Zooarchaeology and Modern Human Origins by Jamie L. Clark & John D. Speth

Author:Jamie L. Clark & John D. Speth
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Springer Netherlands, Dordrecht

Materials and Methods

Taxonomic and skeletal element identifications made in this study are based on the reference collection of the Laboratorio di Paleontologia del Quaternario e Archeozoologia of the Museo Nazionale Preistorico Etnografico “L. Pigorini” (Rome, Italy). Microscopic analyses of the bone surfaces were carried out using Nikon 1000 (Rome) and Leica S6D Green Ough (Ferrara) stereomicroscopes with a 20–220 magnification range. In order to identify the nature of the surface alterations on bones, and to distinguish human traces from animal traces, trampling abrasion, and modern mechanical modifications produced by excavation tools, reference was made to the well-established taphonomic literature (Binford 1981; Brain 1981; Potts and Shipman 1981; Shipman 1981; Shipman and Rose 1984; Blumenschine and Selvaggio 1988; Capaldo and Blumenschine 1994; Lyman 1994; Blumenschine 1995; Fisher 1995). The degree of combustion was evaluated employing the methodology developed by Stiner et al. (1995).

Sex and age at death were determined in order to reconstruct strategies of exploitation of the different species (Aitken 1974; Mariezkurrena 1983; Vigal and Machordom 1985; d’Errico and Vanhaeren 2002; Fiore and Tagliacozzo 2006). Measurements were taken following von den Driesch (1976). In order to evaluate species abundance, the following methods were used: number of identified specimens (NISP) (Grayson 1984), minimum number of elements (MNE) (Binford 1981; Klein and Cruz-Uribe 1984; Stiner 1994), and the estimate of the minimum number of individuals (MNI) (Bökönyi 1970). Estimation of deer MNI is based on the eruption and dental wear. Fragmentation indices (Binford 1981; Brain 1981; Lyman 1994) were calculated to evaluate the skeletal representation of the different animals and the skeletal survival rate.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.