scholarly journals Deep classification of cut-marks on bones from Arroyo del Vizcaíno (Uruguay)

2021 ◽  
Vol 288 (1954) ◽  
pp. 20210711
Author(s):  
Manuel Domínguez-Rodrigo ◽  
Enrique Baquedano ◽  
Luciano Varela ◽  
P. Sebastián Tambusso ◽  
María Julia Melián ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Surface Modifications ◽  
Stone Tools ◽  
Bone Surface ◽  
Faunal Remains ◽  
American Continent ◽  
Cut Marks ◽  
Learning Techniques ◽  
The Last Glacial Maximum ◽  
The Last Glacial

The earliest widely accepted presence of humans in America dates to approximately 17.5 cal kyr BP, at the end of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). Among other evidence, this presence is attested by stone tools and associated cut-marks and other bone surface modifications (BSM), interpreted as the result of the consumption of animals by humans. Claims of an older human presence in the continent have been made based on the proposed anthropogenic modification of faunal remains; however, these have been controversial due to the highly subjective nature of the interpretations. Here, we employ advanced deep learning algorithms to objectively increase the accuracy of BSM identification on bones. With several models that exhibit BSM classification accuracies greater than 94%, we use ensemble learning techniques to robustly classify a selected sample of BSM from the approximately 30 kyr BP site of Arroyo del Vizcaíno, Uruguay. Our results confidently show the presence of cut-marks imparted by stone tools on bones at the site. This result supports an earlier presence of humans in the American continent, expanding additional genetic and archaeological evidence of a human LGM and pre-LGM presence in the continent.

scholarly journals Underwater faunal assemblages: radiocarbon dates and late Quaternary vertebrates from Cold Lake, Alberta and Saskatchewan, Canada

2018 ◽  
Vol 55 (3) ◽  
pp. 283-294
Author(s):  
Christopher N. Jass ◽  
Devyn Caldwell ◽  
Christina I. Barrón-Ortiz ◽  
Alwynne B. Beaudoin ◽  
Jack Brink ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Late Quaternary ◽  
Faunal Remains ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
East Central ◽  
Faunal Assemblages ◽  
History Of ◽  
Cold Lake ◽  
The Last Glacial Maximum ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
The Last Glacial

Late Quaternary faunal remains from three underwater settings in Cold Lake, Alberta and Saskatchewan, Canada, include at least 13 vertebrate taxa consistent with assemblages that postdate the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). Seven new radiocarbon dates range from 10 350 ± 40 to 161 ± 23 years BP and provide insight into the post-LGM biotic history of east-central Alberta and west-central Saskatchewan. The presence of an essentially modern large mammal biota is suggested for the mid-Holocene, and possibly earlier, if the absence of extinct or extirpated taxa in association with Late Pleistocene Bison at the Alberta–Saskatchewan site is meaningful. Taphonomically, some of the remains suggest deposition in open environments during the Holocene, possibly when lake levels were lower. The recovery of late Quaternary faunal remains from a present-day lacustrine setting is novel, and suggests that similar records may occur in other lakes in western Canada, including those in areas with scarce Quaternary vertebrate records.

scholarly journals Author Correction: Artificial intelligence provides greater accuracy in the classification of modern and ancient bone surface modifications

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Manuel Domínguez‑Rodrigo ◽  
Gabriel Cifuentes‑Alcobendas ◽  
Blanca Jiménez‑García ◽  
Natalia Abellán ◽  
Marcos Pizarro‑Monzo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Artificial Intelligence ◽  
Surface Modifications ◽  
Bone Surface ◽  
Ancient Bone

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

Chronology and Faunal Remains of the Khayrgas Cave (Eastern Siberia, Russia)

Radiocarbon ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 59 (2) ◽  
pp. 575-582 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yaroslav V Kuzmin ◽  
Pavel A Kosintsev ◽  
Aleksandr D Stepanov ◽  
Gennady G Boeskorov ◽  
Richard J Cruz
Keyword(s):  
Animal Species ◽  
Forest Type ◽  
Upper Paleolithic ◽  
Eastern Siberia ◽  
Faunal Remains ◽  
Human Occupation ◽  
Northern Asia ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Last Glacial Maximum ◽  
The Last Glacial

AbstractThe Khayrgas Cave in Yakutia (eastern Siberia) is one of the most important Upper Paleolithic sites in northern Asia, and has been the subject of extensive 14C dating and study of mammal bones. The upper part of the cave sequence (Layers 2–4) dates to the Holocene (~4100–8200 BP), and the lower part (Layers 5–7) to the Late Pleistocene (~13,100–21,500 BP). In Layers 2–4, only extant animal species are known; ecologically they belong to a forest-type ecosystem. In Layers 5–7, several extinct species were identified, and the environment at that time corresponded to open and semi-open ecosystems. The Khayrgas Cave provides rare but reliable evidence of human occupation in the deep continental region of eastern Siberia at the Last Glacial Maximum, ~20,700–21,500 BP.

scholarly journals Do human butchery patterns exist? A study of the interaction of randomness and channelling in the distribution of cut marks on long bones

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (174) ◽  
pp. 20200958
Author(s):  
Marcos Pizarro-Monzo ◽  
Mary E. Prendergast ◽  
Agness O. Gidna ◽  
Enrique Baquedano ◽  
Rocio Mora ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Statistics ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Surface Modifications ◽  
Long Bones ◽  
Bone Surface ◽  
Anatomical Distribution ◽  
Cut Marks ◽  
Faunal Assemblages

Bone surface modifications (BSMs) in faunal assemblages are frequently used to infer past agency and actions of hominins and carnivores, with implications for the emergence of key human behaviours. Patterning of BSMs has mostly been defined as a combination of the intensity of marks per bone portion and sometimes per element. Numerous variables involved in butchery can condition cut mark anatomical distribution, so much so that these variables are widely assumed to be stochastic. Here, we present a new methodological approach using a novel geospatial tool (Ikhnos) which combines the three-dimensional spatial documentation of cut mark patterns with spatial statistics based on wavelets, applied to three experimental and ethnoarchaeological faunal assemblages. We use wavelets to identify patterning of multiple longitudinal series of cut mark distributions on bones, and to establish similarities or differences in patterning within and across different assemblages. This method demonstrates the existence of general and behaviour-specific butchery patterns. It can also be used to effectively assess the proportion of mark clustering that is due to randomness, versus that which is conditioned by the butchery process.

Bone Surface Modifications, Reasonable Certainty, and Human Antiquity in the Americas: The Case of the Arroyo Del Vizcaίno Site

2015 ◽  
Vol 80 (1) ◽  
pp. 193-200 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard A. Fariña
Keyword(s):  
Human Agency ◽  
Surface Modifications ◽  
Environmental Reconstruction ◽  
Bone Surface ◽  
Human Presence ◽  
Cut Marks ◽  
Peopling Of The Americas

AbstractModifications on bone surfaces are taphonomic features that allow, among other aspects of environmental reconstruction, the assessment of human presence. The agents that cause such marks are diverse and of both biotic and abiotic origin. Among the former, marks made by human tools are of paramount importance for archaeologists and paleontologists to identify. Although it is possible to erroneously assign trampling marks to cut marks, several criteria have been recently developed so as to avoid such risks. These methods are applied here to the 30,000-year-old site of Arroyo del Vizcaíno (Uruguay), where over one thousand megafaunal remains have been collected. Some of them show marks that have been interpreted to be the result of the action of human tools. Using a database built up from previous studies of experimentally made marks as an actualistic model, it was concluded that the marks in the Arroyo del Vizcaíno site are unlikely to have been made by trampling, hence leaving human agency as the most feasible cause. This has important consequences for the debate on the human peopling of the Americas and on the process of extinction of the Pleistocene megafauna.

scholarly journals Artificial intelligence provides greater accuracy in the classification of modern and ancient bone surface modifications

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Manuel Domínguez-Rodrigo ◽  
Gabriel Cifuentes-Alcobendas ◽  
Blanca Jiménez-García ◽  
Natalia Abellán ◽  
Marcos Pizarro-Monzo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Artificial Intelligence ◽  
Neural Networks ◽  
Surface Modifications ◽  
High Accuracy ◽  
Correct Identification ◽  
Archaeological Record ◽  
Bone Surface ◽  
Analytical Technique ◽  
Ancient Bone

Abstract Bone surface modifications are foundational to the correct identification of hominin butchery traces in the archaeological record. Until present, no analytical technique existed that could provide objectivity, high accuracy, and an estimate of probability in the identification of multiple structurally-similar and dissimilar marks. Here, we present a major methodological breakthrough that incorporates these three elements using Artificial Intelligence (AI) through computer vision techniques, based on convolutional neural networks. This method, when applied to controlled experimental marks on bones, yielded the highest rate documented to date of accurate classification (92%) of cut, tooth and trampling marks. After testing this method experimentally, it was applied to published images of some important traces purportedly indicating a very ancient hominin presence in Africa, America and Europe. The preliminary results are supportive of interpretations of ancient butchery in some places, but not in others, and suggest that new analyses of these controversial marks should be done following the protocol described here to confirm or disprove these archaeological interpretations.

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