Long-distance carcass transport at Olduvai Gorge? A quantitative examination of Bed I skeletal element abundances

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhevol.2008.12.008Get rights and content

Abstract

Relative abundances of skeletal elements at Plio-Pleistocene archaeological sites have long been interpreted to represent selective transport of portions of large prey. Models from optimal foraging theory suggest that the degree of carcass transport selectivity reflects transport constraints, particularly transport distance. A quantitative analysis of skeletal element abundances in five bone assemblages from Bed I, Olduvai Gorge, indicates that within the subset of elements most likely to resist attritional processes, there is no evidence for preferential transport of small or large mammals. The results suggest relatively low carcass transport costs and are most consistent with site formation models favoring short-distance carcass transport. The data are also consistent with the possibility that hominins were not responsible for transporting bones at some sites. Several Bed I assemblages, with the exception of FLK-Zinjanthropus, lack evidence of a functional relationship between flaked stone artifacts and the faunal remains, such as cut-marks or percussion-marks on bone. In conjunction with the skeletal part data, this suggests that hominin involvement with the bone assemblages was minimal at all sites but FLK-Zinjanthropus. The patterning at Bed I contrasts strongly with Middle Stone Age and Middle Paleolithic assemblages, which provide clear evidence for selective transport, suggesting higher transport costs and longer transport distances.

Introduction

Ethnographic observations indicate that hunters faced with carcass transport constraints must select a limited number of body parts for transportation from the kill site to the consumption site (Yellen, 1977, Binford, 1978, Bunn et al., 1988, O'Connell et al., 1988a, O'Connell et al., 1990, Bartram, 1993b, Abe, 2005). These observations provide underlying support behind the long-standing zooarchaeological tradition of examining the relative abundances of skeletal parts in order to interpret butchery and transport decisions (White, 1952, White, 1953, White, 1954, White, 1955, Perkins and Daly, 1968). The incorporation of skeletal element analysis into foraging theory models has provided faunal analysts with the tools to examine butchery and transport decisions in relation to energetic costs and returns (Broughton, 1994, Broughton, 1999, Grayson and Cannon, 1999, Cannon, 2003, Marean and Cleghorn, 2003, Egeland and Byerly, 2005, Nagaoka, 2005, Nagaoka, 2006, Faith, 2007). Examination of skeletal element abundances within the context of foraging theory stems largely from Binford's ethnoarchaeological study of the caribou-hunting Nunamiut (Binford, 1978). Binford reasoned that the nutritional value of different body parts plays a critical role in determining Nunamiut butchery and transport decisions. He collected data from caribou (Rangifer tarandus) and sheep (Ovis aries) carcasses to develop indices of the economic utility of skeletal portions as a tool for examining their frequencies in bone assemblages. Binford's development of economic utility indices assumes that people optimally forage across carcasses of large prey in the same manner that people optimally forage for prey across larger landscapes (Grayson, 1988, Grayson, 1989). It is now widely accepted that butchery and transport decisions are mediated by the economic value of different body parts in relationship to the energetic costs of transporting them (Bunn et al., 1988, Metcalfe and Jones, 1988, O'Connell et al., 1988a, O'Connell et al., 1990, Bartram, 1993b, Cannon, 2003).

The analysis of skeletal element frequencies within a foraging theory framework can be used to examine the carcass transport decisions of Plio-Pleistocene hominins. Were butchery and transport decisions constrained by long-distance carcass transport, similar to that documented for modern hunter-gatherers (e.g., Bunn et al., 1988, O'Connell et al., 1988b, O'Connell et al., 1990, Bartram, 1993b), or by rather short-distance carcass transport, perhaps on the scale of only tens to hundreds of meters? Among carnivores, short-distance transport has been defined as that regularly documented in their peripheral transport of prey from kill sites, less than 500 meters, in contrast to longer-distance transport to their dens (Domínguez-Rodrigo, 1994). In human foragers, short-distance transport of complete carcasses has been documented among the Hadza to be between 3 and 5 km, and long-distance transport, which includes discard of carcass remains at the kill site, from 5 km to more than 14 km (Bunn et al., 1988). Answers to the question of carcass transport behavior is relevant to one of the most contentious issues in Plio-Pleistocene archaeology: What is the behavioral significance of Plio-Pleistocene archaeological sites (e.g., Domínguez-Rodrigo et al., 2007, O'Connell et al., 2002, and references cited therein)? Do they represent “central places” to which Plio-Pleistocene hominins transported fully fleshed animal carcasses from long distances (Isaac, 1978, Isaac, 1983)? Or were they “near-kill accumulations” to which hominins brought small quantities of meat and marrow from carcasses defleshed and abandoned by carnivores nearby (O'Connell et al., 2002)? The goal of this study is to assess Plio-Pleistocene hominin carcass transport strategies through a quantitative examination of skeletal element abundances recovered from five sites in Bed I, Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania.

Section snippets

Historical background

Associations of fragmented faunal remains with flaked stone artifacts in Plio-Pleistocene archaeological sites traditionally justified the interpretations of these sites as “living floors” (Leakey, 1971), “home bases”, or “central-place foraging sites” (Isaac, 1978, Isaac, 1983), to which hominins transported a variety of foods, especially meat acquired from big-game hunting. This interpretation provided the basis for assigning numerous modern human behavioral characteristics to early Homo,

The Bed I study sites

Leakey (1971) excavated numerous archaeological sites from Bed I, dating to ca. 1.85–1.75 Ma (Walter et al., 1991). Here we examine skeletal element abundances from five assemblages: FLK North: Levels 1/2, 3, and 4; FLK-Zinjanthropus; and FLK NN: Level 1 (Table 1). The skeletal element data represent the efforts of the most recent examination of the Bed I archaeofaunas, undertaken by Domínguez-Rodrigo et al. (2007).

The first three faunal assemblages were recovered from various levels in the FLK

Explaining carcass transport decisions

For large prey that cannot be transported intact, foragers must make decisions about which body parts to transport. In the case of large vertebrates, foragers can increase energetic return rates by processing the prey at the point of acquisition in order to maximize the proportion of high-utility elements selected for transport (e.g., White, 1954, Perkins and Daly, 1968, Binford, 1978, Thomas and Mayer, 1983). Theoretical models have been developed to examine the trade-offs between transport

Methods

Examination of skeletal element abundances was accomplished here through the integration of a taphonomic model of bone survivorship with a novel approach for quantifying skeletal element frequencies (Faith, 2007, Faith and Gordon, 2007). Details are provided below.

Results

High-survival skeletal element abundances for small and large mammals are provided in Table 2. All analyses of the Bed I assemblages are based on the values reported in this table.

Prior to inferring how skeletal element abundances reflect human behavioral patterns, it is necessary to demonstrate that their abundances have not been altered by density-mediated attrition (Lyman, 1984, Lyman, 1985, Lyman, 1993, Lyman, 1994, Grayson, 1989). Here we examine whether or not the high-survival subset of

Discussion

The analysis of Bed I skeletal element abundances reveals that the frequencies of crania, mandibles, and long-bone elements cannot be distinguished from a perfectly even distribution of elements. Thus, there is no evidence for selective transport within the high-survival subset in any of the five Bed I assemblages. These patterns contrast strongly with skeletal element frequencies at later MSA/MP assemblages, which show clear evidence for preferential transport within this subset of elements.

Conclusions

Within the subset of skeletal elements most likely to resist attritional processes, there is no evidence for selective transport of small and large mammal carcasses at any of the five Bed I assemblages examined. At FLK-Zinjanthropus, where there is an established functional relationship between flaked stone artifacts and the faunal remains, these results suggest that carcass remains were transported over relatively short distances. This suggests FLK-Zinjanthropus and perhaps the other sites

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Kay Behrensmeyer, Alison Brooks, Salvatore Capaldo, R. Lee Lyman (reviewer), and an anonymous reviewer for helpful comments on this paper. JTF thanks the National Science Foundation for supporting this research under a Graduate Research Fellowship. MDR is thankful to the Office of the President of Kenya, the National Museums of Kenya, and COSTECH for their permission to study the Olduvai faunal collections.

References (97)

  • H.T. Bunn et al.

    Variability in bone assemblage formation from Hadza hunting, scavenging, and carcass processing

    J. Anthropol. Archaeol.

    (1988)
  • M.D. Cannon

    A model of central place forager prey choice and an application to faunal remains from Mimbres Valley, New Mexico

    J. Anthropol. Archaeol.

    (2003)
  • S.D. Capaldo

    Experimental determinations of carcass processing by Plio-Pleistocene hominids and carnivores at FLK 22 (Zinjanthropus), Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania

    J. Hum. Evol.

    (1997)
  • M. Domínguez-Rodrigo

    Meat-eating by early hominids at the FLK 22 Zinjanthropus site, Olduvai Gorge (Tanzania): an experimental approach using cut-mark data

    J. Hum. Evol.

    (1997)
  • M. Domínguez-Rodrigo et al.

    New estimates of tooth mark and percussion mark frequencies at the FLK Zinj site: the carnivore-hominid-carnivore hypothesis falsified

    J. Hum. Evol.

    (2006)
  • M. Domínguez-Rodrigo et al.

    The ST site complex at Peninj, West Lake Natron, Tanzania: implications for early hominid behavioral models

    J. Archaeol. Sci.

    (2002)
  • J.T. Faith

    Changes in reindeer body part representation at Grotte XVI, Dordogne, France

    J. Archaeol. Sci.

    (2007)
  • J.T. Faith et al.

    Changing patterns of carnivore modification in a landscape bone assemblage, Amboseli Park, Kenya

    J. Archaeol. Sci.

    (2006)
  • J.T. Faith et al.

    Skeletal element abundances in archaeofaunal assemblages: economic utility, sample size, and assessment of carcass transport strategies

    J. Archaeol. Sci.

    (2007)
  • D.K. Grayson

    Bone transport, bone destruction, and reverse utility curves

    J. Archaeol. Sci.

    (1989)
  • E.M. Kroll

    Behavioral implications of Plio-Pleistocene archaeological site structure

    J. Hum. Evol.

    (1994)
  • R.L. Lyman

    Bone density and differential survivorship of fossil classes

    J. Anthropol. Archaeol.

    (1984)
  • C.W. Marean

    Measuring the postdepositional destruction of bone in archaeological assemblages

    J. Archaeol. Sci.

    (1991)
  • C.W. Marean et al.

    Zooarchaeological and taphonomic analysis of the Die Kelders Cave 1 Layers 10 and 11 Middle Stone Age larger mammal fauna

    J. Hum. Evol.

    (2000)
  • C.W. Marean et al.

    Captive hyaena bone choice and destruction, the schlepp effect and Olduvai archaeofaunas

    J. Archaeol. Sci.

    (1992)
  • C.M. Monahan

    New zooarchaeological data from Bed II, Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania: implications for hominid behavior in the early Pleistocene

    J. Hum. Evol.

    (1996)
  • C.M. Monahan

    The Hadza carcass transport debate revisited and its archaeological implications

    J. Archaeol. Sci.

    (1998)
  • L. Nagaoka

    Declining foraging efficiency and moa carcass exploitation in southern New Zealand

    J. Archaeol. Sci.

    (2005)
  • L. Nagaoka

    Prehistoric seal carcass exploitation at the Shag Mouth site, New Zealand

    J. Archaeol. Sci.

    (2006)
  • J.F. O'Connell et al.

    Reanalysis of large mammal body part transport among the Hadza

    J. Archaeol. Sci.

    (1990)
  • J.F. O'Connell et al.

    Male strategies and Plio-Pleistocene archaeology

    J. Hum. Evol.

    (2002)
  • J.S. Oliver

    Estimates of hominid and carnivore involvement in the FLK Zinjanthropus fossil assemblage: some socioecological implications

    J. Hum. Evol.

    (1994)
  • T.R. Pickering et al.

    Importance of limb bone shaft fragments in zooarchaeology: a response to “On in situ attrition and vertebrate body part profiles” (2002), by M.C. Stiner

    J. Archaeol. Sci.

    (2003)
  • M.J. Rogers et al.

    Changing patterns of land use by Plio-Pleistocene hominids in the Lake Turkana Basin

    J. Hum. Evol.

    (1994)
  • M.M. Selvaggio

    Carnivore tooth marks and stone tool butchery marks on scavenged bones: archaeological implications

    J. Hum. Evol.

    (1994)
  • M.M. Selvaggio

    Evidence for a three-stage sequence of hominid and carnivore involvement with long bones at FLK Zinjanthropus, Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania

    J. Archaeol. Sci.

    (1998)
  • Abe, Y., 2005. Hunting and butchery patterns of the Evenki in Northern Transbaikalia, Russia. Ph.D. Dissertation, Stony...
  • K.R. Barlow et al.

    Plant utility indices: two Great Basin examples

    J. Archaeol. Sci.

    (1996)
  • Bartram, L.E., 1993a. An ethnographic analysis of Kua San (Botswana) bone food refuse. Ph.D. Dissertation, University...
  • L.E. Bartram

    Perspectives on skeletal part profiles and utility curves from Eastern Kalahari ethnoarchaeology

  • L.R. Binford

    Nunamiut Ethnoarchaeology

    (1978)
  • L.R. Binford

    Bones: Ancient Men and Modern Myths

    (1981)
  • L.R. Binford

    Faunal Remains from Klasies River Mouth

    (1984)
  • L.R. Binford

    Fact and fiction about the Zinjanthropus floor: data, arguments, and interpretations

    Curr. Anthropol.

    (1988)
  • R.J. Blumenschine

    Hominid carnivory and foraging strategies, and the socio-economic function of early archaeological sites

    Phil. Trans. R. Soc.

    (1991)
  • R.J. Blumenschine et al.

    A carnivore's view of archaeological bone assemblages

  • C.K. Brain

    The Hunters or the Hunted? An Introduction to African Cave Taphonomy

    (1981)
  • J.M. Broughton

    Resource Depression and Intensification during the Late Holocene, San Francisco Bay: Evidence from the Emeryville Shellmound Vertebrate Fauna

    (1999)
  • Cited by (43)

    • A neanderthal hunting camp in the central system of the Iberian Peninsula: A zooarchaeological and taphonomic analysis of the Navalmaíllo Rock Shelter (Pinilla del Valle, Spain)

      2021, Quaternary Science Reviews
      Citation Excerpt :

      To determine the distance carcasses were transported, the Shannon Evenness Index (E) (Faith and Gordon, 2007) was calculated for high-survival elements (i.e. skull, mandible, upper, intermediate and lower limb bones) (Marean and Cleghorn, 2003). Given the problems associated with the method (Marín et al., 2017), it was used to analyse the relative transport (Faith et al., 2009; Yravedra and Domínguez-Rodrigo, 2009) rather than the transport strategies employed (Binford, 1978; Faith and Gordon, 2007). Calculations were performed using the PAST software “Equitability_J″ function (Hammer et al., 2001), which also provide a 95% confidence interval.

    View all citing articles on Scopus
    View full text