Beyond the Problem of Bone Surface Preservation in Taphonomic Studies of Early and Middle Pleistocene Open-Air Sites

Abstract

A commonly identified problem in open-air sites is the poor preservation of bone surfaces because of the multiple agents and processes that act on them. In these assemblages, surface modifications of anthropic origin can be scarce or null, and its activity is mainly inferred through the stone tools and evidence of anthropogenic breakage. Carnivore activity is also frequent. La Mina and El Forn (Barranc de la Boella), Isernia La Pineta, and Torralba are open-air assemblages from the Early and Middle Pleistocene that have contributed to our knowledge of the activities that Lower Paleolithic hominins developed in open spaces. These sites show poorly preserved bone surfaces, evidence of carnivore activity, and few indications of human use on the faunal remains, although stone tools recovered are unequivocal sign of a hominin presence at those sites. Here, we present a synthesis of the taphonomic conducted at these sites with the aim of describing how this kind of work can be conducted at Paleolithic open-air sites using several different proxies, considering the limitations commonly identified in assemblages with poorly preserved bone surfaces. The absence or scarcity of cut marks could be related to the poor preservation of the faunal remains. However, it is impossible to affirm that any such marks were originally present, as hominins may have performed activities not linked to animal carcasses. Anatomical profiles have been presented as a useful tool for reconstructing the paleoecological environments and for allowing inferences to be made about the levels of competition among large predators. The assemblages reflect similarities in the deposition type of the remains and the use of these open spaces by hominins at different times during the Lower Paleolithic.

Faunal Assemblages From Lower Bed I (Oldupai Gorge, Tanzania)

“…We note that anthropic activity at early Pleistocene sites, though scarce at first sight, may have been greater than what has been identified through surface modifications alone (Pineda and Saladié, 2022). The extremely low representation of anthropic marks renders further inferences about carnivore/hominin relations unreliable (cf.…”

“…Lithic studies at Ewass indicate that the Oldowan hominins were utilizing both local (about 400 m) and outsourced materials (12 km away). This could have played a role in the utility of the site resulting in the preservation of minimal anthropogenic signals (Pineda and Saladié, 2022). Though it is difficult to determine the level of influence of the agents involved in the accumulation of the assemblage, the presence of Oldowan hominins in an environment with levels of competition suggests they had control over the environment.…”

A taphonomic and spatial distribution study of the new levels of the middle Pleistocene site of Notarchirico (670–695 ka, Venosa, Basilicata, Italy)

“…There is an (almost total) absence of direct (cut marks, or anthropic breakage). However, use-wear analysis documented the processing of soft material that could be related to soft animal tissues as well as soft plant tissues, indicates a variety of activities for layer F. It could be indicative that the hominins who occupied these spaces did so to exploit resources of non-animal origin, such as plants (demonstrated through the residues documented on stone tools on layers H, I1 and I2), water or raw materials, which hominin would have used for the stone tools production (Leakey, 1971;Egeland, 2008;2014;Gaudzinsky, 2005;Yravedra et al, 2016;Pineda et al, 2017b;Pineda and Saladié, 2022).…”

“…occupations in Western Europe before the major Marine Isotopic Stage (MIS) 12 glacial event is limited by post-depositional processes and palimpsests at most sites, especially in the case of open-air sites (i.e. Pineda and Saladié, 2022). Like for most penecontemporaneous openair sites in Europe, this case study applies a multidisciplinary approach to the depositional and post-depositional processes in the sedimentary units, and considers the taphonomy of lithic and micro/macro-mammal remains, availability and access to stone nodules for hominins and the spatial distribution of the archaeological material.…”

Assessing the subsistence strategies of the earliest North African inhabitants: evidence from the Early Pleistocene site of Ain Boucherit (Algeria)

“…The sites of this chronology with evidence of a predatory behavior are mainly located in open air context, so the preservation of the bone surfaces is often not optimal for the study of the bone modifications because they were subject to multiples taphonomic processes (weathering, trampling, waterflows, etc. ), and there are difficulties to clearly identify the cutmarks and percussion marks (Behrensmeyer 1978 ; Andrews and Cook 1985 , Lyman 1994 ; Fernández-Jalvo and Andrews 2016 ; Gifford-Gonzalez 2018 ; Pineda et al 2019 ; Pineda and Saladié 2022 ).…”