Here's an article that provides some detail re: the kind of analysis done in a
paper I mentioned some weeks ago. That paper analyzed the marks on bones and
concluded that humans were more predator than scavenger in prehistoric times.
Journal title: Journal of Human Evolution
Citation details: Volume 47, Issue 5 , November 2004, Pages 343-357
Article title: Disentangling Early Stone Age palimpsests: determining the
functional independence of hominid- and carnivore-derived portions of
archaeofaunas
Article authors: Charles P. Egeland, Travis Rayne Pickering, Manuel
Domínguez-Rodrigo, and C.K. Brain
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6WJS-4DKKF02-2&_user=10&_handle=B-WA-A-W-Z-MsSAYVW-UUA-AAUZEYBZVW-AAUVCZVVVW-YBAAZBVYU-Z-U&_fmt=summary&_coverDate=11%2F01%2F2004&_rdoc=4&_orig=browse&_srch=%23toc%236886%232004%23999529994%23526375!&_cdi=6886&view=c&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=1fba8f9e5007c39f7390325aa56d1e78
Abstract
Determining the extent to which hominid- and carnivore-derived components of
fossil bone palimpsests formed independently of each other can provide valuable
information to paleoanthropologists interested in reconstructing the foraging
adaptations of hominids. Because stone tool cutmarks, hammerstone percussion
marks, and carnivore tooth marks are usually only imparted on bone during
nutrient extraction from a carcass, these bone surface modifications are
particularly amenable to the types of analyses that might meet this goal. This
study compares the percentage of limb bone specimens that preserve evidence of
both hominid- and carnivore-imparted bone damage from actualistic control
samples and several Plio-Pleistocene archaeofaunas, including new data from
Swartkrans Member 3 (South Africa). We argue that this procedure, which
elucidates the degree of hominid-carnivore independence in assemblage
formation, will allow researchers to extract for focused
analyses high integrity components (hominid and carnivore) from presumably low
integrity sites. Comparisons suggest that the hominid- and carnivore-derived
components from sites in Olduvai Gorge Bed II (Tanzania), the ST Site Complex
at Peninj (Tanzania), and Swartkrans Member 3 formed largely independent of
each other, while data from the FLK 22 Zinjanthropus (FLK Zinj) site (Olduvai
Gorge Bed I) indicate significant interdependence in assemblage formation. This
contrast suggests that some Early Stone Age assemblages (e.g., the Olduvai
Gorge Bed II sites, the Peninj ST Site Complex, and Swartkrans Member 3) are
probably more useful than others (e.g., FLK Zinj) for assessing the maximal
carcass-acquiring abilities of early hominids; in such assemblages as those in
the former set, sole hominid-contribution is more confidently discerned and
isolated for analysis than in assemblages such as FLK Zinj.
Tom Billings
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