Volumen 12. Issue 1. Year 2014.

2020-03-28T19:23:41+02:00octubre 26th, 2019|Volumen 12. Issue 1. Year 2014.|

VOLUME 12. NUMBERS 1. 2014

Arctic Wolf and Spotted Hyena Gnawing Damage on an Experimental Faunal Assemblage.

Alexander Nascou, Eugène Morin.

Keywords: CARNIVORE TAPHONOMY, HYENAS, WOLVES, EXPERIMENT, TOOTH MARKS, PALEOLITHIC

[+info] VOLUME 12. ISSUE 1. 2014 (1 issue)

Humans compete with carnivores for animal resources. As a result of this competition and because carcasses can be used sequentially by different classes of predators, it is often difficult to identify the agent of accumulation in archaeological settings. If efficiency in feeding behaviour has been selected for, it may be possible to use such behavioural predispositions to predict the manner in which a faunal assemblage will be modified. To assess this problem, we performed a series of feeding experiments with captive arctic wolves and spotted hyenas. Our results suggest that these species produce predictable patterns of gnawing damage on skeletal elements when key variables are manipulated, including prey body size and the presence of intact marrow cavities. Patterns of gnawing damage also appear to be associated with bone density, developmental age, and the amount of adhering flesh. The effect of these factors also appears to vary between carnivore species. Further understanding of carnivore ecology and behaviour will be useful to archaeozoologists and palaeontologists who are faced with complex site formation processes involving multiple agents.

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Taphonomic analysis of small ungulates modified by fox (Vulpes vulpes) in Southwestern Europe.

José Yravedra Sainz de los Terreros*, Miriam Andrés, Philippe Fosse, Jean Pierre Besson.

Keywords: FOX, CARNIVORES, TOOTH MARKS, TAPHONOMY, SMALL UNGULATES

[+info] VOLUME 12. ISSUE 1. 2014 (2 issue)

The interaction between humans and carnivores regarding bone modification is a frequent taphonomic phenomenon generating palimpsest where the activity of both agents is present. However, recent research has mainly been concerned with the identification of their individual action. In the case of carnivores, hyenas and felids were the most studied species, while other animals were virtually postponed in the agenda. Considering the abundance of fossil evidence of foxes in the European Pleistocene, this paper presents new data for the taphonomic characterization of fox behaviour. Thus, our interest is to improve the referential framework available for this carnivore's action aiming at its identification in the Pleistocene fossil record. Hence, we describe the analysis of two modern assemblages modified by foxes: the first one corresponds to a natural-death assemblage near Ayllón (Segovia, Spain) and the second to a den site in Ourtiaga (Pyrenées, France). In order to characterise fox action, we analyse its behaviour by means of the analysis of tooth marks and fracture patterns. Regarding the former, mark frequency, types, dimensions and distribution are considered. Finally, with the intention of discriminating fox behaviour from human action, we simulated tooth mark frequencies and distribution on a carcass which was previously fractured by humans.

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Taphonomy of a fish accumulation by the European Otter (Lutra lutra) in central France.

Emilie Guillaud, Philippe Béarez, Christiane Denys, Stéphane Raimond.

Keywords: OTTER, PREDATOR, DIGESTION, SPRAINTS, FISH BONES, TAPHONOMY

[+info] VOLUME 12. ISSUE 1. 2014 (3 issue)

Fish remains are abundant and easily recognizable in many archaeological sites. But, the origin of such assemblages is generally poorly known. However, the ability to create small fish bone accumulations is restricted to a small number of predators (including raptors, carnivores, and humans). In order to recognize the agents responsible for these concentrations in archaeological sites, we have investigated the taphonomy of the fish remains from otter spraints to determine the potential role of otters in the formation of fossil assemblages. Currently, few data are available to characterize the accumulation of otter remains in natural or archaeological sites. We analyzed a collection of 29 otter spraints from Bugeat (Corrèze) in central France. We identified the remains of nine fish species including, brown trout ((Salmo trutta, Salmonidae), perch (Perca fluviatilis, Percidae), pumpkinseed (Lepomis gibbosus, Centrarchidae), and several Cyprinidae, rudd (Scardinius erythrophthalmus), minnow (Phoxinus phoxinus), bullhead (Cottus gobio) and the indeterminate pair chub/dace (Squalius cephalus/Leuciscus leuciscus). The species and the body parts present, along with the reconstruction of the fish weight and observations of any modifications, such as deformation, rounding and polishing, give us insight into otter prey categories and their transformation after digestion. Among the ca. 200 bones constituting the whole fish skeleton, only between 6 and 39 bones survived according the different species. Cyprinids display a high moderate digestion grade and seems to be the taxon most affected by digestion (64.67%). Based on surface modifications, such as breakage and digestion traces, as well as bone element representation, we produced a set of criteria as a new tool to be applied to the fossil record.

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The Taphonomist´s Corner: Deciphering dinosaur motion through a track.

Alberto Cobos, Luis Alcalá.

Keywords

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