Taphonomic analysis of the early Pleistocene (2.4Ma) faunal assemblage from A.L. 894 (Hadar, Ethiopia)

2012 ◽  
Vol 62 (3) ◽  
pp. 315-327 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manuel Domínguez-Rodrigo ◽  
Bienvenido Martínez-Navarro
Keyword(s):  
Early Pleistocene ◽  
Faunal Assemblage ◽  
Taphonomic Analysis

scholarly journals Taphonomic Analysis of the Faunal Assemblage Associated with the Hominins (Australopithecus sediba) from the Early Pleistocene Cave Deposits of Malapa, South Africa

PLoS ONE ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. e0126904 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aurore Val ◽  
Paul H. G. M. Dirks ◽  
Lucinda R. Backwell ◽  
Francesco d’Errico ◽  
Lee R. Berger
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Early Pleistocene ◽  
Faunal Assemblage ◽  
Cave Deposits ◽  
Taphonomic Analysis

scholarly journals Elephant bones for the Middle Pleistocene toolmaker

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (8) ◽  
pp. e0256090
Author(s):  
Paola Villa ◽  
Giovanni Boschian ◽  
Luca Pollarolo ◽  
Daniela Saccà ◽  
Fabrizio Marra ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Upper Paleolithic ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
General Idea ◽  
Early Pleistocene ◽  
Stone Tool ◽  
Middle Pleistocene ◽  
Medium Size ◽  
Bone Tools ◽  
Lithic Industry ◽  
Taphonomic Analysis

The use of bone as raw material for implements is documented since the Early Pleistocene. Throughout the Early and Middle Pleistocene bone tool shaping was done by percussion flaking, the same technique used for knapping stone artifacts, although bone shaping was rare compared to stone tool flaking. Until recently the generally accepted idea was that early bone technology was essentially immediate and expedient, based on single-stage operations, using available bone fragments of large to medium size animals. Only Upper Paleolithic bone tools would involve several stages of manufacture with clear evidence of primary flaking or breaking of bone to produce the kind of fragments required for different kinds of tools. Our technological and taphonomic analysis of the bone assemblage of Castel di Guido, a Middle Pleistocene site in Italy, now dated by 40Ar/39Ar to about 400 ka, shows that this general idea is inexact. In spite of the fact that the number of bone bifaces at the site had been largely overestimated in previous publications, the number of verified, human-made bone tools is 98. This is the highest number of flaked bone tools made by pre-modern hominids published so far. Moreover the Castel di Guido bone assemblage is characterized by systematic production of standardized blanks (elephant diaphysis fragments) and clear diversity of tool types. Bone smoothers and intermediate pieces prove that some features of Aurignacian technology have roots that go beyond the late Mousterian, back to the Middle Pleistocene. Clearly the Castel di Guido hominids had done the first step in the process of increasing complexity of bone technology. We discuss the reasons why this innovation was not developed. The analysis of the lithic industry is done for comparison with the bone industry.

Taphonomic Analysis of the Pleistocene–Holocene Transition Faunal Assemblage from Santa Marta Cave, Chiapas

PaleoAmerica ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 283-298
Author(s):  
Óscar R. Solís-Torres ◽  
Guillermo Acosta-Ochoa ◽  
Joaquín Arroyo-Cabrales ◽  
Fabio Flores Granados
Keyword(s):  
Faunal Assemblage ◽  
Taphonomic Analysis

scholarly journals Isotopic reconstruction of Proboscidean habitats and diets on enigmatic island of Sulawesi

2021 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 79-80
Author(s):  
Mika Rizki Puspaningrum ◽  
Allan R. Chivas ◽  
Iwan Kurniawan ◽  
Unggul P. Wibowo ◽  
Yahdi Zaim ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Stable Isotope ◽  
Southeast Asia ◽  
Stable Isotope Analysis ◽  
Isotope Analysis ◽  
Early Pleistocene ◽  
Stable Carbon ◽  
Faunal Assemblage ◽  
Biogeographic History ◽  
Closed Canopy ◽  
Pleistocene Sediment

Sulawesi is known for its complex geological and biogeographic history, which is reflected in their extinct and extant faunal assemblage. Evidence of oldest terrestrial fauna in Sulawesi was found in the Early Pleistocene sediment and evolved since then. Despite being mostly isolated from the mainland Southeast Asia; four successive Proboscidean taxa have been found from the southern part of the island. The four taxa are: Stegoloxodon celebensis, Stegodon sompoensis, Stegodon sp. B, and cf. Palaeoloxodon namadicus, in which respective taxa are included in successive faunal stages. The aim of this research is to reconstruct the diet and palaeoenvironment of these Proboscidean taxa by incorporating stable isotope analysis with the fossil faunal record, geology, and stratigraphy. Stable carbon (δ13C) and oxygen (δ18O) isotope analysis were especially used in this study. Our result suggests that Stegoloxodon celebensis and Stegodon sompoensis were flexible feeders and were able to adapt to different niches, from closed canopy forest to open vegetation, while the diets of Stegodon sp. B, Celebochoerus heekereni and cf. Palaeoloxodon namadicus suggest that they were more specialized.

Taphonomic Analysis of the Mammalian Fauna from Sandia Cave, New Mexico, and the “Sandia Man” Controversy

2008 ◽  
Vol 73 (2) ◽  
pp. 337-360 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica C. Thompson ◽  
Nawa Sugiyama ◽  
Gary S. Morgan
Keyword(s):  
New Mexico ◽  
Mammalian Fauna ◽  
Human Occupation ◽  
Faunal Assemblage ◽  
Unique Type ◽  
Large Mammal ◽  
Chipped Stone ◽  
Human Modification ◽  
Mammal Assemblages ◽  
Taphonomic Analysis

Sandia Cave in New Mexico was excavated in the late 1930s by Frank Hibben, who described a unique type of chipped stone artifact-the “Sandia point”-in association with a faunal assemblage that included extinct Pleistocene species. The site was interpreted as a late Pleistocene Paleoindian hunting station, making it the earliest human occupation known in America at the time. Despite the pivotal role the faunal assemblage has played in interpretations of the site, there was never a confirmed behavioral association between the artifacts and the fossils. A subsequent series of controversies about the age of the site and the integrity of the stratigraphy has since pushed Sandia Cave into obscurity. Results from a recent taphonomic study of the large and small mammal assemblages from the original excavations are reported here. These show that the majority of the fauna were accumulated by nonhuman agents (carnivores, raptors, and rodents), but that a small proportion of large mammal fragments retain human modification. The three major points of controversy are discussed in light of these and other findings, and it is shown that Sandia Cave remains an important datapoint in archaeological, paleontological, and paleoecological studies of the region.

The Geological Age of the Cromer Forest Bed

1951 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 168-170 ◽  
Author(s):  
Augusto Azzaroli
Keyword(s):  
Natural History ◽  
British Museum ◽  
The Other ◽  
Present Writer ◽  
Early Pleistocene ◽  
Faunal Assemblage ◽  
East Anglia ◽  
Modern Species ◽  
Geological Age ◽  
Primitive Species

The present writer has had recently the opportunity to carry out a revision of the deer of the Cromer Forest Bed series of East Anglia. The entire work is to be published in the Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History). The stratigraphical conclusions will be summarized here.The occurrence of relatively archaic species together with more modern species in the Forest Bed fauna has puzzled many palaeontologists. Whereas the older authors concluded that it was wholly Pliocene (Reid, 1890, with bibliography) or partially or totally derived (Dubois, 1905), more recently a tendency has become prevalent to attribute the whole fauna to the early Pleistocene, and to explain the more archaic species as relics (Osborn, 1922; Zeuner, 1945). It may be shown that all these interpretations are untenable.A Pliocene age is ruled out by the presence of species which immigrated into Europe after the close of the Villafranchian. On the other hand, the older representatives, once attributed to the Pliocene but actually of Upper Villafranchian age, do not constitute isolated relics: an entire faunal assemblage characteristic of that epoch is present. Moreover, primitive species occur in the Forest Bed fauna together with their more advanced descendants, and the fauna is richer in species than in any other locality.

scholarly journals Faunal complex of the Early Pleistocene Muhkai 2 locality

2021 ◽  
Vol 325 (1) ◽  
pp. 82-90
Author(s):  
M.V. Sablin ◽  
K.Yu. Iltsevich
Keyword(s):  
Natural Environment ◽  
Stone Tools ◽  
Early Pleistocene ◽  
Site Formation ◽  
Large Species ◽  
Faunal Assemblage ◽  
Mammal Species ◽  
Large Mammal ◽  
Small Areas ◽  
Cultural Layers

The Early Pleistocene locality Muhkai 2 was discovered in Central Dagestan, northeastern Caucasus, Russia, in 2006. Archaeological investigations of the site have been directed by Corresponding member of RAS H.A. Amirkhanov (Institute of Archaeology RAS, Moscow). The article presents the results of the study of osteological material from the excavations of 2006–2017. The cultural layers with stone tools and mammal bones are found within stratum of brownish-grey petrified loams with reversed magnetization. We identified 14 large species of mammals, which are indicators for the dating of the faunal assemblage and crucial in identifying the specific characteristics of the natural environment at the time of site formation. Stenon horse and Etruscan wolf dominate the spectrum of species at Muhkai 2. All large mammal species from the site are inhabitants of open and semi-open landscapes and animals indicative of closed biotopes are absent. The biotope appears to have been a dry savannah-steppe with small areas of forest vegetation. The climate at this time was warm and quite arid. Most likely, the animals died here due to natural causes and their carcasses were buried at the bottom of an ancient, slightly saline and shallow, temporary body of water. Data from the theriofauna place the age of the site Muhkai 2 within the chronological range of 2.1–1.77 Mya.

scholarly journals A taphonomic analysis of the faunal assemblage from Yam Camp rockshelter, S.E. Cape York Peninsula

1990 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 57-72 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernard M.J. Huchet
Keyword(s):  
Faunal Assemblage ◽  
Cape York ◽  
Taphonomic Analysis ◽  
The University

This paper presents the results of a taphonomic analysis of a part of the faunal assemblage recovered from Yam Camp shelter, a prehistoric Aboriginal site located on Shepherd creek, a tributary to the Little Laura River, S.E. Cape York Peninsula.  The site was excavated in July 1989 under the directorship of Dr. Mike Morwood, Department of Archaeology and Paleoanthropology, The University of New England.  Some aspects of the archaeology of this site have already been discussed by Morwood (1989; 1990) and Pearson (1989) and a full excavation report will be published in due course.  Due to the extremely fragmented nature of the faunal assemblage, a detailed reconstruction of the taphonomic history was considered necessary prior to the study of economic patterns at the site.

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