Burned bone in the Howieson’s Poort and post-Howieson’s Poort Middle Stone Age deposits at Sibudu (South Africa): behavioral and taphonomic implications

Clark, Jamie L.; Ligouis, Bertrand

doi:10.1016/j.jas.2010.06.001

Cited by 67 publications

(49 citation statements)

References 23 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The site has been the focus of a tremendous amount of multidisciplinary work; details on excavation procedures, stratigraphy, and the analysis of artifacts and ecofacts from the HP and post-HP MSA deposits can be found in Allott (2006), Backwell et al (2008), Cain (2005Cain ( , 2006, Clark and Plug (2008), Clark and Ligouis (2010), Cochrane (2006), Delagnes et al (2006), Glenny (2006), Goldberg et al (2009), Herries (2006, Lombard (2007Lombard ( , 2008, Pickering (2006), Plug (2006), Plug and Clark (2008), Schiegl and Conard (2006), Sievers (2006), Villa and Lenoir (2006), Wadley (2006Wadley ( , 2008Wadley ( , 2010a, Wadley and Jacobs (2006), and Wadley and Mohapi (2008); I summarize the most relevant details here.…”

Section: The Faunal Samplementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Despite the variation in hunting technology and subsistence behavior, there are some striking incidences of behavioral continuity. In both periods, it appears as though bone was systematically discarded into fire as a means of disposing of waste, a practice that is by no means universal among modern hunter-gatherer populations (Cain, 2005;Clark and Ligouis, 2010). Even more striking was the apparent consistency in decision making relating to part selection and transport.…”

Section: Exploring Transport Strategies Using All Elementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

The evolution of human culture during the later Pleistocene: Using fauna to test models on the emergence and nature of “modern” human behavior

Clark

2011

Journal of Anthropological Archaeology

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Section: The Faunal Samplementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Exploring Transport Strategies Using All Elementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The evolution of human culture during the later Pleistocene: Using fauna to test models on the emergence and nature of “modern” human behavior

Clark

2011

Journal of Anthropological Archaeology

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…In-depth studies of heat-induced changes to bone structure bear significant importance for archaeological and forensic research (Bonucci and Graziani 1975;Cain 2005;Clark and Liguois 2010;Hanson and Cain 2007;Steffen and Mackie 2005;Stiner et al 1995;Thompson 2004;Thompson and Chudek 2007). Our preliminary data, though based on a small sample, demonstrate that burning affects bone microstructure, and this analysis provides a range of parameters, surpassing the analytical resolution of previous studies.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 70%

A Look from the Inside: MicroCT Analysis of Burned Bones

Boschin

Zanolli

Bernardini

et al. 2015

EBL

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

MicroCT imaging is increasingly used in paleoanthropological and zooarchaeological research to analyse the internal microstructure of bone, replacing comparatively invasive and destructive methods. Consequently the analytical potential of this relatively new 3D imaging technology can be enhanced by developing discipline specific protocols for archaeological analysis. Here we examine how the microstructure of mammal bone changes after burning and explore if X-ray computed microtomography (microCT) can be used to obtain reliable information from burned specimens. We subjected domestic pig, roe deer, and red fox bones to burning at different temperatures and for different periods using an oven and an open fire. We observed significant changes in the three-dimensional microstructure of trabecular bone, suggesting that biomechanical studies or other analyses (for instance, determination of age-at-death) can be compromised by burning. In addition, bone subjected to very high temperatures (600°C or more) became cracked, posing challenges for quantifying characteristics of bone microstructure. Specimens burned at 600°C or greater temperatures, exhibit a characteristic criss-cross cracking pattern concentrated in the cortical region of the epiphyses. This feature, which can be readily observed on the surface of whole bone, could help the identification of heavily burned specimens that are small fragments, where color and surface texture are altered by diagenesis or weathering.

show abstract

“…However, archaeologists have also found evidence for site maintenance in the Middle Stone Age of South Africa at Sibudu Cave (ca. 65,000 BP; Clark and Ligouis 2010;Goldberg et al 2009;Wadley 2012), as well as the European Middle Palaeolithic at El Esquilleu Cave (ca. 53,000 BP; Yravedra and Uzquiano 2013), Abric Romaní (ca.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Site Use and Maintenance in the Middle Palaeolithic at Lakonis I (Peloponnese, Greece)

et al. 2018

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Lakonis I (ca. 100,000-40,000 BP) is a collapsed Middle Palaeolithic cave on the coast of the Mani Peninsula of southern Greece. The site contains three distinctive components: a hearth context, upper bone breccia, and lower bone breccia. The bone breccias contain concreted deposits and large numbers of lithic and faunal materials, though the upper bone breccia preserves more evidence of dumping from hearth features. The hearth context is comprised of hearth lenses interspersed with mixed ashy sediments, which we interpret as the remnants of raked out and trampled combustion features. Bones and lithics in the hearth context have higher rates of burning, and the lithics are smaller and more broken. The large numbers of burned bones are probably not the result of accidental burning or the use of bone as a fuel source, rather they seem to relate to site maintenance. The incorporation of multiple lines of evidence points to two different site maintenance strategies at Lakonis: (1) the intentional burning of food refuse and (2) the cleaning of hearths, and dumping remnant deposits elsewhere at the site. We therefore consider Lakonis I to be amongst the growing list of sites that contain evidence for Neandertal behavioral complexity.

show abstract

Burned bone in the Howieson’s Poort and post-Howieson’s Poort Middle Stone Age deposits at Sibudu (South Africa): behavioral and taphonomic implications

Cited by 67 publications

References 23 publications

The evolution of human culture during the later Pleistocene: Using fauna to test models on the emergence and nature of “modern” human behavior

The evolution of human culture during the later Pleistocene: Using fauna to test models on the emergence and nature of “modern” human behavior

A Look from the Inside: MicroCT Analysis of Burned Bones

Site Use and Maintenance in the Middle Palaeolithic at Lakonis I (Peloponnese, Greece)

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About