Volumen 5. Issue 4. Year 2007.

2020-03-28T19:19:04+02:00octubre 26th, 2019|Volumen 5. Issue 4. Year 2007.|

VOLUME 5. NUMBER 4. 2007

Criteria for the Identification of Formation Processes in Guanaco (Lama guanicoe) Bone Assemblages in Fluvial-Lacustrine Environments.

María A. Gutierrez, Cristian A. Kaufmann.

Keywords: SITE FORMATION PROCESSES, GUANACO (Lama guanicoe), BONE DISPERSION POTENTIAL, ONTOGENETIC DEVELOPMENT, FLUVIAL AND LACUSTRINE ENVIRONMENTS, ARGENTINA

[+info] VOLUME 5. ISSUE 4. 2007 (1 issue)

The aim of this paper is to present and discuss methodological criteria that may be of use in exploring the role of water in the formation of the faunal record in fluvial and lacustrine environments. As such, the dispersion potential of the bones of adult and neonate guanaco (Lama guanicoe) skeletons in an aquatic environment with very low hydraulic energy is evaluated through experimentation. Results of the experiments are integrated with other, complementary criteria and applied to the bone assemblage recovered at Paso Otero 1 site, situated on the margin of the ancient flood plain of the Quequén Grande River (Buenos Aires Province, Argentina). The results of this study indicate that water was the main agent responsible for guanaco bone accumulation at the site. It is proposed that some of the skeletal parts, which belong to guanaco carcasses that were processed and exploited by hunter-gatherers in areas close to the site, were added to those from animals that died naturally. This resulted in a mixture of material of both natural and anthropic origin.

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Taphonomy in Present Day Desertic Environment: The Case of the Djourab (Chad) Plio-Pleistocene Deposits.

Denys, Christiane, Schuster M., Guy F., Mouchelin G.,Vignaud P., Viriot L., Brunet M, Duringer P., Fanoné F., Djimdoumalbaye A, Likius A, Mackaye H.T., Sudre J.

Keywords: DJOURAB DESERT, CHAD, HOMINIDS, WIND ABRASION, REWORKING

[+info] VOLUME 5. ISSUE 4. 2007 (2 issue)

Preliminary taphonomic studies were conducted on three different early hominid Chadian sites aged between 5 Ma and 3 Ma (KB, KL, KT fossil areas). Specific excavations and taphonomic sampling protocols were established. Research of the various alterations and the origins of bone modifications were carried out. All fossil assemblages bear traces of carnivore tooth marks as well as weathering and wind/water polishing. Digestion is present on bones from the KB & KL sites. Rootmark traces were found only on bones from the KB and KT sites. All three sites display various polishing patterns among which much of the abrasion results from wind polishing on the top surface, on the exposed face of large flat bones difficult to move. By contrast water action works on all faces of polished bones. KL seems to show more water transport influence than the two other sites. Weathering stages are light to heavy (stages 2-4) and the presence of gnawing, and traces of roots plus tooth marks indicates that bones stayed sometimes on the soil surface and that the assemblages may be of attritional origin. But the low density of bones and the presence of a very thin fossil layer are very exceptional and it is not clear weather the fossil sites have been condensed during the past or if this is the result of present day extreme desert conditions. More detailed work on other Djourab sites should allow to refine the taphonomic history concerning these early hominid accumulations and formation.

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Brachiopod Shells on the Beach: Taphonomic Overprinting in a Fair-Weather Shell Accumulation.

Marcello Guimarães Simões, Sabrina Coelho Rodrigues, Juliana de Moraes Leme, Ricardo Angelim Pires-Domingues.

Keywords: BRACHIOPOD SHELLS, TAPHONOMIC OVERPRINTING, ABRASION, SHELL SURFACE TEXTURE, SPATIAL FIDELITY, BEACH ENVIRONMENT, LATE HOLOCENE

[+info] VOLUME 5. ISSUE 4. 2007 (3 issue)

This study documents the occurrence of brachiopod shells (Bouchardia rosea) in wrack-lines from backshore deposits of a tropical beach (Itamambuca beach), in the northern coast (Ubatuba County) of the state of São Paulo, Brazil. The main goals are: (a) to analyze the provenance and sorting of the brachiopod shells; (b) to provide the taphonomic signatures of the shells, which may favor the recognizance, description and diagnoses of similar shell concentrations in ancient rocks, and (c) to discuss the taphonomic meaning of these detrital accumulations. Sampling transects were done at the reflective and dissipative sectors of the Itamambuca beach. For this project, two thousand brachiopod shells were collected and examined. In general, shells are minute, pale in color, and extremely rounded with reduced shell micro-relieves. Abrasion is the main taphonomic signature recorded. Abraded shells are characterized by V-shaped scars on the external surface, exposing the secondary fibrous layer of the shell microstructure. In some cases, holes produced by abrasion (facets) are recorded in the most convex portion of the shells. A pronounced bias in favor of ventral valve is also noted, and the size frequency distribution of shells is shaped by taphonomy. Finally, shells show intense taphonomic overprinting, but the taphonomic signatures recorded on those shells are worth to provide valuable clues about the taphonomic pathways and spatial transportation of each bioclast.

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The Taphonomist´s Corner: Taphonomy and praxis.

Mariano Padilla Cano

Keywords

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Volumen 9. Issue 1. Year 2011.

2020-03-28T19:21:40+02:00octubre 26th, 2019|Volumen 9. Issue 1. Year 2011.|

VOLUME 9. NUMBER 1. 2011

How Can Taphonomy Be Defined in the XXI Century?

Manuel Domínguez-Rodrigo, Sixto Fernández-López, Luis Alcalá.

Keywords: TAPHONOMY, ARCHAEOLOGY, PALAEONTOLOGY, PALAEOBIOLOGY, BIOSTRATINOMY, FOSSIL-DIAGENESIS

[+info] VOLUME 9. ISSUE 1. 2011 (1 issue)

Taphonomy, as a branch of learning and a research area, has undergone a tremendous growth in the past few decades. It has extended its application from palaeontology to other disciplines, it has broadened its referential scope and has incorporated humans as taphonomic agents. This has affected the way taphonomy is perceived by its practitioners and requires a modification of its definition, following a process that is common in most evolving natural science disciplines.

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Badger (Meles meles) Remains Within Caves as an Analytical Tool to Test the Integrity of Stratified Sites: The Contribution of Unikoté Cave (Pyrénées-Atlantiques, France).

Jean-Baptiste Mallye

Keywords: BADGER, BIOTURBATION, TAPHONOMY, SPATIAL ANALYSIS, REFITTINGS, SITE FORMATION PROCESSES, UNIKOTÉ CAVE

[+info] VOLUME 9. ISSUE 1. 2011 (2 issue)

This papers deals with the analysis of Eurasian badger (Meles meles) remains in an archaeological context. Eurasian badgers dig large burrows as living structures and so the identification of their remains in archaeological context appears doubtful. More than 400 remains of these small carnivores were recovered from Unikoté Cave. This site is assumed to be a hyena den with the occurrence of human remains and lithic artefacts. In this paper, we aimed to: 1) explain how and why so many remains of these carnivores are recognised at Unikoté Cave; 2) evaluate the role of Eurasian badgers in site formation processes and 3) to test the archaeological relevance of a bioturbated site.

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A Taphonomic Study of Wild Wolf (Canis lupus) Modification of Horse Bones in Northwestern Spain.

José Yravedra, Laura Lagos, Felipe Bárcena.

Keywords: TAPHONOMY, WOLF, WILD HORSE, HUNTING, SCAVENGING, TOOTH MARKS

[+info] VOLUME 9. ISSUE 1. 2011 (3 issue)

Taphonomic studies of carnivores have become an integral part of taphonomic research in the past two decades. These studies are developing a referential framework for the identification of carnivore signature variety in the fossil record. Hyaenas and felids are predominant in these studies, whereas other carnivores such as wolves have not received as much attention yet. This paper analyses wild horse carcasses processed by wild wolves and discusses the implications for the study of site formation in the Euroasian Pleistocene. Carcasses have undergone different kinds of consumption by wild wolves and show important differences in the degree of bone modification according to wolf hunting and scavenging strategies. The different degree of bone destruction when consumed in one or many events is also discussed.

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The Taphonomist´s Corner: Fossil microorganisms.

María Dolores Pesquero

Keywords

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Volumen 14. Issue 1. Year 2016.

2020-03-28T19:24:05+02:00octubre 26th, 2019|Volumen 14. Issue 1. Year 2016.|

Volumen 14. Number 1. Year 2016.

The Application of Digital Reconstruction Techniques in Taphonomy of an Upper Cretaceous Dinosaur Site in Eastern Wyoming.

Arthur Chadwick, Mark Silver, Larry Turner, Justin Woods.

Keywords: VIRTUAL QUARRY, LANCE, GPS, GIS, BONEBED

[+info] VOLUME 14. ISSUE 1. 2016 (1 issue)

High-resolution Global Positioning System (GPS) technology, together with Geographic Information Systems (GIS) software provide powerful new tools for the taphonomist. We have applied these techniques in our research on a massive Upper Cretaceous dinosaur bonebed in the Lance Formation in northeastern Wyoming, permitting centimeter accurate photographic reconstructions of the features of the quarry essential for taphonomic study. We can then query the resulting three dimensional mapping and answer essential taphonomic questions after returning from the field. We are able to process over two thousand specimens from a typical season’s excavation and convert the data into accurate and addressable virtual quarry maps. Using the resulting quarry maps, we can visualize the positions of every bone. The maps and photographs and data on the specimens are available on the internet so that the integrity of the taphonomic data, now in excess of sixteen thousand specimens, is assured for the future.

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An Experimental Approach to Orientation Patterns in Trampling Processes and its Relevance to Site Formation Processes.

Marta Pernas-Hernández, Manuel Dominguez-Rodrigo.

Keywords: TRAMPLING, ISOTROPY/ANISOTROPY, SITE FORMATION PROCESSES, ALLOCHTONY/AUTHOCHTONY, NEO-TAPHONOMY

[+info] VOLUME 14. ISSUE 1. 2016 (2 issue)

The study of orientation patterns is becoming a trend again in early Pleistocene archaeology. Anisotropy and isotropy can result from different biotic and non-biotic processes. Here an experiment was conducted in order to distinguish how trampling processes modify the orientation patterns of random bone distributions. After submitting 80 bones to the action of directional trampling, we have been able to verify the correlation between the trampling direction of trampling and the existence of anisotropy. This shows that physical and biotic processes in addition to water disturbance can generate anisotropic distributions.

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Prey selection among Late Pleistocene hunter-gatherers in the Northern Iberian Peninsula.

Alba García-Álvarez, Gonzalo Linares-Matas, José Yravedra Sainz de los Terreros.

Keywords: MIDDLE PALAEOLITHIC, UPPER PALAEOLITHIC, GIPUZKOA, SELECTION HUNTING RESOURCES

[+info] VOLUME 14. ISSUE 1. 2016 (3 issue)

During the last decades, archaeological research has demonstrated that hunting and primary access to animal resources have been a recurrent feature of early human behaviour. In addition to confirming this behavioural pattern, data from later Palaeolithic sites can be analysed to provide insights on the specific dynamics of human practices and how they inform subsistence strategies. Of particular interest are discussions on opportunistic versus selective hunting strategies, as well as the prey selection criteria that early human populations followed, if any, in the Palaeolithic period. We address these research questions throughout the paper, focusing on the second half of the Late Pleistocene in the Northwest of the Iberian Peninsula. We consider a sample of twelve archaeological and palaeontological sites from a bibliographical perspective. The results analysed suggest that the prey selection strategies adopted by Palaeolithic hunter-gatherers were influenced by a series of palaeoecological and sociocultural contexts, such as landscape, geomorphology and topography, seasonal prey mobility, and human mobility patterns. We suggest that the discussion is hindered by issues of data resolution, which can be improved through taphonomical analysis of the assemblages under consideration. Other limitations are derived from the incomplete nature of the available evidence, that are to be addressed through further future fieldwork.

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The Taphonomist´s Corner: First evidence of hair protospines in the fossil record.

Jesús Marugán-Lobón, Hugo Martín-Abad, Ángela D. Buscalioni.

Keywords

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