de Juana et al., 2010;Schick and Toth, 1998). The retouching of natural edges can generate small anomalies that modify cut mark morphology, e.g., in terms of the orientation of the marks with respect to the bone axis, the shape of the groove, or the presence of overlapping microstriations. ...
... The retouching of natural edges can generate small anomalies that modify cut mark morphology, e.g., in terms of the orientation of the marks with respect to the bone axis, the shape of the groove, or the presence of overlapping microstriations. For example, when bifaces are used as cutting tools they may leave "fork marks", a result of these tools being intensely retouched (de Juana et al., 2010;Yravedra et al., 2010). ...
The study of cut marks in archaeological contexts is of great importance for understanding the subsistence strategies of past human groups. Many authors have indicated differences to exist between the cut marks produced by different tools and when the same types of tool have been made from different raw materials. The present work examines the cut marks made during the experimental butchering of a red deer (Cervus elaphus) using simple quartz flakes, with those found on fossilised animal remains at the Navalmaíllo Rock Shelter site (Pinilla del Valle, Madrid, Spain) likely to have been made with similar flakes. The methodology followed was that of Domínguez-Rodrigo et al. (2009), which was originally designed to differentiate between cut marks and trampling marks, but which here was tested as a method of distinguishing between the raw materials from which cutting tools were made. The results were also compared to those made with other types of tool/raw material reported in the literature. The present results confirm the above ideas: the marks made experimentally by the quartz flakes are very similar to those seen on the faunal remains from the level F of Navalmaíllo Rock Shelter site, but different to those made by other tools or by flakes made from other materials. They also show, however, that different cut mark morphologies are largely independent of the size of the animal butchered, and of the anatomical element on which they appear.
... Although shape variability remains at the forefront of many studies (e.g., White, 1998), experimental studies and use-wear analysis (e.g., de Juana et al., 2010) are increasingly being applied. Aspects of cognition and mental template is another area which has caught the attention of many researchers (e.g., , while raw material studies (e.g., are also being undertaken. ...
... Allometric, or size-related variations have been considered to be a key factor by . Utilitarian and non-utilitarian functions have also been proposed for conditioning handaxe variability Vaughan 2001;de Juana et al. 2010;Spikins 2012;Brenet et al. 2017;). ...
The Indian sub-continent, midway between Africa and South-east Asia, offers great potential to contribute to the ongoing debates of hominin dispersals and techno-cultural transitions. The Malaprabha Valley sites, in south-western Peninsular India, provides a regional perspective on the transitional processes between Lower and Middle Palaeolithic. Three assemblages, from local Late Acheulean to Middle Palaeolithic were chosen as the key collections and then compared to two of their south-eastern counterparts. These assemblages, excavated or collected from surface, are housed in various museums in India, France and UK. The aim of this PhD was to trace the technological and typological changes of the Large cutting tools (LCTs: handaxes and cleavers) at the transition from Lower to Middle Palaeolithic. A second objective was to discern raw material and blank effects on the shape variabilities of the LCTs. Combining the classical techno-typological analysis and Geometric Morphometric approach (2D and 3D) allow us to get accurate, reversible holistic results. LCTs in Malaprabha Valley always include more handaxes than cleavers. They are constantly made from local quartzite on various types of blanks with gradual increasing use of the flakes. Their shape variability is mostly located on their periphery and is not influenced by the blank types. Whatever variability occurred it seemed to result from varying relative width and thickness. This study highlights that the technological and morphological traits of the LCTs reflect a regional continuity with gradual changes from the Lower to the Middle Palaeolithic, rather than an abrupt external introduction of new technical behaviors. Irrespective of the diverse blank types, the hominin tool makers in this part of Peninsular India were able to achieve similar tool forms, through adaptive shaping strategies, reflecting a mental template that continued through generations apart from the technical progress identifiable in other products.
... Current experimental studies continue to capture more variability in the processes that modify bones, but they remain limited because they do not reveal the underlying physics behind the production of bone damage by different actor/effector/action combinations (e.g. Braun et al. 2016;Domínguez-Rodrigo et al. 2009a;de Juana et al. 2010;Krasinski 2016;Monnier and Bischoff 2014;Soulier and Costamagno 2017). This is a core issue within archaeology, palaeontology, and related disciplines, and its resolution should create a new set of standards for the analysis and interpretation of fossil assemblages that is generally applicable across a range of depositional contexts around the world. ...
... Experimental subjects run the gamut of bone material types by comparing domesticated animals to wild animals (Baquedano et al. 2012;Egeland 2007;Hill 1979;Munro and Bar-Oz 2005;Njau 2006;Pante et al. 2012); different taxa in the same experiment (Baquedano et al. 2012;Blumenschine et al. 1996;Pante et al. 2012;Thompson and Lee-Gorishti 2007); different size-class or aged individuals (Baquedano et al. 2012;Pante et al. 2012); and different elements used within and between taxa (Baquedano et al. 2012;Domínguez-Rodrigo et al. 2009a;de Juana et al. 2010). Not all of these bone subjects have the same bone surface characteristics. ...
Modifications to the surfaces of fossil bones are one of the most important lines of evidence
for understanding different issues in palaeoanthropological, archaeological, and taphonomic
research. Bone surface modifications (BSM) are used to infer past lifeways and behaviours
through site formation processes, subsistence patterns and adaptations and how they
influenced human evolution, as well as patterns of economic and social evolutions. The study
of BSM first appeared in palaeontology in the mid-19th Century, before gaining traction in
archaeology during the processual boom of the 1960s. By identifying BSM from
ethnographic studies of BSM created by people in the present day and comparing them to
marks found in the archaeological record, archaeologists were able to tie traces to specific
bone modifying actions (e.g. Binford 1978; Brain 1981; White 1954). However, traces left by
non-human modifiers can mimic those produced by humans (e.g. Blumenschine et al. 1996;
Olsen and Shipman 1988; Selvaggio 1994a; Shipman and Rose 1984). Experimental
taphonomic studies in zooarchaeology have been largely conducted with the goal of
confidently tying traces to known actors and effectors (Gifford-Gonzalez 1989b, 1991).
However, variation in experimental design, experimental bone subjects, and how the resultant
BSM are classified and analysed has contributed to a lack of consensus between researchers.
For example, cut marked bones found in deposits dating to 3.39 million-years-ago (Ma)
challenged the current paradigm that butchery, meat-eating behaviours and, subsequently,
stone tool use were present in pre-Homo hominins (Domínguez-Rodrigo et al. 2011;
McPherron et al. 2011). Furthermore, debates based on bone surface modification
interpretations illustrate the lack of consensus amongst researchers about how to best identify
and differentiate anthropogenic from non-anthropogenic modifications on bones. In the
context of the origins of tool-assisted butchery, having a robust method to identify these
traces is a foremost concern for understanding our own evolution. Resolving this issue
requires two things: 1) a large dataset in which marks on bones have been produced
experimentally under highly controlled conditions; and 2) a replicable method for
quantitatively analysing and describing traces on bone surfaces. This research provides
impetus for the standardisation of bone surface modification studies, specifically the
experimental and analytical methods, as well as how researchers identify and classify
modifications and, subsequently, communicate their results and interpretations.
... incisions, sawing, scraping), different inclination (hand supination) of the stone tool edge cutting the bone surface, as well as different shapes of the stone tool edge, produce different diagnostic traits in cut marks [11][12][13][14][15]. The resolution of this issue is especially crucial in relation to purported cut marks found in several African fossil sites that indicate a level of cognitive ability to some authors [16,17] that other researchers argue that had not yet been acquired [18,19]. ...
... Lately, cut marks on bones have been proposed to be not only a result of butchery and domestic basic activities on faunal remains, but they may be interpreted as artistic expression [25]. In the same way that cut marks for butchery may have complex shapes due to the complexity of the cutting edge of the lithic tool [13][14][15]26], this may also be the case for decorative marks. A test case for this subject is Gough's Cave (Somerset, UK) that may be considered as a good example of alternative interpretations of cut marked remains, as cannibalistic feeding or as an early manifestation of art, and so, a ritual site. ...
Evidence and traces recorded on fossil bones, directly or indirectly produced by hominins, can shed light on multiple issues
of importance in human evolution. For example, fossil bones bearing cut marks may indicate the presence of hominins despite
the absence of hominin fossils. Moreover, cut marks on fossil bones are associated with the use of stones or any hard material for
tool-making and preparation and transformation of skeletal elements to have a secondary use by humans. Therefore, cut marks are
indicative of technological innovations in human evolution, evolution of their brains and their behaviors, including the beginnings
of artistic expression. Correct interpretation of these innovative actions and distinction from butchery needs special attention,
particularly in a cannibalistic context given the debate, complexity and meaning that this practice has. This paper focuses on two
aspects that have special relevance in human evolution: i) the use of stone tools (cut marking) and implications of cut marks for
exploring human behavior as a potential indicator of artistic decoration, funerary treatments vs. butchery, ii) the significance of
transforming specific anatomical elements, the skulls, to become ritual artefacts vs. useful accessories. These aspects have had
special significance in the ongoing debate about evolutionary trends in the human brain and acquirement of modern human
behaviors and mentality, including art. This paper takes a special case study of an Upper Paleolithic site, Gough’s Cave, (UK).
This paper reinforces the importance of taphonomic identifications in their contexts, rather than concluding based on individual
specimens or individual marks.
... Crucial interpretations on when humans started eating meat 1-3 , or using tools 4,5 , or colonizing new continents 6,7 depend on correct identifications of BSM on fossil bones. In the past ten years, analytical tools for analyzing BSM have become very sophisticated, involving the use of 2D and 3D geometric morphometric analyses [8][9][10][11][12][13][14] , uni-and bivariate metric analyses through 3D reconstruction of BSM 15,16 , multivariate qualitative analysis using frequentist and bayesian traditional techniques [17][18][19][20] , machine learning analyses 21,22 , machine learning techniques combined with geometric morphometrics 23 and, most recently, artificial-intelligence computer vision through deep learning (DL) 24 . All these techniques have increased our ability to combine multivariate information and classify marks with more certainty than using univariate approaches 21,25 . ...
... This high accuracy in classifying these three types of marks has not been achieved before. Moderate to good classifications of BSM had been achieved with multivariate approaches to microscopic bidimensional and tridimensional features of marks 13,14,[18][19][20] . Although confocal microscopy applied to cut marks and tooth marks reached a high accuracy 16,31 , no three-dimensional approach has provided any resolution to date in differentiating cut marks from trampling marks or small tooth marks from a certain type of trampling marks. ...
Bone surface modifcations are foundational to the correct identifcation of hominin butchery traces
in the archaeological record. Until present, no analytical technique existed that could provide
objectivity, high accuracy, and an estimate of probability in the identifcation of multiple structurally-
similar and dissimilar marks. Here, we present a major methodological breakthrough that incorporates
these three elements using Artifcial Intelligence (AI) through computer vision techniques, based
on convolutional neural networks. This method, when applied to controlled experimental marks on
bones, yielded the highest rate documented to date of accurate classifcation (92%) of cut, tooth
and trampling marks. After testing this method experimentally, it was applied to published images
of some important traces purportedly indicating a very ancient hominin presence in Africa, America
and Europe. The preliminary results are supportive of interpretations of ancient butchery in some
places, but not in others, and suggest that new analyses of these controversial marks should be done
following the protocol described here to confrm or disprove these archaeological interpretations.
... The examination of bone surface modifications (BSM) has been the traditional manner in which these questions have been addressed. Percussion marks made during attempts to reach the bone marrow (Blumenschine and Selvaggio 1988;Blumenschine 1995;Domínguez-Rodrigo and Barba 2006;Galán et al. 2009;Blasco et al. 2014;, cut marks on the surface of bones (Abe et al. 2002;Andrews and Cook 1985;Behrensmeyer et al. 1986;Bello et al. 2009;Bello and Soligo 2008;Binford 1981;Braun et al. 2016;Bromage and Boyde 1984;Bunn 1982Bunn , 1981Bunn et al. 1986;Courtenay et al. 2017;de Juana et al. 2010;Dewbury and Russell 2007;Domínguez-Rodrigo 1997;, 2005Maté-González et al. 2019Olsen and Shipman 1988;Palomeque-González et al. 2017;Shipman and Rose 1983;Wallduck and Bello 2018;, and tooth marks left by carnivores (Selvaggio 1994;Blumenschine 1995;Blumenschine et al. 1996;Domıínguez-Rodrigo and Piqueras 2003;Domínguez-Rodrigo and Barba 2006;Njau and Blumenschine 2006;Baquedano et al. 2012a;Andrés et al. 2013;Saladié et al. 2013;Arilla et al. 2014;Aramendi et al. 2017;Arriaza et al. 2017b;) have all provided clues. ...
... The study of BSM has been a priority of neotaphonomic studies, as the literature reveals, for example, with respect to cut marks (Shipman and Rose 1983;Bromage and Boyde 1984;Andrews and Cook 1985;Behrensmeyer et al. 1986;Olsen and Shipman 1988;Domínguez-Rodrigo 1997;Greenfield 1999Greenfield , 2006e.g. Abe et al. 2002;Domínguez-Rodrigo et al. 2005Dewbury and Russell 2007;Bello and Soligo 2008;Bello et al. 2009;de Juana et al. 2010;Maté-González et al. 2015Braun et al. 2016;Palomeque-González et al. 2017;Courtenay et al. 2017;Wallduck and Bello 2018). However, the present and earlier studies show that bone breakage is an important variable to bear in mind. ...
In recent years, reports on bone breakage at archaeological sites have become more common in the taphonomic literature. The present work tests a recently published method, based on the use of machine learning algorithms for analysing the processes involved in bone breakage, to identify the agent that broke the bones of medium-sized animals at the Mousterian Navalmaíllo Rock Shelter (Pinilla del Valle, Madrid). This is the first time this method has been used in an archaeological setting. The results show that these bones were mostly broken by anthropic action, while some were slightly ravaged by carnivores, probably hyaenas. These findings agree very well with published interpretations of the site, and show the method used to be useful in taphonomic studies of archaeological materials with poorly preserved cortical surfaces.
... Nevertheless, a great number of other agents usually intervene in the formation of a site creating problems of equifinality (Binford, 1981;Behrensmeyer, 1984;Fiorillo, 1984;Behrensmeyer et al., 1986;Olsen and Shipman, 1988;Blasco et al., 2008;Domínguez-Rodrigo et al., 2009b;De Juana et al., 2010;Bello, 2011;Pineda et al., 2014;Domínguez-Rodrigo et al., 2017;Egeland et al., 2018). This can only be assessed through archaeological experimentation based on actualistic analogous observations (Bunge, 1981;Gifford-Gonzalez, 1989. ...
... The significance of these results are relatively important because so far most morphological studies have tried to confront differences between raw materials, such as flint, quartzite (Olsen, 1988;Dewbury and Russell, 2007;Bello and Soligo, 2008;Maté-González et al., 2017c) and metal (Greenfield, 1999;Maté-González et al., 2016) but are yet to explore the differences between granular composition. Several works have focused on testing the differences between different tool types (Bello et al., 2009;De Juana et al., 2010;Courtenay et al., 2017;Yravedra et al., 2017c), with the occasional relatively obvious and less informative comparison between taphonomic traces that can be differentiated with the naked eye e.g. cut and tooth marks (Pante et al., 2017;Sahle et al., 2017). ...
The Lower Pleistocene site of Bell's Korongo (BK) in Olduvai Gorge (Tanzania) has been a key site for the study of the origin of human behaviour. The lower archaeological levels of BK are characterized by anthropogenic activity related to the exploitation of megafauna (elephant, hippopotamus, Sivatherium) and smaller game (zebra, wildebeest and antelopes). These remains display a high frequency of cut marks. The exceptional state of preservation of the BK fossil assemblage has allowed a wide range of different analyses that, among other things, detected the use of quartzite in butchering activities through the study of cut marks. Following up previous analyses, this paper presents the study of a series of cut marks from the BK faunal assemblage using a 3D geometric morphometric methodological approach in order to determine the mineralogical properties of the quartzite used at the site. BK cut marks are compared with experimentally produced cut marks using 9 mineralogically different quartzite types from Olduvai Gorge. This comparative analysis provides valuable hints about the exact nature of the raw materials used in butchering activities. The results presented here identify a preferential use of quartzite with a finer granular composition, suggesting that hominin populations were already selecting the best raw materials for their use in specific activities 1.3 Mya.
... Early studies highlighted aspects of cut-mark shapes caused by different tools and raw materials (Walker, 1978;Walker and Long, 1977). Latterly, attention has been given to characterization and differentiation of cut-marks inflicted by different raw materials (e.g., flint, quartzite, obsidian, metal), studied by methods ranging from inspection with hand-lenses or dissecting microscopes (Dewbury and Russell, 2007;Olsen, 1988), to high-power binocular microscopy ( Domínguez-Rodrigo et al., 2009;De Juana et al., 2010), 3-D microscopical reconstruction (Boschin and Crezzini, 2012), Alicona InfiniteFocus 3-D imaging microscopy ( Bello and Soligo, 2008;Bello et al., 2009), scanning electron microscopy ( Greenfield et al., 1999Greenfield et al., , 2006), and micro-photogrammetry with DAVID laser scanning (Maté- Yravedra et al., 2017a, b). ...
... Taphonomy can distinguish between cuts made by simple flakes, retouched flakes, and handaxes in both archaeological ( Bello et al., 2009;Courtenay et al., 2017;De Juana et al., 2010;Walker, 1978) and archaeological contexts (Bello, 2011;Bello et al., 2009;Shipman and Rose, 1983;Yravedra et al., 2010Yravedra et al., , 2017a. Grain size of artefact raw materials affects cut-mark width (Dewbury and Russell, 2007;Maté-González et al., 2016;Yravedra et al., 2017a, b). ...
Developments in methodological approaches to high-resolution morphometrical study of cut-mark morphology further our understanding of butchering activities. Identification of micro-morphological variability between different taphonomical alterations on ancient bone allows detection and comparison of bone-surface modifications and associated taphonomical agents and activities. By taking a geometrical-morphometrical approach, data from 3-D laser-scanning and micro-photogrammetrical models of experimental cut-marks enable statistical analysis to classify and distinguish between cut-marks by bifaces from those by flakes, and, in each case, between marks made by flint from those made by quartzite tools. Analysis of two tool types, each made from two raw materials as independent variables, is a methodological advance in morphometrical studies of experimental cut-marks, which hitherto have tended to focus on the respective parts played by tool types or types of raw material in morphometrical characterization of experimental and archaeological cut-marks.
... Generally, taphonomic research has relied on microscopic methods for the study of bone surface modifications (BSM) that can be found on fossils (e.g. cut-marks, percussion marks, tooth marks -pits o scores-, biochemical alterations, trampling, etc.), using different techniques, such as optic microscopy, hand lenses and Scanning Electronical Microscope (SEM) and Environmental Scanning Electron Microscope (ESEM) (Shipman, 1981;Olsen, 1988;Greenfield, 1999Greenfield, , 2004Greenfield, , 2006aSmith and Brickley, 2004;Lewis, 2008;Blasco et al., 2016), binocular microscope for high resolution pictures De Juana et al., 2010;Marín-Monfort et al., 2014), digital imaging techniques (Gilbert and Richards, 2000), three-dimensional reconstruction (Bartelink et al., 2001;During and Nilsson, 1991;Kaiser and Katterwe, 2001), 3D digital microscope (Boschin and Crezzini, 2012;Crezzini et al., 2014), Alicona 3D Infinite Focus Imaging microscope (Bello and Soligo, 2008;Bello et al., 2009;Bello, 2011;Bonney, 2014), or Laser Scanning Confocal Microscopy (LSCM) (Archer and Braun, 2013). ...
... Others have focused on raw material differences within the same stone tool type, such as flint and quartzite Maté-González et al., 2016Yravedra et al., 2017a, b). Similarly, they have looked at cut-marks generated with different types of stone tools, such as unmodified flakes, retouched flakes, or bifaces (Fig. 3) (Walker, 1978;Shipman and Rose, 1983;Bello et al., 2009;De Juana et al., 2010;Galán and Domínguez-Rodrigo, 2013;Courtenay et al., 2017). Lastly, it is also worth mentioning the studies focusing on raw material granulometry which aimed to understand how it might affect cut-mark morphology (Dewbury and Russell, 2007;Moclán Ramos, 2016;Maté-González et al., 2017c;Courtenay et al., 2017). ...
Archaeology is developing considerably through the incorporation and application of several methodologies and techniques from science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines. These technologies have significantly improved our ability to document, preserve, study and present highly precise and accurate digital models of whole sites and archaeological elements, as well as specific details of them. In this article, we will review the different 3D documentation techniques currently available in archaeology, focusing on bone taphonomy. Our aim is to characterise the range of alterations that fossil bones may experience. Thus, here we present a review of the existing literature and future perspectives on how to approach the 3D study of carnivore and rodent tooth marks, cut and percussion marks, biochemical alterations and other Bone Surface Modifications (BSMs).
... Bone surface modifications (BSM) play a crucial role in taphonomic interpretations of archeofaunal assemblages and important debates on hominin carnivory are essentially dependent on their correct interpretation (see reviews in Domínguez-Rodrigo and Pickering 2016;Domínguez-Rodrigo et al. 2007;Egeland and Domínguez-Rodrigo 2008;James and Thompson 2015;Harris et al. 2017). Taphonomists have been divided into those who are confident in the identification and interpretation of BSM (e.g., Blumenschine et al. 1996;Domínguez-Rodrigo et al. 2009;Galán et al. 2009;de Juana et al. 2010;Pante et al. 2012;Maté-González et al. 2016;Aramendi et al. 2017;Harris et al. 2017;Yravedra et al. 2017), those that exhibit moderate optimism (e.g., Fernandez-Jalvo and Andrews 2016), those that are moderate pessimists (e.g., Merritt 2012;Njau 2012), and those that are skeptical because of the high subjectivity involved in the process (e.g., Lyman 1987;Lyman 1994;Domínguez-Rodrigo et al. 2017). ...
... Since it uses a variable set derived exclusively from the mark section morphology (same as in Pante et al. 2017), it will incur in equifinality when comparing marks made with different effectors that create the same morphology. In Domínguez-Rodrigo et al. (2009), groove section morphology was just one out of 14 to 16 variables (de Juana et al. 2010). In such equifinal cases, the resolution of using the multivariate Btraditional( i.e., categorical variables) approach or the geometricmorphometric one will need to be tested. ...
Here, I show that powerful machine learning (ML) algorithms can efficiently classify most BSM of any given controlled experimental assemblage. In some cases, classification may reach an accuracy of 100%. No other statistical tool commonly used in taphonomy had been this successful at classification before. However, the heuristics of ML algorithms depend tightly on the objectivity in raw data collection. The use of multivariate approaches in which variables are independently scored by the analyst introduces a subjective bias. In this work, I show that different analysts producing raw data on the same testing data set can lead to widely divergent BSM classifications and interpretations using the same powerful ML algorithms. It is emphasized that until an objective non-biasing method of raw data collection is implemented, BSM classification carried out via statistical tests will remain heuristically limited. As a consequence, the application of these referents to archeological BSM does not guarantee a correct interpretation beyond the analyst expertise.
... Following the methodology posed by Lloveras et al. (2009b), cutmarks orientation, along the main axis of the skeletal element (longitudinal, transversal and oblique), intensity and location have been recorded. Due to the difficulty in differentiating cutmarks from marks caused by trampling, reference data from experimental research on distinguishing cutmarks from pseudo-marks have been used (de Juana et al. 2010;Dominguez-Rodrigo et al. 2009;Fernández-Jalvo and Cáceres 2010;Gaudzinski-Windheuser et al. 2010). Burnt damage on bone remains were recorded indicating the part of the skeletal element affected by fire. ...
... All orientations were recorded but most of the marks were transverse (107) to the principal axis of the bone. When compared with referential data (de Juana et al. 2010;Dominguez-Rodrigo et al. 2009;Lloveras et al. 2009b;Rosado-Méndez et al. 2016), a total number of 62 marks are associated with the skinning process. These experimental studies show how the rabbit skinning process starts cutting and removing the skin around the autopodium region, after that skin is pulled off along the body and cuts are made in the snout region. ...
In Mediterranean Europe during the Pleistocene–Holocene, transition changes in the intensification of small prey exploitation by
humans are detected. In the NE of the Iberian Peninsula, these changes are mainly evidenced by an increase in the number of
rabbit remains, normally exceeding the 90% of the recovered animal specimens. The archaeological site of Balma del Gai (Moià,
Barcelona) provides one of the most significant archaeological records of this kind. Through zooarchaeological and taphonomic
analysis, our work’s aims are: to elucidate the human activity on leporids (rabbits and hares) in comparison to other predators, to
understand the different ways of handling and exploiting rabbit carcasses and to assess the importance of this small prey for the
Epipalaeolithic hunter–gatherers. Results on anatomical representation, breakage and bone surface modifications show that rabbit
remains recovered respond to an anthropogenic contribution. High proportions of thermo-altered bones, cut marks caused by
lithic tools and teeth marks are observed. All parameters indicate intense exploitation of rabbit fur and meat. This study shows
clear evidence of the importance of small prey for human subsistence during this period.
... The number of cut marks in relation to tool type and butchering activities has been addressed in experimental studies. Their findings indicate that handaxes produce a higher number of marks in disarticulation and skinning processes, while retouched flakes are largely responsible for the marks made when defleshing (de Juana et al. 2010;Galán and Domínguez-Rodrigo 2013). However, a direct correlation cannot be drawn between tool types and cut-mark percentages because of the other factors that might impact the patterns. ...
The Gruta da Aroeira (Torres Novas, Portugal), with evidence of human occupancy dating back ∼ 400,000 years, is one of very few Middle Pleistocene cave sites to provide a fossil hominin cranium in association with Acheulean bifaces and the by-products of fire usage. Zooarchaeological, taphonomic and tooth-wear analyses suggest that the accumulation of the faunal remains and their modification are anthropogenic. Large game constituted the basis of subsistence, with equids and cervids being preferentially targeted. Woodland and open landscapes formed the ecosystems supporting the populations of the mammals that were preyed upon by the inhabitants of the site. Most of the animal carcasses were carried to, and fully butchered at the site, which was used as a residential base camp. The features of the Aroeira faunal assemblage foreshadow the subsistence strategies developed by the hunter-gatherers of the Middle and the Upper Palaeolithic and testify to their very ancient roots.
... 34 Fernandez-Jalvo, Andrews 2016Malassé et al. 2016. 35 Domínguez-Rodrigo et al. 2009de Juana et al. 2010. 36 Fernández-Jalvo et al. 1999, Fig. 8. 37 Fernandez-Jalvo, Andrews 2016 a sharp edge of a similar tool but wider. ...
The paper presents the first results of experimental modelling of a series of cut marks on bones in different states of preservation. We used experimental (quartz, flint) and technogenic (granite) flakes with sharp and blunt unretouched working edges and trimmed edges produced by the bipolar on-anvil technique. V-, П-, and U-shaped cut marks and surface damage were obtained. The data gained are useful for the reconstruction of conditions of occurrence of cut marks on bones found in the uppermost culture-bearing horizons of the Lower Palaeolithic sites near Medzhibozh, located in the upper reaches of the Southern Bug River and dated to MIS 11. The data can also be used for differentiating between anthropogenic and natural damage and as a significant statistical point of reference.
... Труднее выявить отличительные характеристики следов, сделанных каменными орудиями, так как каменный край имеет менее ровную поверхность, чем металлическое лезвие, и оставляет более сложные по форме следы. многие авторы подтвердили, что в некоторых случаях можно выявить различия следов от типологически разных каменных орудий, например от ретушированных отщепов, отщепов без ретуши и рубил [Bello, Soligo 2008;Domínguez-Rodrigo et al. 2009;Bello et al. 2009;De Juana et al. 2010]. другие исследователи пришли к иным выводам о влиянии типа орудия на порезы. ...
The study of cut-marks on bones from archaeological complexes is required to reconstruct many aspects of societies’ activities, including hunting, economic and food activities of ancient humans. The profile of cut-marks can be influenced by shape of the tool edge and its inclination to the bone. To determine this influence an experimental modeling was carried out. Experimental lithic tools were used to produce cut-marks at 90˚ and 45˚ to the bone surface of the cleaned from meat domestic cow’s scapula. Classical statistical methods were applied to analyze the metric parameters and the opening angle. To analyze the shape without dimensional characteristics, the 2D geometric-morphometric analysis was used. Cross sections for geometric-morphometric analysis were obtained using an industrial profilometer. The results reveal that the type of stone tool and its position in the hand during operation significantly influence the shape and size of cut-marks. Perpendicular cutting marks are on average deeper and have a smaller opening angle than those produced by oblique cutting for the three cutting edge types. Several groups of cuts made by different types of blades, but at the same angle, have similar opening angles, while when one tool is held differently, the opening angles differ significantly. The cut-marks made with one-sided and two-sided retouched tools differ in size and opening angle at different inclinations of the tools, but have the similar shape. The traces made with an unretouched edge have different shape and size according to the inclination of the tool. This study is the first step to create a digital comparative collection of experimental cuts that will be used for further studies of cut-marks.
... Likewise, the differentiation between cut marks and other striae identified on bone surfaces produced by several agents, such as trampling (Binford, 1981;Shipman, 1981b;Bromage, 1984;Andrews and Cook, 1985;Behrensmeyer et al., 1986;Olsen and Shipman, 1988;Fiorillo, 1991;Pineda et al., 2014;, have also been considered. However, the topics around cut marks have addressed other aspects such as the correlation of cut marks with specific butchery activities (Binford, 1981;Nilssen, 2000), the different tools or raw material employed (Walker and Long, 1977;Greenfield, 1999;Choi and Driwantoro, 2007;Christidou, 2008;de Juana et al., 2009;Merrit, 2012;Galán and Domínguez-Rodrigo, 2014;Moclán et al., 2018;Courtenay et al., 2019b), or the sequence of access to carcasses by hominin groups and other predators (Binford, 1981;1988;Bunn, 1981;1982;Shipman, 1981a;Blumenschine, 1986;1987;1988;1995;Bunn and Kroll, 1986;Selvaggio, 1994;Capaldo, 1997;1998;Domínguez-Rodrigo, 1996;Domínguez-Rodrigo and Pickering, 2003). ...
... This would potentially be the case if analysing marks metrically, since the presence or absence of flesh could impact the depth of marks. However, in our DL analysis, metric values play no role; just the bidimensional morphology of marks and their internal features, which previous experimentation has shown to create broadly similar marks that experienced taphonomists are unable to differentiate (de Juana et al., 2010), although some subtle microscopic variations in reduced portions of the mark grooves enable the DL machine to discriminate them (Cifuentes-Alcobendas and Domínguez-Rodrigo, 2019). In the present case, this has no relevance because the experimental scenarios used the same protocols, and diagenetic processes affected conspicuous marks along their trajectories and not just in inconspicuously small portions of the grooves. ...
The implementation of deep-learning methods to the taphonomic analysis of the microscopic modification of bone-surface modifications exposed to different chemical diagenetic pathways can effectively discriminate between acidic and alkaline soil properties, indirectly reflecting different ecological conditions. Here we use this novel method to assess the sedimentary conditions of two of the oldest Oldowan archaeofaunal records (DS and PTK, Bed I) from Olduvai Gorge Bed I in Tanzania. We show how the results support different diagenetic conditions for both penecontemporaneous sites, which are appropriate for their respective locations on the palaeolandscape to which they belonged. We also show how geochemical analyses of the clay deposit that embedded both sites indicate a similar soil pH divergence. PTK was formed on an alluvial sloping surface affected by rills but draining efficiently, which resulted in alkaline soil conditions, that optimised bone-surface preservation. DS occurred in a more depressed area that underwent intermittent flooding, affecting soil chemistry by creating more acidic conditions. This impacted on bone surfaces by dynamically modifying mark morphology. This deep-learning approach has relevance for the interpretation of the local palaeoecological conditions of both assemblages and their respective depositional loci. The results presented here open a new window to the incremental information gain through the use of artificial intelligence methods in taphonomic and palaeoecological research.
... Note, though cutmarks may not be obvious during the initial stages of butchering, they would become so due to weathering, as indicated by the fact that Li et al. (2019) specify that the cutmarks are "exceptionally well preserved" (p.890). Moreover, studies of ancient butchery marks (de Juana et al., 2010) reveal a distinct similarity with intentional marks (see also remarks in Mellet et al., 2019 andMackay andWelz, 2008, as well as Fig. 2 in Li et al., 2019). In the case of the Nesher Ramla marks, the fact that cutmarks and percussion marks are common at the site supports that scenario. ...
The engraved bone of Nesher Ramla is regarded by Prévost et al., as symbolic. The authors, however, fail to consider other possible interpretations that do not rely on symbolic criteria. In this commentary, a more compelling interpretation of the intentional marks is described based on a proto-aesthetic interest with respect to the Neurovisual Resonance Theory (NRT), embodied cognition and recent neuroscientific research on perception.
... To understand the cause of the modifications and to differentiate them from meat processing marks (cutmarks) or other taphonomic modifications, we relied on several criteria previously defined by others (Olsen and Shipman, 1988;Fisher, 1995;Domínguez-Rodrigo et al., 2009;de Juana et al., 2010;Sahle et al., 2017) and by comparisons with the cutmarks identified on other bones from Unit III (Crater Gershtein et al., 2020). Moreover, our experimental replicas (see below) and other experimental published work, which focus on the same types of modification, along with comparisons of other published archaeological bones showing intentional engraving, enable a better characterization of the origin of the grooves (Crémades et al., 1995;d'Errico et al., 2001;Majkić et al., 2017;2018a;2018b;Li et al., 2019). ...
During the Middle Paleolithic in Eurasia, the production of deliberate, abstract engraving on bone or stone materials is a rare phenomenon. It is now widely accepted that both anatomically modern humans and hominins that predate them have produced deliberate engravings associated with symbolic behavior. Within the Levantine Middle Paleolithic context, only five examples of intentional engravings are known thus far. In this paper, we present an aurochs bone fragment that bears six deep, sub-parallel incisions, recovered at the open-air Middle Paleolithic site of Nesher Ramla in Israel. The item, found in an anthropogenic accumulation of artifacts in Unit III of the site, was dated to early Marine Isotope Stage 5 (ca. 120 ka). Unit III is a stratigraphically well-defined layer that is characterized by intense on-site knapping activities with predominance of the centripetal Levallois
reduction method and by intense exploitation of aurochs and tortoises. This paper presents a multidisciplinary study of the bone and the incisions, including zooarchaeological, macro- and microscopic analyses, Scanning Electron Microscope analysis and experimental replications. The macroscopic and microscopic attributes of the incisions, and the comparisons with experimental material exclude a taphonomic or utilitarian origin of the
incisions. The study indicates that the engravings were most likely produced by a right-handed individual in a single working session. The morphology and characteristics of the incisions, especially the presence of longitudinal polish and striations in one of the incisions, suggest that they were made by a flint artifact, likely retouched. The engraved bone from Unit III at Nesher Ramla is one of the oldest deliberate abstract manifestations produced by Middle Paleolithic and Middle Stone Age hominins and the oldest known so far in the Levant.
As such, it has major implications for our understanding of the emergence and early stages of the development of human symbolic behavior.
... [23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32]. The micro-morphological analysis of cut marks and considerations of their frequency as well as the skeletal part concerned equally provide insights as to the type of tool used in butchery [31,[33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45] and allow archaeologists to explore links between cut marks and carcass size and freshness [35,[45][46][47][48][49]. These approaches also allow assessments of whether cut mark frequency reflects the butcher's experience rather than the number of individuals involved [40,[49][50][51] or if it is influenced by bone fragmentation [52]. ...
Improving our knowledge of subsistence strategies and food processing techniques of past societies is of prime interest for better understanding human cultures as well as multiple aspects of human evolution. Beyond the simple matter of food itself, a substantial portion of socio-economic behavior is expressed in what, how, when, and with whom we eat. Over the last few decades, diverse methodologies for the analysis and interpretation of cut marks have progressively provided new insights for past butchery practices. For example, a recent study of the production of antelope biltong in South Africa concluded that the drying of meat generates high frequencies of longitudinal cut marks. This paper presents a cut mark analysis of faunal remains recovered by Lewis Binford from 8 campsites occupied by Nunamiut groups from the end of 19th to middle of the 20th century in the area around Anaktuvuk Pass, Alaska. The preparation of meat—primarily from caribou (Rangifer tarandus)–varied at these sites according to the season of occupation and was, depending on the site, either immediately consumed, processed after being stored in ice-cellars, or dried and stored. These faunal assemblages therefore provide a unique opportunity to explore the material traces of different meat preparation and preservation techniques in order to identify whether specific patterns can be identified and subsequently used to explore subsistence practices in the past. Binford’s Nunamiut faunal assemblages, which were produced by individuals using traditional techniques and methods, were analyzed in order to 1) further test the hypothesis that meat drying produces high frequencies of longitudinal cut marks, 2) explore the common assumption that skilled butchers leave smaller numbers of cut marks on bones compared to less experienced individuals, and 3) test whether cut mark patterns vary as a function of the processing techniques employed. The introduction of a %cutL index represents a quicker alternative to geo-referencing cut marks on bones when exploring meat processing techniques and methods and can easily be integrated in zooarchaeological analyses. While the results obtained support processing techniques linked to meat drying to leave high numbers of longitudinal cut marks, they are inconsistent with cut mark frequencies varying as a function of the butcher’s skill and experience. Analyzing cut mark patterns is therefore a reliable means for exploring food processing by past human societies and, by extension, their methods for safeguarding against unfavorable seasonal variations in both the abundance and condition of prey species. Identifying food storage in the archaeological record equally provides a unique window on to the social dynamics and potential inequalities of past societies.
... shape of the cross-section, presence/absence of micro-striations, herzian cones, presence/absence of a shoulder effect and a barb effect) were confronted with actualistic and archaeological data on trampling (Domínguez-Rodrigo et al., 2009;Fiorillo, 1989;Oliver, 1989;Olsen and Shipman, 1988), on human action on bones (e.g. butchery, portable art) (Bromage and Boyde, 1984;Cook, 1986;de Araujo Igreja, 1999;D'Errico, 1991;Domínguez-Rodrigo et al., 2010;Fritz, 1999;Juana et al., 2010;Lyman, 1987;Soulier and Morin, 2016), as well as in the comprehensive experimental referential recently published by Thiébaut et al. (2019). From a taphonomic point of view, the cortical surface of the specimen is well preserved, allowing for a direct analysis of the marks. ...
In southern Africa, key technologies and symbolic behaviors develop as early as the later Middle Stone Age in MIS5. These innovations arise independently in various places, contexts and forms, until their full expression during the Still Bay and the Howiesons Poort. The Middle Stone Age sequence from Diepkloof Rock Shelter, on the West Coast of the region, preserves archaeological proxies that help unravelling the cultural processes at work. This unit yields one of the oldest abstract engraving so far discovered in Africa, in the form of a rhomboid marking on the cortical surface of an ungulate long bone shaft. The comprehensive analysis of the lithic artefacts and ochre pieces found in association with the engraved bone documents the transport of rocks over long distance (>20km), the heat treatment of silcrete, the coexistence of seven lithic reduction strategies (including the production of bladelets and the manufacture of unifacial and bifacial points), the use of adhesives and the processing of ochre. At Diepkloof, the appearance of engraving practices take place in a context that demonstrates a shift in rock procurement and a diversification in lithic reduction strategies, suggesting that these behavioral practices acted as a cultural answer to cope with new environmental and/or socioeconomic circumstances. We argue that the innovations later found during the Still Bay and the Howiesons Poort were already in the making during the MIS5 pre-Still Bay, though not all the benefits were yet taken advantage of by the populations.
... shape of the cross-section, presence/absence of micro-striations, herzian cones, presence/absence of a shoulder effect and a barb effect) were confronted with actualistic and archaeological data on trampling (Domínguez-Rodrigo et al., 2009;Fiorillo, 1989;Oliver, 1989;Olsen and Shipman, 1988), on human action on bones (e.g. butchery, portable art) (Bromage and Boyde, 1984;Cook, 1986;de Araujo Igreja, 1999;D'Errico, 1991;Domínguez-Rodrigo et al., 2010;Fritz, 1999;Juana et al., 2010;Lyman, 1987;Soulier and Morin, 2016), as well as in the comprehensive experimental referential recently published by Thiébaut et al. (2019). From a taphonomic point of view, the cortical surface of the specimen is well preserved, allowing for a direct analysis of the marks. ...
In South Africa, key technologies and symbolic behaviors develop as early as the later Middle Stone Age in MIS5. These innovations arise independently in various places, contexts and forms, until their full expression during the Still Bay and the Howiesons Poort. We elaborate here on the Middle Stone Age sequence of Diepkloof Rock Shelter (South Africa) and focus on the Stratigraphic Unit Lynn, which immediately precedes the Still Bay at the site. The pre-Still Bay Lynn documents the transport of rocks over long distance (>20 km), the heat treatment of silcrete, the coexistence of seven lithic reduction strategies (including the production of bladelets and the manufacture of unifacial and bifacial points), the use of adhesives and the processing of ochre. Beside this set of novelties, the layer yields one of the oldest abstract engravings so far discovered in Africa, taking the form of cross-hatched markings in the cortical surface of an ungulate long bone shaft. At Diepkloof, these new practices appear in a context that demonstrates a shift in rock procurement and a diversification in lithic reduction strategies, suggesting these behavioral practices acted as a cultural answer to cope with new environmental and/or socio-economical circumstances. We argue that the innovations later found during the Still Bay and the Howiesons Poort were then already in the making during the MIS5 pre-Still Bay, though not all the benefits were yet taken advantage of by the populations.
... The disappearance of these variables due to the abrasion and friction between the tool, dirt and bone is logical and can have a direct impact on subsequent studies. This is especially relevant in considering the weight that these variables hold in multivariate classification models described by Domínguez-Rodrigo et al. (2009) and used by numerous authors (Juana et al., 2010;Pineda et al. 2014Pineda et al. , 2019Val et al. 2017;Domínguez-Rodrigo 2018;Moclán et al. 2018). ...
In many cases, the study of archaeological fossil surfaces is not possible without prior intervention by conservation-restoration specialists. This is most notable in the required cleaning process that facilitates detailed analyses of osteological remains. This experimental study develops a methodology that can be used to evaluate the possible effects that mechanical cleaning applications and tools may have on the consequent study of cut marks. To confront these objectives, this study implements advanced 3D digital microscopy and statistical analyses to evaluate the before and after stages of mechanical cleaning processes of cut-marked bones. These techniques present a novel means of evaluating the degree of modification produced by mechanical cleaning processes. The obtained data allows for an initial assessment of the effects of conservation-restoration interventions on taphonomic analyses. The consequent conclusions advise caution on the use of some tools in mechanical cleaning, additionally supporting the need for interdisciplinary research in future archaeological research. Research of this nature is of great value to archaeology and palaeontology, presenting a new promising line of investigation for future research.
... periosteum). Its features correspond to these actions (see Bello et al., 2009;de Juana et al., 2010). Experiments (including conducted by us) on defleshing show that such cut marks can be created at the angle less 90 • (see Fig. 3c However, similar marks can also be a "point of entry" for skinning of the animal before defleshing and marrow consumption (Binford, 1981). ...
Problems of dispersals of early hominins into Europe are widely discussed. In the Early Pleistocene, the dispersal of mammals and humans from Africa, Asia, and Eastern Europe into the south of Western Europe passed mostly through the Eastern Mediterranean and the Balkans. Data on evolution and distribution of mammal faunas provide a solid basis for correlation and estimation of main dispersal events. In this paper authors made an attempt to analyze the paleobiogeographical aspects of possible hominin dispersals in the mid-Early Pleistocene of the Mediterranean in the context of a broad paleozoogeographical and paleoecological approach to addressing this issue. The study of the Early Pleistocene Trlica TRL11–10 mammal fauna of Trlica cave in Montenegro in the Central Balkans offers valuable information on biotic events in the region, migratory pathways and faunal transformations against a background of alternating environmental conditions. A recent discovery of several unique bones amongst other fossil mammalian remains excavated between 2010 and 2014 from the Trlica TRL11–10 level is of particular interest. The analysis of the assemblage of two large and two small bone artifacts suggests their anthropogenic nature. The Trlica TRL11–10 artifacts may constitute the first evidence of the initial ‘Peopling events’ in Mediterranean Europe. The artifacts are associated with a very diverse TRL11–10 fauna that includes 34 species of both small and large mammals and belongs to the late Early Pleistocene within the interval 1.8–1.5 Ma, Donau/Eburonian (MIS 63–51). The article emphasizes the close relationship between the early human dispersals and the evolution of biota and the importance of a holistic approach to the study of the problem of dispersals. Paleobiogeographic evidence confirms the possibility of the arrival of early hominins in the Balkans in the mid-Early Pleistocene, prior to 1.5 Ma, very likely closer to the Olduvai time.
... Zooarchaeological studies at Middle Palaeolithic sites have been focused largely on how Neanderthal groups exploited different animal species at both a site and at a more regional perspective. Some faunal studies have integrated lithic datasets to investigate aspects of butchery practice and social learning (Blasco et al. 2013), stone tool morphology (de Juana et al. 2010;Val et al. 2017;Moclán et al. 2018), stone tool manufacture and shaping (e.g. retouchers (Daujeard et al. 2014;Mallye et al. 2012) and hunting weapons (e.g. ...
The ongoing refinement of archaeological excavation and recording methods over the last decades has led to a significant increase in quantitative Middle Palaeolithic datasets that provide a record of past Neanderthal behaviour. Stone tools and butchered animal remains are the two main categories of Middle Palaeolithic archaeological remains and both provide distinctive insights into site formation and Neanderthal behaviour. However, the integration of these quantitative lithic and zooarchaeological datasets is key for achieving a full understanding of both site-specific and broader-scale patterns of Middle Palaeolithic subsistence. To explore novel ways to enhance the incorporation of these datasets, we organised a session at the 82nd annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology in Vancouver. An underlying theme was the problem of linking lithic and faunal variability. Are variations in subsistence strategies reflected by changes in tool-making decisions? This paper will briefly introduce the possible ways these Middle Palaeolithic datasets can be integrated, illustrated with the papers included in this special volume, and discuss its potential for understanding the variability and interconnectedness of Neanderthal technologies and subsistence strategies.
... We distinguished natural abrasion striations (i.e. trampling marks) from butchery marks using previous experimental and descriptive works 64,83,84,86,88,94,95 . We used the following variables to discriminate cut marks from natural abrasion: dimensions (length); width and shape of the cross-section (narrow and wide V-shape); depth (deep, moderate or superficial); internal microstriations; shoulder effect; flaking; trajectory (straight or sinuous linear grooves); isolated or grouped striations and relationship (parallel, non-parallel or overlapping); orientation with respect to the major axis of the bone (parallel, oblique or perpendicular); presence of fork-shaped marks or multiple grooves (in some case of cut marks made with lithic handaxes); frequency and location of the marks on the bone (rather muscle and tendons attachment areas for cut marks and more likely a random location for natural abrasions). ...
To date, in Africa, evidence for animal processing and consumption in caves routinely used as living spaces is only documented in the late Middle Pleistocene of the North and South of the continent and postdates the Middle Pleistocene in East Africa. Here we report the earliest evidence in a North-African cave (Grotte des Rhinocéros at Casablanca, Morocco) of cut, percussion and human gnawing marks on faunal remains directly associated with lithic knapping activities in the same space and in a well-documented stratified context. Ages for this Acheulean site are provided by the dating of herbivorous teeth to 690-720 ka and 520-550 ka (lower and upper sets) by combined Electron Spin Resonance (ESR) and U-series techniques. Traces of butchery on gazelle, alcelaphin, and zebra bones demonstrate that hominins had primary access to herbivore carcasses. Hominins brought and consumed meat in the cave, as documented by herbivore bones bearing human tooth marks concentrated in a circumscribed area of the excavation. In Africa, this site provides the earliest evidence for in situ carcass processing and meat-eating in cave, directly associated with lithic production and demonstrates the recurrent use by early Middle Pleistocene hominins of a North African cave site 400 000 years before that by Homo sapiens at Jebel Irhoud (Morocco).
... 1−5 Posterior analysis incorporate application of binocular microscopes with high resolution images 2,6−10 or including scanning electron microscope (SEM), that allow to accurate the results and differentiate cut marks produced by a range of materials as lithic, metal or Wood. 11,12 Recently the application of 3D analysis of geometric morphometry permit analyse the measurements and angles, and then identified the object. 13,14 These activities, as have been demonstrated by some authors, have also been applied to human remains for many reasons as cannibalism in early Europe, 15−17 or cultural treatment of the death as the nailed skulls of the Iberian Culture 18,19 or the skull trophies from the Torre Strait Islands. ...
Different types of superficial bone marks are present on human remains and often are difficult to interpret. Diagenetic processes, vascularization owns marks or human action are some of them. To discriminate the different kinds of marks that can be found on ancient remains has always been a challenge in an anthropological study. The aim of this project is to valorate the use of confocal profilometry (Leica DCM 3D), to discriminate different kinds of marks (butchery related, taphonomic, vascular, and suture related). Macroscopic and microscopic differences have been found between all groups of marks. Whereas taphonomic and butchery related marks had been previously described, this work has shown depth and morphology to be the main characteristics in vascular marks, with aggrupation and location near a suture being characteristic in suture marks. A new method of study has been proposed that is aimed at differentiating trampling and taphonomic marks from butchery related marks. Butchery marks display a greater depth and complexity than taphonomic marks, with both parameters being the only ones displaying significant differences between groups. Despite this, depth and complexity appear as when a discriminant function is generated. Confocal profilometry techniques provide three-dimensional information of the sample without any manipulation, and allow quantitative information to be obtained on the studied volume. In addition, the stitching system allows large areas to be analysed in order to provide information representative of the sample. This new technique, combined with the conventional techniques used in the field of anthropology, will allow a very accurate identification of different types of marks on human remains in the field of anthropology.
... The present work questions the validity of the experimental cut marks made with handaxes using defleshed bones when shoulder modification plays a crucial role in discrimination 26 . It is our opinion that cut marks with handaxes from previous experiments should be compared again with marks made with simple and retouched flakes using the more heuristic DL methods and using data from bulk defleshing alone. ...
Accurate identification of bone surface modifications (BSM) is crucial for the taphonomic understanding of archaeological and paleontological sites. Critical interpretations of when humans started eating meat and animal fat or when they started using stone tools, or when they occupied new continents or interacted with predatory guilds impinge on accurate identifications of BSM. Until now, interpretations of Plio-Pleistocene BSM have been contentious because of the high uncertainty in discriminating among taphonomic agents. Recently, the use of machine learning algorithms has yielded high accuracy in the identification of BSM. A branch of machine learning methods based on imaging, computer vision (CV), has opened the door to a more objective and accurate method of BSM identification. The present work has selected two extremely similar types of BSM (cut marks made on fleshed an defleshed bones) to test the immense potential of artificial intelligence methods. This CV approach not only produced the highest accuracy in the classification of these types of BSM until present (95% on complete images of BSM and 88.89% of images of only internal mark features), but it also has enabled a method for determining which inconspicuous microscopic features determine successful BSM discrimination. The potential of this method in other areas of taphonomy and paleobiology is enormous.
... Bone surface analysis of stratified fossil animal remains recovered from a stratigraphical level of 4.1-5.1 m below the Lettenbank (Number of identified specimens, NISP = 133) in the unit of the Lower Mauer Sands, which includes the stratigraphical level of the position of the Mauer mandible and also overlaps with the layer of in situ artefact finds, has been undertaken by Günter Landeck. Preliminary results show that 5.3% (7/133) of the analyzed specimes exhibit cut marks (de Juana et al. 2010). More than two-thirds of these specimens are bones from Bison schoetensacki (5/7). ...
The important discoveries of Lower Palaeolithic artefacts in stratigraphical context within Lower and early Middle Pleistocene deposits in the western continental part of Europe along the rift systeme of the Rhine Valley are pointing at the possible continuous presence of hominins since the Lower Pleistocene. This paper reports on lithic industry from its early appearance at around 1.3 million years (Ma) at the site of Münster-Sarmsheim to the latest pre-Elsterian period at around 0.6 Ma at Mauer, Mosbach, and Miesenheim.
... Taphonomists broadly disagree on how cut marks could be properly identified. A series of microscopic criteria were experimentally defined (Ficher, 1995;Domínguez-Rodrigo et al., 2009;de Juana et al., 2010), but there is substantial disagreement on how these criteria should be interpreted by individual researchers ( Domínguez-Rodrigo et al., 2009;Monnier and Bishoff, 2014). Recently, it has been documented that the Page ...
The identification of cut marks and other bone surface modifications (BSM) provides evidence for the emergence of meat-eating in human evolution. This most crucial part of taphonomic analysis of the archaeological human record has been controversial due to highly subjective interpretations of BSM. Here, we use a sample of 79 trampling and cut marks to compare the accuracy in mark identification on bones by human experts and computer trained algorithms. We demonstrate that deep convolutional neural networks (DCNN) and support vector machines (SVM) can recognize marks with accuracy that far exceeds that of human experts. Automated recognition and analysis of BSM using DCNN can achieve an accuracy of 91% of correct identification of cut and trampling marks versus a much lower accuracy rate (63%) obtained by trained human experts. This success underscores the capability of machine learning algorithms to help resolve controversies in taphonomic research and, more specifically, in the study of bone surface modifications. We envision that the proposed methods can help resolve on-going controversies on the earliest human meat-eating behaviors in Africa and other issues such as the earliest occupation of America.
... Certain studies have considered the differences between cut marks produced by different raw materials, such as flint, basalt, quartz, quartzite and metal (Walker and Long, 1977;Shipman and Rose, 1983;Olsen and Shipman, 1988;Greenfield, 1999;Bello et al., 2009, Bello, 2011Courtenay et al., 2017;Yravedra et al., 2017a,b;, while also paying particular attention to the type of tool used (Bello et al., 2009;Juana et al., 2010;Moretti et al., 2015;Courtenay et al., 2017;Yravedra et al., 2017a). Alternative raw materials like bamboo and shell have also been investigated as tools used in butchery activities (West and Louys, 2007;Bonney, 2014;Weston et al., 2015). ...
Recent techniques applied to taphonomy have made advances in our understanding of bone surface modifications. For many years, differences in bone density according to element and variations in animal size have been considered conditioning factors for many taphonomic processes. While several studies highlight how animal size and density affect fracture patterns and bone preservation rates, variations in cut mark morphology are yet to be confronted against these variables. Here, we assess the effect of these variables and their potential effect on cut mark morphology by comparing a considerable amount of cut marks on different anatomical elements of both suids and bovids. Experimentally produced cut mark samples were then digitally reconstructed using a David Laser scanner that allowed the statistical analysis of each cut mark's shape and form. Geometric morphometric analysis using 2D and 3D landmark models were unable to find substantial differences in cut mark morphologies caused by either element type of carcass size.
... Some of the main approaches make use of Scanning Electron Microscopes (SEM) (Shipman, 1981;Olsen, 1988;Greenfield, 1999Greenfield, , 2004Greenfield, , 2006aSmith and Brickley, 2004;Lewis, 2008), binocular microscopes for high resolution pictures (Domínguez-Rodrigo et al., 2009;De Juana et al., 2010;Marín-Monfort et al., 2013), digital imaging techniques (Gilbert and Richards, 2000), 3D reconstructions (Bartelink et al., 2001;During and Nilsson, 1991;Kaiser and Katterwe, 2001), 3D digital microscopes (Boschin and Crezzini, 2012;Crezzini et al., 2014), the Alicona 3D Infinite Focus Imaging microscope (Bello and Soligo, 2008;Bello et al., 2009;Bello, 2011;Bonney, 2014), Micro-Photogrammetry with the use of reflex cameras (Maté-González et al., 2015, and the use of the DAVID structured-light scanner SLS-2s in both 2D (Maté-González et al., 2017c) and 3D analysis (Courtenay et al., 2017). We could also add the use of white-light non-contact confocal profilometers using Digital Surf's Mountains R software (Pante et al., 2017) as well as full 3D morphometrics aided by Bayesian analysis (Otárola-Castillo et al., 2018). ...
Coímbre cave (Peñamellera Alta, Asturias) is an Upper Palaeolithic site in Northern Spain, spanning an occupation sequence from the Gravettian to the Magdalenian periods. The upper layers -layer I and II-, corresponding to the Upper Magdalenian, register the highest intensity of human activity. In this paper, we analyse raw material functionality at the site through the study of cut-marks found on bone remains. At Coímbre, we have documented mainly quartzite, followed by flint; other raw materials are found in very low frequencies. There are several types of local quartzite that appear mainly as flaking debitage and stone tools such as burins and scrappers. On the other hand, flint is mainly knapped to elaborate blades and bladelets, as well as specialised implements, such as different types of side scrappers. Retouched flakes on flint are relatively more abundant than those made on quartzite. In this paper we employ the use of photogrammetry, geometric morphometrics and statistics to analyse the cut-marks from the Upper Magdalenian assemblage of Coímbre cave. Our aim is to determine the lithic raw material preferentially used for carcass processing at the site.
... In the 1980's a great deal of studies revolved around the use of Scanning Electron Microscopes (SEM) (Potts and Shipman, 1981;Shipman and Rose, 1983;Shipman et al., 1984a, b;Andrews and Cook, 1985;Behrensmeyer et al., 1986;Cook, 1986;Olsen, 1988;Olsen and Shipman, 1988), which took advantage of the high resolution and visual perception of texture. Combined with the introduction of statistical multivariate analyses in archaeology (Domínguez-Rodrigo et al., 2009;de Juana et al., 2010;Moclán et al., 2018), in recent years SEMs have proven to be a considerable tool in empirically processing the taphonomic register (Pineda et al., 2014). Come the 21st century, confocal microscopy (Archer and Braun, 2013;Pante et al., 2017;Otárolla-Castillo et al., 2017;Gümrükçu and Pante, 2018), high resolution optical microscopes (Bello and Soligo, 2008;Bello et al., 2009Bello et al., , 2016Bello et al., , 2013Bello, 2011), as well as micro-photogrammetric three-dimensional (3D) reconstructions (Maté-González et al., 2015, 2016Aramendi et al., 2017;Arriaza et al., 2017;Maté-González et al., 2017a have also been key tools in the development of analytical methods. ...
The concept of equifinality has become one of the greatest difficulties in the field of taphonomy However, new advances in technology have diminished the margins of error in the interpretation of archaeological sites. The use of multivariate statistics and the most recent advances in microscopic analysis of Bone Surface Modifications (BSMs) have enable a less subjective interpretation of site formation processes. Nevertheless, this broader range of methodological approaches also presents some problems. The capacity of laser scanners in processing inconspicuous and superficial cortical alterations, such as trampling marks, has proven to be problematic. This study presents a new advance towards resolving this problem through the use of the HIROX KH-8700 Digital Microscope, whereby detailed digital three-dimensional (3D) reconstructions are able to pick up such minute BSMs. Through the statistical comparison of the David Laser scanner and the HIROX KH-8700 Digital Microscope, this paper contributes to our understanding of said equipment, followed by a significant advance in the characterisation of superficial BSMs. The combination of advanced microscopy and the application of geometric morphometrics highlights a morphological differentiation between two different types of trampling marks, hereby named scratch and graze trampling marks.
... Normalmente são diferenciáveis de outras modificações (e.g., vermiculações ou marcas de pisoteio) ou características anatómicas (e.g., sulcos vasculares) (Shipman e Rose, 1984;Blumenschine et al., 1996; sendo estrias (geralmente) lineares de dimensões variáveis, com secção em V, podendo apresentar estrias em "forma de cauda de cometa", micro-estrias paralelas ao eixo longitudinal do osso, inclusive fora da própria marca de corte (shoulder effect), ou cones hercinianos passíveis de se verificarem nas faixas laterais da estria central (Binford, 1981;Potts e Shipman, 1981;Shipman, 1981;Shipman e Rose, 1983;Bromage e Boyde, 1984). Nas últimas décadas realizaram-se trabalhos experimentais dedicados à obtenção de características diagnósticas que permitam distinguir marcas de corte realizadas com diferentes tipos de utensílios e matérias-primas (Greenfield, 1999(Greenfield, , 2005(Greenfield, , 2006Seetah, 2006;Bello e Soligo, 2008;de Juana et al., 2010), assim como melhor compreender a existência de marcas de dentes sobrepostas a marcas de corte (Blasco e Rosell, 2009), permitindo compreender a sequência de acção de hominídios e carnívoros (Potts e Shipman, 1981;White e Tooth, 2007: 282-284). ...
... Following the methodology posed by Lloveras et al. (2009b), cut marks orientation, along the main axis of the skeletal element (longitudinal, transversal and oblique), intensity and location have been recorded. Due to the difficulty in differentiating cut marks from marks caused by trampling, reference data from experimental research on distinguishing cut marks from pseudo-marks have been used (de Juana et al., 2010;Dominguez-Rodrigo et al., 2009;Fernández-Jalvo and Cáceres, 2010;Gaudzinski-Windheuser et al., 2010). ...
In zooarchaeological research, animal bone fractures can result from various processes including slaughtering, dismemberment, marrow/grease extraction, craft processing, carnivore gnawing/trampling, sediment compression, bioturbation, and recovery bias. These fractures are further influenced by bone freshness/dryness and environmental temperature. The animal bones analysed in this study, excavated from Han dynasty tombs in the Xinxiang Plain New District, China, represent ritual offerings. These specimens exhibit distinct truncation features—chop surfaces, rough planes, and fracture traces—created by ancient iron tools for culinary purposes such as stewing preparation or consumption facilitation. These characteristics differ significantly, from the V-shaped butchery marks produced by stone/bronze tools and fracture patterns from marrow/grease extraction to post-depositional breakage formed during burial processes. In this study, steel tools were employed in the rocking slicing and rolling slicing of animal bones, complemented by techniques such as breaking to sever bone shafts. Subsequently, the marks on the cross-sections were observed using a stereomicroscope, and the results were compared and analysed with the materials from Han dynasty tombs unearthed at Xinxiang city, Henan Province. From the comparison between experimental observation results and archaeological materials, it is evident that the fine processing of meat-bearing bone materials mainly involved the use of rocking and rolling slicing methods. The cross-sections of the slices revealed shearing surfaces, rough patches, bone splinters, and sliced ends. The shearing surfaces in particular exhibited numerous visible trace characteristics, with the types and quantities of these traces varying with different cutting tools. This study holds significant reference value for exploring cutting tools and techniques in antiquity.
Objectives
To test a hypothesis on interpersonal violence events during the transition between Chalcolithic and Bronze Age in the Eastern Pyrenees, to contextualize it in Western Europe during that period, and to assess if these marks can be differentiated from secondary funerary treatment.
Materials and Methods
Metric and non‐metric methods were used to estimate the age‐at‐death and sex of the skeletal remains. Perimortem injuries were observed and analyzed with stereomicroscopy and confocal microscopy.
Results
Among the minimum of 51 individuals documented, at least six people showed evidence of perimortem trauma. All age groups and both sexes are represented in the skeletal sample, but those with violent injuries are predominantly males. Twenty‐six bones had 49 injuries, 48 of which involved sharp force trauma on postcranial elements, and one example of blunt force trauma on a cranium. The wounds were mostly located on the upper extremities and ribs, anterior and posterior. Several antemortem lesions were also documented in the assemblage.
Discussion
The perimortem lesions, together with direct dating, suggest that more than one episode of interpersonal violence took place between the Late Chalcolithic and the Early Bronze Age in northeastern Spain. The features of the sharp force trauma indicate that different weapons were used, including sharp metal objects and lithic projectiles. The Roc de les Orenetes assemblage represents a scenario of recurrent lethal confrontation in a high mountain geographic context, representing the evidence of inferred interpersonal violence located at the highest altitude settings in the Pyrenees, at 1836 meters above sea level.
Carcass butchery is a culturally mediated behavior that reflects the technological, social, economic, and ecological factors that influence human diet and foodways. Butchery behavior can thus reveal a great deal about the lives of past peoples. Actualism provides a critical link between the dynamics of carcass butchery and the static remains of the archaeological record. This study provides an overview of actualistic butchery studies in zooarchaeology over the past century and a half. A systematic search through the English literature identified a total of 236 such studies published between 1860 and 2021. Thematic analysis revealed several trends. The most common themes have been the identification of signature criteria for different taphonomic effectors, the use of butchery traces to characterize the nature of human intervention with carcasses, and the documentation of butchery in an ethnoarchaeological context. Methodologically, the bulk of this research has focused on the butchery of large bovids with lithic implements, largely as a means to explore Paleolithic subsistence. Actualistic approaches will benefit from (1) additional work with non-bovid taxa and with other tool raw materials, (2) applications to broader anthropological issues, and (3) a concerted effort to replicate existing studies and design future studies with replication in mind.
The characterization of the first portable artistic depictions in Cantabrian Spain is crucial for comprehension of the symbolic development of Neandertals and Homo sapiens in the context of the passage from the Middle to the Upper Paleolithic. However, despite the importance of these first graphic representations, their study has tended to lack the application of suitable methodologies to be able to discriminate between graphic activity and other kind of alterations (use-wear, taphonomic, or post-depositional). The present study has examined a significant sample of Middle and Upper Paleolithic lithic and osseous objects from Cantabrian Spain that have been cited as evidence of graphic activity in the literature. The contexts in which the objects were found have been considered, and the objects have been analyzed through the microscopic observation of the marks to distinguish between incisions, pecking, and engraving made for a non-functional purpose (graphic activity) and those generated by diverse functional actions or taphonomic processes (cutmarks, trampling, root marks, percussion scars, and use-wear). The results show that some regional Middle Paleolithic osseous objects display incisions that are neither functional nor taphonomic and whose characteristics are similar to graphic evidence attributed to Neandertals in Europe and the Near East. In turn, the first portable art produced by Homo sapiens in the Cantabrian Spain seems to be limited mostly to linear signs, and no figurative representation can be recognized until the Gravettian. This appears to indicate a particular idiosyncrasy of the region in the Early Upper Paleolithic, which, in comparison with other regions such as south-west France and the Swabian Jura, shows a later and less abundant production of portable art.
In southern Africa, key technologies and symbolic behaviors develop as early as the later Middle Stone Age in MIS5. These innovations arise independently in various places, contexts and forms, until their full expression during the Still Bay and the Howiesons Poort. The Middle Stone Age sequence from Diepkloof Rock Shelter, on the West Coast of the region, preserves archaeological proxies that help unravelling the cultural processes at work. This unit yields one of the oldest abstract engraving so far discovered in Africa, in the form of a rhomboid marking on the cortical surface of an ungulate long bone shaft. The comprehensive analysis of the lithic artefacts and ochre pieces found in association with the engraved bone documents the transport of rocks over long distance (>20km), the heat treatment of silcrete, the coexistence of seven lithic reduction strategies (including the production of bladelets and the manufacture of unifacial and bifacial points), the use of adhesives and the processing of ochre. At Diepkloof, the appearance of engraving practices take place in a context that demonstrates a shift in rock procurement and a diversification in lithic reduction strategies, suggesting that these behavioral practices acted as a cultural answer to cope with new environmental and/or socio-economic circumstances. We argue that the innovations later found during the Still Bay and the Howiesons Poort were already in the making during the MIS5 pre-Still Bay, though not all the benefits were yet taken advantage of by the populations.
In this paper we present the results obtained in the analysis of the faunal remains recovered from balma del barranc de la Fontanella site (Vilafranca, Els Ports, Castelló) during the archaeological works conducted between 2011 and 2015. The data are preliminary since part of the sample is still under analysis. Here, we focus on different sized mammal species that may have been hunted and consumed by past human communities, belonging to Geometric Mesolithic and Notches and Denticulate Mesolithic cultures. Our results indicate great uniformity in terms of hunting strategies over time. On the other hand, a great taxonomic diversity is observed, which can be explained by the particular geographical characteristics of the site location.
The scientific replicability crisis has recently focused on bone surface modification (BSM) analysis, which underlies zooarchaeological and anthropological conclusions about the ecology and evolution of tool-assisted carcass consumption behavior. We review a recent blind test of inter-analyst correspondence in morphometric analysis of experimentally generated butchery marks that advocates algorithmic methods for diagnosing and measuring BSM in an effort to standardize methodology and minimize inter-analyst error (Domínguez-Rodrigo et al., 2017. Use and abuse of cut mark analyses: The Rorschach effect. Journal of Archaeological Science, 86, 14–23. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2017.08.001). This study overstates concern about the inaccuracy of BSM measurement and interpretation, concluding that BSM analysis is a subjective, non-scientific endeavor. Based on a minimally described sample of cut marks, it measures variables that involve inherent inaccuracy and subjectivity and overlooks how the contexts of experimental sample generation – particularly the difference between immanent and configurational processes – differentially affect cut mark morphometrics. We illustrate this discussion with experimental taphonomic examples focused on analytical context including sample construction and control over factors that affect cut mark cross-sectional size. Our analysis suggests the relationship between tool attributes and cut mark morphology is not generalizable to all experimental and archaeological butchery contexts. We show that our experimental samples capture metric variability observed in archaeological cut marks, but that intentionally incised marks and realistic defleshing marks differ in width and depth. Further, when controlling for factors that impact cut mark size including animal size class, tool type, butcher experience, and density across bone portions, overlapping cut mark widths and depths produced by phonolite and ignimbrite flakes lead to poor classification of marks according to causal flake material, which casts doubt on the ability to discriminate cut marks made by different materials. We build datasets that include diverse experimental contexts and suggest that meta-analysis can disentangle how multiple configurational factors contribute to cut mark morphometric attributes. Ultimately, progress in BSM analysis rests on inter-analyst replicability, which must be preceded by clear discussion of all parts of the inferential loop – from the design of experiments that generate actualistic analogues, to their use in supporting archaeological arguments. Otherwise, problematic expert knowledge traditions may mask arguments from authority in sophisticated methodological language and under-reported experimental context.
The site Los Notros, located just 60 m west of the site Pilauco in Osorno (Chile), was discovered in 2008, with excavations beginning in April 2016. The geology of Los Notros is similar to that of the Pilauco site where strata LN-1 and LN-2 are equivalent to layers PB-7 and PB-8 from Pilauco. However, Los Notros includes an additional stratum (LN-3) of prominent black color, finer texture, and similar age as the discordance between PB-8/PB-9, whereas layer LN-4 is equivalent to PB-9. Additionally, a chronostratigraphic relationship between both sites is suggested based on concordant radiocarbon ages. Excavations at the Los Notros have provided 15 fossil specimens from layers LN-1 and LN-2, 11 of which were taxonomically determined at least up to order level. A rich dental record represents the families Equidae, Gomphotheriidae, and Cervidae, whereas a nearly complete gomphothere tusk lacking torsion and enamel strips allowed its assignment to Notiomastodon platensis. Thus, the presence of N. platensis in northern Patagonia—the southern limit of the species range—is confirmed together with the identification of Equus (A.) sp., and the extension of the distributional range for the extinct genus Antifer from Cervidae.
The Pilauco Site, located at 159 Río Cachapoal Street, Villa Los Notros, Osorno, was discovered by chance in 1986. We began the research of Pilauco in November 2007. This chapter describes the main human and scientific events that have allowed the development of the geological, paleontological, archeological, and astrophysical research.
Investigations of the first South American settlements have revealed great environmental diversity, to which the first humans adapted as they colonized the continent. In this chapter we focus mainly on the description and interpretation of a set of expeditive lithics, from the sites Pilauco and Los Notros, knapped in local and exotic rocks ascribed to the unifacial edge-trimmed tradition. The lithic assemblage is composed of 140 knapped and 7 non-knapped stones that were classified as cores, knapped pebbles, and other pieces. To determine the provenance of the raw materials used for the production of archaeological pieces we integrated geological and geochemical analyses of archaeological and non-archaeological samples. Additionally, we describe and interpret other cultural materials present at the sites. The most likely source of the rhyodacitic and dacitic glass artifacts is the Puyehue-Cordón Caulle Volcanic Complex. The sites show clear evidence of a chain of production tasks, suggesting that most of the work process was executed and maintained in the same place. Thus, the early cultural context of Pilauco and Los Notros sites is supported by the presence of an operative chain production, but also by a clear stratigraphic record and precise age dating.
The study of coprophilous fungal spores associated with herbivorous faeces has been used to determine, among others, the presence, abundance and decrease of the megafauna populations on land at the end of the Pleistocene. Sporormiella sp. is the most abundant spore species in pollen samples, and it is exclusively restricted to faeces from domestic and wild herbivores. The present study encompasses the analysis and interpretation of Sporormiella sp. concentrations from two sediment columns with different resolution from the archaeo-paleontological Pilauco site. In both cases, the concentration of Sporormiella sp. reaches maximum values up to ~1.920 spores per cm⁻³ within the sedimentary layers PB-7 and PB-8, followed by a decline at the base of PB-9 layer corresponding to 12.800 cal. year BP. The disappearance of Sporormiella sp. across the PB-8/PB-9 erosional unconformity might be explained by a local decline of the megafauna producing this spore at Pilauco. Additional proxies and records are needed to further confirm the regional extinction of megafauna towards the end of the Pleistocene in north-western Chilean Patagonia.
Pilauco shows two distinct layers containing remains of Pleistocene mammals (PB-7 and PB-8). The site is spatially divided into two sectors, East (45 m²) and West (27 m²). The current study is centered in the Western sector, where the majority of the materials come from layer PB-7 (%NISP = 92.5). Overall, this layer does not show signs of weathering, exhibiting instead trampling marks, and in a lesser quantity, large carnivore tooth marks. The fragmentation level is low, particularly for the fossils of Gomphotheriidae, for which most of the fractures occurred when the fossils were not fresh. No human marks of any kind were identified. The impact of these distinct factors in the formation of the record of PB-7 was evaluated using the available data and concluded in an in situ death of a gomphothere, to which would have been added anatomical elements of other taxa, redeposited coluvially and/or through vertical migration as a result of trampling. Carnivores would have been primarily responsible for the alteration and possibly subtraction of skeletal remains; as of now there is no evidence of human impact in this process. The materials recovered in PB-8 layer could also have been deposited by colluvial processes, although the sample is very small to discuss the taphonomic processes that have occurred in this layer.
Butchery occurs at the intersection between technology, carcass processing behavior, and animal anatomy, and records traces on fragmentary specimens including cut marks. The causal factors and contexts that generate bone surface modifications have been well-studied in experimental archaeology but the ways in which cut mark size or morphology change with time during butchery in response to tool edge dulling or carcass desiccation is currently unknown. This study examines cut mark cross-sectional width and depth change during a sequence of experimental butchery trials that control for the effects of animal size, bone portion density, tool weight, and flake versus core tool type. Mark size is measured from vinyl molds under low-power magnification (40×) and compared to more precise 3d measurement techniques. Tool type and the order of carcass segment defleshing was systematically varied across the experiment, and a linear mixed effect regression model was used to explore the impact of these fixed factors and consider random variability introduced by potential differences in the four cows butchered by eight tools. Mark width and depth samples were negatively related to the density of the portion where marks occur, tool weight had a weak, but significant influence on mark size, and marks incised at different stages in the sequence of defleshing events were similar in width and depth. With current measurement techniques and the large variability in mark size produced during butchery, it is not impossible to infer the timing of mark creation during a tool's use life or its place in a sequence of butchery events, but methodological advancement may overturn this pessimistic conclusion.
Butchery involves using tools to process animal carcasses during consumption of tissue packages, and this technological adaptation has a deep connection with evolving human dietary ecology. Studying butchery informs archaeological inferences about lithic artifact function and site formation and describes skeletal traces of carcass consumption, which may corroborate the butchery function of certain tools. Diverse methodologies including subjective personal observations and well‐controlled experiments that investigate abstracted slicing mechanics or realistic butchery scenarios provide mixed conclusions about which kinds of tools are more efficient for butchery and whether their archaeological traces can be discriminated. Much less analytical attention is devoted to investigating whether a butcher's experience using stone tools to process carcasses impacts their performance, which may confound experimental assessment of how tool attributes are related to butchery efficiency. These experiments examine butchery performance in two novices over 40 goat forelimb and hindlimb trials where a single flake was used to deflesh and disarticulate a limb. By measuring butchery performance as defleshing efficiency (the amount of meat removed per second) and the time necessary to disarticulate limb elements, we demonstrate that in general, both butchers performed similarly when butchering forelimbs and hindlimbs and did not exhibit a strong learning curve of performance improvement. As well, flake weight, size, and cutting‐edge length were positively related to defleshing efficiency and negatively related to disarticulation time, suggesting that larger flakes are better butchery tools. Our results suggest that anatomical differences between forelimbs and hindlimbs did not impact butchery timing or efficiency and butchery performance is similar across novices. To maximize comparability of experimental butchery results, we encourage future research to examine butchery performance with respect to animals or tissue package size and investigate how butcher experience impacts performance.
An introduction to the range of factors that affect the composition and condition of human bone assemblages recovered from archaeological contexts, with discussion of the interdisciplinary methods applied to the documentation and interpretation of depositional patterns, tool marks, and breakage patterns in primary burials, secondary burials, and commingled assemblages.
Primate fossils from the Acheulian handaxe site at Olorgesailie, Kenya, are analyzed in an attempt to evaluate Isaac's suggestion that Locality DE/89 B preserves the remains of the hunting and butchering of giant gelada baboons. The age and sex structure of the 90 individuals suggests that attritional mortality occurred. This evidence is consistent with predation on small numbers of individuals at a time by either hominids or carnivores. A comparative method of analyzing breakage patterns is used. The type and frequency of breaks on each skeletal element are compared statistically with those on the same skeletal elements of primates from broadly contemporaneous sites where hunting and butchering are not suggested to have occured but where carnivore activity and other sources of damage have occurred. Some aspects of the breakage pattern on the Olorgesailie baboon material are significantly different from those at the nonhominid sites. The breaks in question could have occurred during disarticulation of the primates. The most probable interpretation of the evidence is that the hominids at Olorgesailie systematically and repeatedly hunted and butchered giant geladas. This is the first evidence of such a behavior in the fossil record.
This paper presents the results of new research that makes it possible to monitor the origins and spread of metallurgy despite the absence of metal artifacts. This was accomplished by comparison of the results of experimental cut marks with cut marks on bones from prehistoric sites spanning the introduction of metal tools in the central Balkans. Experimental replication of cut marks using chipped stone tools and steel knives yielded consistent differences in morphology. This allowed the differentiation of metal from stone knife cut marks under high magnifications. Metal knives leave a very different slicing profile than stone knives. Metal knives produce a cut mark with either a sharp V- or a broad U-shaped profile, and lack any parallel ancillary striations. In contrast, stone knives leave a more irregularly shaped cut mark profile. Separated by a deep groove at the bottom, one side of the cut mark is steeply angled, while the other side has a more gradually rising slope with one or more parallel ancillary striations. Morphological differences between cut marks on animal bones made by stone and metal knives can be used to determine the rate of adoption of metal tools. In this paper, data from the central Balkans of southeast Europe are presented to demonstrate that the adoption of metallurgy was a slow and halting process. A major determinant for access to early metallurgy is status, with elites obtaining access to effective cutting metallurgy earlier than commoners.
Fossils from Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania, show cutmarks which establish that hominids were using stone tools on animal tissues during the Lower Pleistocene in Africa. We identified cutmarks by elimination of other likely causes of the marks on the bone surfaces, for example, gnawing or chewing by carnivores or rodents, and damage made by tools of excavators or preparators. This was achieved by comparing the marks on the fossils with those produced by known causes on modern bones, using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Because the fossils occur as part of accumulations of animal remains in relatively undisturbed geological contexts, we conclude that there is a functional association between the stone artefacts and bones at these sites, rather than an accidental, postmortem association1,2.
Zooarchaeologists have become accustomed to high levels of confidence in their inferences about the origins, functions, and responses to stress of animal remains. This confidence rests on the causal and functional links between attributes of these remains and the processes and contexts which generate them. Their investigations are presently moving toward wider inferences about the context and functions of bones in ancient hominids' behavioral systems and in regional ecosystems. This transition involves a shift toward lower levels of inferential confidence. These arise from several sources and must be dealt with differently. Zooarchaeologists now need a different set of inferential strategies than that which characterized their preceding phase of research. This essay explores the various causes of lowered inferential confidence and suggests strategies for coping with them. It advances a philosophical argument for juxtaposing multiple, independent clusters of relational analogies, drawn from a wide variety of sources, including those outside zooarchaeology.
Documentation of cutmarks is standard protocol in contemporary zooarchaeology. However, there is currently no consensus about how to best quantify them. This study examines differences in cutmark patterning using two approaches: 1) by means of an experiment, comparing a control cutmark pattern to ten simulated highly fragmented sets of front and rear limbs using %NISPcut as the quantitative unit, and 2) by quantifying an archaeological faunal assemblage using both the number of identifiable specimens (NISP) and the comprehensive minimum number of elements (cMNE). Results reveal significant differences in cutmark patterning between the control set and the simulated fragmented sets. Additionally, the ordinal-scale frequencies of cutmark anatomical portions (proximal, shaft, distal) are inconsistent and fluctuate across the simulated sets. Results of the zooarchaeological analysis show that differences between the two quantification methods are significant. In general, this study suggests that on heavily fragmented assemblages, interpretations of butchering behavior based on cutmark patterning are influenced by the chosen unit of quantification. Overall, using NISP as the quantitative unit provides inconsistent results, whereas, by alleviating the effects of high fragmentation, cMNE is more reliable.
This paper presents an analytical procedure for identifying and mapping the introduction and spread of metallurgy to regions based upon the relative frequency of metal versus stone tool slicing cut-marks in butchered animal bone assemblages. The author conducted experiments to establish the relationship between the edge characteristics of metal and stone tools that create slicing cut-marks and the marks they produce when applied to bone. The type of tool used to produce such cut-marks on bone can be identified by taking silicone moulds of slicing cut-marks and analysing them in a scanning electron microscope. Quantifying the distribution of metal versus stone tool types over time and space provides insight into the processes underlying the introduction and diffusion of a functional metallurgical technology for subsistence activities. Prehistoric data from the central Balkans of southeast Europe are presented to illustrate the utility of the procedure. These data are used to calculate the frequency of use and relative importance of stone and metal implements over time in the central Balkans, from the introduction of metallurgy during the Late Neolithic (c . 3900–3300 bc) through the end of the Bronze Age (c . 1000 bc).
The Acheulean handaxe is one of the most iconic, analysed and fiercely debated artefacts from the prehistoric period. Persisting for over one million years and recovered from sites across the Old World its distinctive, often symmetrical, tear drop or ovate shape appears to be over-engineered for a subsistence function alone. Debate has centred upon trying to unravel the reasons for this form; raw material, knapping technique, subsistence function, cognition, social context of manufacture and sexual selection have all been proposed as key factors (Jones 1994; White 1998; Gamble 1999; Kohn & Mithen 1999; McPherron 2000; Gowlett 2006).
Why were handaxes made and why was their shape symmetrical and regular? These and many other questions are considered here, in a paper tackling hominid social behaviour and sexual selection.
Experiments were performed to determine the effectiveness of obsidian tools with different forms of edge treatment for animal processing. For most butchering tasks, primary flakes with unmodified working edges were more effective than bifacially pressure-flaked tools. The data presented indicate considerable variability among animal species in the demands placed on tools used for specific butchering tasks. It is suggested that consideration by prehistoric hunters of factors such as tool longevity and raw material availability could have resulted in the use of butchering tools with less than optimal cutting characteristics.
Microscopic signatures have previously been used to emphasize the similarities of butchery and trampling marks. The experimental background applied to differentiate both types of marks has been rather limited and authors have sometimes reached conflicting conclusions. This is partly due to methodological reasons: some authors have used very high magnification to examine microscopic features, whereas others have relied on more reduced magnification. Likewise, some experiments have exposed bones to trampling for reduced periods (minutes) whereas others have used longer time periods (hours). The present study stresses that the use of a scanning electronic microscope is not practical for identifying the impact of butchery and trampling marks in complete bone assemblages. It also emphasizes that previous studies have not addressed all the possible variables that could potentially be used to discriminate these marks, nor have they quantified the morphological patterns of each type of mark. Here we present a multivariate analysis of more than a dozen variables and show that butchery and trampling marks have very distinctive microscopic morphology. We advocate the use of a low magnification approach (≤40×), which can enable the analysis of complete assemblages using either hand lenses or binocular lenses. We also show the morphological criteria that differentiate butchery cut marks made with simple and retouched tools. We show that whereas complete discrimination of marks is impossible due to some degree of overlap, the list of criteria derived through multivariate analyses can be confidently used to correctly differentiate butchery and trampling marks in more than 90% of cases.
Experiments were performed to establish correlations between the edge characteristics of a series of tools and the marks they produce when applied to bone. Pressure and angle of application, length of blade, and motion used during the cutting stroke, were found to be important variables that affect the shape of tool marks. Using cross sections of butchering marks from archaeological sites, it was possible to establish associations between various classes of tools and specific tasks.
Cutmarks found on the fossilised bones of butchered animals provide direct evidence for the procurement of meat through technological means. As such, they hold some of the oldest available information on cognitive ability and behaviour in human evolution. Here we present a new method that allows a three-dimensional reconstruction of cutmark morphology and the quantification of profile parameters. We have tested this new technique on cutmarks that were experimentally inflicted on a pig rib using a steel knife and an un-retouched flint flake at different angles.
The method allows for the cross-sectional shape, the sharpness and depths of the resulting cutmarks to be quantified. The data show that knife mark sections are characterised by a V-shape or √-shape depending on the inclination of the knife. Cutmarks produced with the flint flake were less clearly defined and generally less sharp than those produced by the knife. We discuss the method's potential to provide new information on butchery technique and cognitive abilities developed by the human lineage, from the earliest tool-using hominins through to modern Homo sapiens.
The author gives an interim account of his own experiments in butchering carcasses, including goat and zebra, using stone tools which he had made himself (replicating certain tool types common in Bed IV of Olduvai Gorge). The butchery process was based on the traditional Wakamba method of butchering goats, which is also described step by step. The author found that for most tasks bifacial tools of substantial size, including handaxes, were more efficient than small unretouched or retouched flakes. There are few accounts of experimental butchery in the archaeological literature and detailed ethnographic reports are also very scarce. The conclusions drawn from the experiments are briefly discussed, with reference to the light they may throw on the lithic assemblages recovered from earlier Palaeolithic butchery sites, in which large cutting tools are inclined to be rare.
There have been many recent observations of trampling and its effect on bone surfaces1–8 as well as some experimental investigation of the process9–14. Although there is known to be a relationship between trampling and scratches on bones, there has been no detailed microscopic comparison with marks made by stone tools. As distinguishing cutmarks from other types of surface features is important in interpreting early hominid behaviour9,14–18 and the entry of humans into the New World7,19–20, we have examined possible mimics caused by trampling in an attempt to define diagnostic criteria for cutmarks. We find that microscopic features alone are not sufficient evidence to distinguish human-generated cutmarks from the results of trampling. We suggest different lines of evidence which together may achieve this goal.
The importance of meat-eating in human evolution has long been a controversial subject1–4. The best available evidence of hominid activities between 2 and 1.5 Myr ago is the archaeological record from two East African localities, Olduvai Gorge5, Tanzania, and Koobi Fora6, Kenya, which consists of scattered stone artefacts and fragmentary animal bones. The question7,8 of functional association between juxtaposed artefacts and bones would be largely settled if hominid-induced modifications were present on some bones. Comparative analyses of archaeological bone assemblages from Olduvai Gorge and Koobi Fora and of various modern bone assemblages with known taphonomic histories reveal direct evidence of early hominid butchering and marrow-processing activities.
Cut mark frequencies in archaeological faunal assemblages are so variable that their use has recently created some skepticism. The present study analyses this variability using multivariate statistics on a set of 14 variables that involve differential skeletal element representation, fragmentation processes, carnivore ravaging impact, carcass size and tool type. All these variables affect the resulting cut mark frequencies reported in archaeological sites. A large sample of archaeofaunal assemblages has been used for this study. It was concluded that the best estimator of cut mark frequency in any given assemblage is the percentage of cut-marked long bone specimens (probably due to its better preservation than other anatomical areas), which is determined by fragmentation and carnivore ravaging. Carcass size and tool type also play a major role in differences in cut mark frequencies. Fragmentation is also a key variable determining the abundance of cut-marked specimens. It is argued that general cut mark percentages are of limited value, given the number of variables that determine them, and that a more heuristic approach involves quantifying cut marks in a qualitative manner.
Analyses and interpretations of the human behavioral significance of frequencies of cut-marked mammal bones have been ongoing for at least 50 years. Many of these studies focus on determining the so-called ''butchering pattern.'' Few analysts comment on the tremendous range of variation in frequencies and anatomical distributions of cut marks across multiple assemblages of remains of a taxon. Such variation is evident even when faunal remains are associated with technologically, temporally, and environmentally similar cultures. This kind of variation is illustrated with frequencies of cut marked bone specimens comprising major limb joints of two artiodactyl genera from two sites in the northwestern United States. Three hypotheses are tested. The first and second hypotheses (one per genus) predict that the frequencies of cut-marked remains of a taxon from one site will match those frequencies evident on the remains of the same taxon at the other site. Both hypotheses are falsified. The third hypothesis is that remains of the larger taxon at each site will display more cut marks than the remains of the smaller taxon at each site. This hypothesis is statistically falsified at one site but not the other. Refutation of the hypotheses suggests that well-founded interpretations of frequencies of cut-marked remains may require unique kinds of contextual data.
Cutmarks made by stone tools, conchoidal flake scars from hammerstone percussion, carnivore tooth marks, striations from sedimentary abrasion, and other surface modifications on bones from archaeological sites constitute a crucial body of evidence for investigating the role of human behaviors and of nonhuman taphonomic processes in site formation. This paper describes the various kinds of bone surface modifications produced by humans and by nonhuman processes and assesses the current status of bone surface modification studies with regard to such issues as the need for greater analytical standardization, the selection of instruments for examining bone specimens, tactics for identifying the origins of marks on bones, and strategies for inferring human behaviors.
In this study, we analyse the three-dimensional micromorphology of cut marks on fossil mammal remains from a ∼0.5 million year old Acheulean butchery site at Boxgrove (West Sussex, southern England), and make comparisons with cut marks inflicted during the experimental butchery of a roe deer (Capreolus caproelus) using a replica handaxe. Morphological attributes of the cut marks were measured using an Alicona imaging microscope, a novel optical technique that generates three-dimensional virtual reconstructions of surface features. The study shows that high-resolution measurements of cut marks can shed light on aspects of butchery techniques, tool use and the behavioural repertoire of Lower Palaeolithic hominins. Differences between the experimental cut marks and those on the Boxgrove large mammal bones suggest variation in the angle of the cuts and greater forces used in the butchery of the larger (rhinoceros-sized) carcasses at Boxgrove. Tool-edge characteristics may account for some of these differences, but the greater robusticity of the Boxgrove hominins (attributed to Homo heidelbergensis) may be a factor in the greater forces indicated by some of the cut marks on the Boxgrove specimens.
A major problem confronting archeologists is how to determine the function of ancient stone tools. In this important work, Lawrence H. Keeley reports on his own highly successful course of research into the uses of British Paleolithic flint implements. His principal method of investigation, known as "microwear analysis," was the microscopic examination of traces of use left on flint implements in the form of polishes, striations, and breakage patterns. The most important discovery arising from Keeley's research was that, at magnifications of 100x to 400x, there was a high correlation between the detailed appearance of microwear polishes formed on tool edges and the general category of material worked by that edge. For example, different and distinctive types of microwear polish were formed during use on wood, bone, hide, meat, and soft plant material. These correlations between microwear polish and worked material were independent of the method of use (cutting, sawing, scraping, and so on). In combining evidence of polish type with other traces of use, Keeley was able to make precise reconstructions of tool functions. This book includes the results of a "blind test" of Keeley's functional interpretations which revealed remarkable agreement between the actual and inferred use of the tools tested. Keeley applied his method of microwear analysis to artifacts from three excavation sites in BritainâClacton-on-the-sea, Swanscombe, and Hoxne. His research suggests new hypotheses concerning such Paleolithic problems as inter-assemblage variability, the function of Acheulean hand axes, sidescrapers, and chopper-cores and points the way to future research in Stone Age studies.
Shipman and Rose (1983) have recently attracted attention to the fact that the determination of directionality of cutmarks could possibly provide additional evidence for interpretation of early hominid butchering practices and handedness. They found no criteria of directionality, however. We have previously recognized directionality in cut dental tissues and more recently in bone, and so we undertook a study of over 200 experimentally produced cutmarks on bovine bone by scanning electron microscopy. Three criteria of directionality were observed: bone smears, oblique faulting, and oblique chipping. In our analysis we considered properties of bone as a relevant variable in the microscopic appearance of cutmarks, which has also led to the new finding that not all marks made by a single tool under similar conditions are the same. We observed that bone smears occurred in most specimens, relatively low density forming bone surfaces facilitated oblique fault production, whereas oblique chipping frequently occurred in plexiform bone tissue common to growing artiodactyls. In this study, handedness of the operator could be determined from cutmarks, but much further experimental work will be required in order to detail the criteria.
The meat-eating behavior of Plio-Pleistocene hominids, responsible for the bone accumulations at the earliest archaeological sites, is still a hotly-debated issue in paleoanthropology. In particular, meat-eating and bone marrow consumption are often presented as either complementary or opposing strategies of carcass exploitation. The presence of cut marks on fossil archeofauna is a potential source of information that has not been consistently used as evidence of carcass consumption by hominids. Some authors interpret cut marks as the result of hominids manipulating meat-bearing bones, while others argue that they can also be the result of hominids extracting marginal scraps of carcass flesh that have survived carnivores' initial consumption. In this study, a referential framework concerning the interpretation of cut marks is presented, based on a set of experiments conducted by the author. It is suggested, according to these experiments and data drawn from the FLK "Zinj" site, that hominids processed meat-bearing bones (on which flesh was abundant) rather than defleshed carcasses from felid kills.
The emergence of the Acheulian stone tool industry, between 1.7 and 1.5 m.y.a., constitutes one of the earliest evidences of complex behavior in the process of human evolution. The major technological breakthrough with the Acheulian industry was the beginning of the manufacture of bifacially shaped heavy-duty tools. Handaxes made with a predetermined form and a high degree of symmetry are the main characteristic of the Acheulian tradition. The tools are shaped through a long knapping sequence with a remarkable increase in the technical skills of the makers, compared with the older Oldowan tradition, implying a high degree of planning and foresight. Until recently, the function of these early bifacial tools remained unknown. A large number of these artefacts were found at Peninj in Tanzania, and phytolith analyses on handaxes have yielded for the first time unambiguous evidence of their function as woodworking tools.
R: A Language and Environment for Statistical Computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria. Roe, D., 1994. A metrical analysis of selected sets of handaxes and cleavers from Olduvai Gorge
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R Development Core Team, 2009. R: A Language and Environment for Statistical Computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria. Roe, D., 1994. A metrical analysis of selected sets of handaxes and cleavers from Olduvai Gorge. In: Leaky, M., Roe, D. (Eds.), Excavations in Beds III, IV and the Masek Beds. Olduvai Gorge, vol. 5. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
A new method for the quantitative analysis of cutmark micromorphology
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