Taphonomic and ecologic information from bone weathering
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In this paper, a categorization of weathering characteristics into six stages, recognizable on descriptive criteria, provides a basis for investigation of the weathering rates and processes of recent mammals in the Amboseli Basin.Abstract:
Bones of recent mammals in the Amboseli Basin, southern Kenya, exhibit distinctive weathering characteristics that can be related to the time since death and to the local conditions of temperature, humidity and soil chemistry. A categorization of weathering characteristics into six stages, recognizable on descriptive criteria, provides a basis for investigation of weathering rates and processes. The time necessary to achieve each successive weathering stage has been calibrated using known-age carcasses. Most bones decompose beyond recognition in 10 to 15 yr. Bones of animals under 100 kg and juveniles appear to weather more rapidly than bones of large animals or adults. Small-scale rather than widespread environmental factors seem to have greatest influence on weathering characteristics and rates. Bone weathering is potentially valuable as evidence for the period of time represented in recent or fossil bone assemblages, in- cluding those on archeological sites, and may also be an important tool in censusing populations of animals in modern ecosystems.read more
Citations
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Differential Burning, Recrystallization, and Fragmentation of Archaeological Bone
TL;DR: In this paper, the conditions under which progressive levels of burning may occur to archaeological bone, and how burning damage changes bones' crystal structure and susceptibility to fragmentation (a.k.a. friability).
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Taphonomy and paleobiology
TL;DR: Taphonomy plays diverse roles in paleobiology, including assessing sample quality relevant to ecologic, biogeographic, and evolutionary questions, diagnosing the roles of various taphonomic agents, processes and circumstances in generating the sedimentary and fossil records, and reconstructing the dynamics of organic recycling over time as a part of Earth history as discussed by the authors.
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Toward the identification of formation processes
TL;DR: This paper demonstrates that the identification of formation processes, which must precede behavioral inference and be accomplished by any research endeavor that uses evidence from the archaeological record, can become practical and routine.
Journal ArticleDOI
Bone surface modifications in zooarchaeology
TL;DR: The current status of bone surface modification studies is assessed 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.
Journal ArticleDOI
Early hominid hunting, butchering, and carcass-processing behaviors: Approaches to the fossil record
Pat Shipman,Jennie J. Rose +1 more
TL;DR: Different criteria currently used as evidence of hominid involvement with ancient bones are reviewed and it is concluded that the presence of cutmarks, verified by scanning electron microscope (SEM) inspection, is the most reliable.
References
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BookDOI
Taphonomy and population dynamics of an early Pliocene vertebrate fauna, Knox County, Nebraska
TL;DR: The Verdigre quarry of early Pliocene age in the Valentine Formation, northeastern Nebraska forms the basis for the investi- gation as discussed by the authors, where 40 genera of mammals, 7 of reptiles, 2 of amphibians, and 6 of fishes are repented in a collection of over 20,000 identifiable specimens recovered from a small exca- vation in a 4-5 foot-thick lens of extremely poorly sorted, gravelly, silty, clayey sand.
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The taphonomy and paleoecology of Plio-Pleistocene vertebrate assemblages east of Lake Rudolf, Kenya
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Cyclical Changes in the Habitat and Climate of an East African Ecosystem
David Western,C. Van Praet +1 more
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors attributed changes in an East African Game Reserve may be attributed to changes in climatic conditions and soil salinity, and tree damage from elephants and overgrazing by livestock.
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Observed formation and burial of a recent human occupation site in Kenya
TL;DR: A recent human campsite, occupied in 1973 by members of the Dassanetch tribe of northern Kenya, was observed from its creation through its subsequent burial in flood events 4 months later as discussed by the authors.