Fat Residue and Use-Wear Found on Acheulian Biface and Scraper Associated with Butchered Elephant Remains at the Site of Revadim,Israel

The archaeological record indicates that elephants must have played a significant role in early human diet and culture during Palaeolithic times in the Old World. However, the nature of interactions between early humans and elephants is still under discussion. Elephant remains are found in Palaeolithic sites, both open-air and cave sites, in Europe, Asia, the Levant, and Africa. In some cases elephant and mammoth remains indicate evidence for butchering and marrow extraction performed by humans. Revadim Quarry (Israel) is a Late Acheulian site where elephant remains were found in association with characteristic Lower Palaeolithic flint tools. In this paper we present results regarding the use of Palaeolithic tools in processing animal carcasses and rare identification of fat residue preserved on Lower Palaeolithic tools. Our results shed new light on the use of Palaeolithic stone tools and provide, for the first time, direct evidence (residue) of animal exploitation through the use of an Acheulian biface and a scraper. The association of an elephant rib bearing cut marks with these tools may reinforce the view suggesting the use of Palaeolithic stone tools in the consumption of large game.     

the Denver Elephant Project: a Report on Experimentation with Thrusting Spears

Abstract

One aspect of the Denver Elephant Project, the experimental use of thrusting spears, is presented. A recentlydeceased elephant was made available for archaeological experimentation, and as a part of this work the author manufactured and, with the aid of others, employed a series of thrusting spears tipped with Clovis fluted point replicas. It was found that the use of composite thrusting spears permitted penetration of the elephant carcass, but also revealed problems in spear design. The types of projectile point breakage which occurred were found to compare favorably with archaeological specimens. Other implications of the work for the understanding of Clovis elephant procurement strategy and weaponry are presented, and suggestions are made for future experiments.     

Late Paleo-Indian Activity At The Lubbock Lake Site

Abstract

Excavations at Lubbock Lake (41 LU1), Southern High Plains of Texas, revealed the presence of a complex, late Paleo-Indian feature containing a camping area and bison (Bison antiquus) kill/butchering locale. The feature is found within a cienega or marsh deposit and dates from 8300 to 8600 years. At least two camping episodes are indicated, separated by the kill/butchering event. Camp debris consists of a projectile point midsection, unifacial and bifacial tools, and flakes. Faunal debris includes remains of butchered pronghorn antelope, rabbits, ducks, grouse, and turtles. The kill/butchering locale contains remains of four bison and three fetuses, a bone expediency tool, a reworked projectile point base, unifacial butchering tools, and flakes. Projectile points, other lithic tools, and age of the feature indicate a Firstview occupation. From faunal and geologic data, site environs are reconstructed as a marshlands rimmed by a narrow border of wet meadows grading into a mixed grass prairie. Although several late Paleo-Indian kill/butchering locales are known on the Southern High Plains, this feature is the first late Paleo-Indian camp.     

A Preliminary Report on Two Sites at Piney Creek,Wyoming 48J03Ll and 48J031

Abstract

During the summer of 1964, the University of Wyoming and the Wyoming Archaeological Society conducted exploratory excavations in two sites near Buffalo, Wyoming. Site 48J03ll consists of a number of stone circles and is apparently a camp site and site 48J0312 is a bison kill and butchering site. Artifact assemblages suggest an affiliation with late prehistoric and early historic sites in the Yellowstone River drainage.     

Insights into early lithic technologies from ethnography

Oldowan lithic assemblages are often portrayed as a product of the need to obtain sharp flakes for cutting into animal carcases. However, ethnographic and experimental research indicates that the optimal way to produce flakes for such butchering purposes is via bipolar reduction of small cryptocrystalline pebbles rather than from larger crystalline cores resembling choppers. Ethnographic observations of stone tool-using hunter-gatherers in environments comparable with early hominins indicate that most stone tools (particularly chopper forms and flake tools) were used for making simple shaft tools including spears, digging sticks and throwing sticks. These tools bear strong resemblances to Oldowan stone tools. Bipolar reduction for butchering probably preceded chopper-like core reduction and provides a key link between primate nut-cracking technologies and the emergence of more sophisticated lithic technologies leading to the Oldowan.     

Fossil Bison and Artifacts from The Mona Lisa Site,Calgary, Alberta

Abstract

In November, 1968, salvage excavations at the site of an art gallery under construction in urban southwest Calgary, Alberta, Canada, revealed a Paleo-Indian bison kill. The single kill level lay at a depth of more than 250 em. in flood plain deposits of the Bow River, now flowing more than a mile north of the site. The bone bed was overlain by a thick deposit of Mazama Ash (6600 years B.P.). A bone radiocarbon date of 8080 ± 150 years B.P. (G.S.C.-1209) was obtained. Intermittent pedigenesis and fineness of enclosing sediments indicate an overbank flood plain situation for the kill; evidently the site area was repeatedly flooded, probably seasonally, before and after the kill episode. No evidence of a jump-off is present, although this is inconclusive at present. In the 30 square meters excavated at Locality A there was evidence for three activity loci relating to processing of carcasses. The lithic sample includes only crude butchering tools, precluding cultural assignment. Several bone tools, most of them fashioned from tibiae, appear to have been used as expedient and expendable butchering tools at the kill. Some modification of the butchering of lower limbs is noted, apparently to facilitate the production of the bone tools.     

The Glenrock Buffalo Jump, 48C0304: Late Prehistoric Period Buffalo Procurement and Butchering

Abstract

The Glenrock Buffalo Jump, 48C0304 is part of a Late Prehistoric period buffalo procurement complex in central Wyoming along the south side of the North Platte River. Operation of the jump required controlled movements of buffalo herds for as far as one to three miles before they were finally stampeded over a bluff 40 feet high. The effective width of the bluff was small and as a result the herd had to be under control during the final stampede as well as the initial drive.

Good bone preservation in much of the site allowed recovery of large samples for analysis and in addition large numbers of simple but functional tools were found in context. Marks that reflected a number of butchering operations appeared repeatedly suggesting stylized methods, and from this a model of Late Prehistoric butchering is postulated which needs further testing in other mass butchering contexts.     

Rummells-Maske: A Clovis Find-Spot in Iowa

Abstract

The first controlled excavation of a Clovis site in Iowa revealed a concentration of complete and fragmentary Clovis Fluted projectile points. The site, in eastern Iowa, is interpreted as a projectile point cache destroyed by agricultural implements. Measurements and photographs are provided to facilitate the comparison of the collection with assemblages from other states.     

A Comparison of Whole and Fragmentary Paleo-Indian Points From Blackwater Draw

Abstract

An analysis of differential breakage in a sample of Clovis, Agate Bas in and Folsom points suggests that the Clovis form is the most resistant to breakage and the fluted Folsom type the most fragile.     

Zooarchaeology and taphonomy of Aurora Stratum (Gran Dolina, Sierra de Atapuerca, Spain).

In 1994 and 1995, a 7 m(2)area was excavated at Level 6 of the Gran Dolina site, Atapuerca. A 25 cm deep sub-level, named Aurora Stratum, contained a large number of human fossils, stone tools and faunal remains. The appearance of human remains as part of a butchered faunal assemblage in association with stone tools raises an interesting question relating to human behaviour. The main aim of this paper, therefore, is to evaluate the nature and function of the human occupation at this cave site with a view to understanding the purposes of cannibalism. The zooarchaeological and taphonomic analyses of the macrovertebrate remains focus on species composition, weight and anatomic groups, as well as breakage intensity, type of fragmentation, and surface damage (particularly tool-induced damage) in order to evaluate the faunal source, butchering techniques and economic strategies of the human groups involved. We also studied the distribution and fossil refitting at the site to establish depositional and postdepositional disturbance. Diagenetic breakage due to sediment compression plays an important role in the assemblage, but the most extensive modifications are those produced by human activity for nutritional purposes.     

Scratching Deer: A Late Prehistoric Campsite In The Green Lakes Valley,Colorado

Abstract

The Scratching Deer site (5 BL 69) is a small, single-component Hog Back Phase campsite inthe upper subalpine forest, western Boulder County, Colorado. The site was occupied 1260 + 95radiocarbon years ago, probably by hunters attracted to the region by stone game-drive systems on a nearby tundra ridgecrest. Although few tools were discarded at the site, analysis ofwaste flakes suggests that large numbers of cutting and scraping tools were resharpened in the occupation area, and that new tools were manufactured, possibly from imported stone that was heat-treated in especially-prepared hearths. Occupation was preceded by an interval of expanded snow cover and accelerated erosion, and was followea by an interval of loess accumulation and redeposition; snowbanks have never again been as persistent on the floor of the Green Lakes valley as they were a few centuries prior to occupation.     

Some Aspects Of Diet And Butchering Techniques Among Prehistoric Indians In South Dakota

Abstract

Faunal remains from ten South Dakota archaeological sites, ranging temporally from ca. 600 B.C. - A.D. 1600, are identified and analyzed by the method of White (1952). This analysis shows what species were used, and in what numbers, in sites of the three major temporal divisions; Woodland, Middle Missouri and Coalescent. Bison are the preferred animals in all time periods. Group related butchering techniques are discussed.     

Penetrating Elephant Hide with Wood Atlatl Darts

Abstract

Pointed wooden darts propelled by an atlatl are capable of penetrating the hide of an elephant from close range. Average penetration of 5 em is probably not sufficient to bring about the swift demise of an elephant. Greater penetration might be achieved with wood tipped darts by increasing weight and/or velocity or with narrow diameter darts. Basic information is presented to allow for better experiments in the future.     

The late Pleistocene cultures of South America

Important to an understanding of the first peopling of any continent is an understanding of human dispersion and adaptation and their archeological signatures. Until recently, the earliest archeological record of South America was viewed uncritically as a uniform and unilinear development involving the intrusion of North American people who brought a founding cultural heritage, the fluted Clovis stone tool technology, and a big-game hunting tradition to the southern hemisphere between 11,000 and 10,000 years ago.^1–3 Biases in the history of research and the agendas pursued in the archeology of the first Americans have played a major part in forming this perspective.^4–6 Despite enthusiastic acceptance of the Clovis model by a vast majority of archeologists, several South American specialists have rejected it.^6–11 They contend that the presence of archeological sites in Tierra del Fuego and other regions by at least 11,000 to 10,500 years ago was simply insufficient time for even the fastest migration of North Americans to reach within only a few hundred years. Despite this concern, and despite the discovery of several pre-Clovis sites in South America,^6,10–12 some specialists^2,3 keep the Clovis model alive. Proponents of the model claim that the pre-Clovis sites are unreliable due to questionable radiocarbon dates, artifacts, and stratigraphy. Solid evidence at the Monte Verde site in Chile^14–16 and other localities^6,8,10–12 now indicates that South America was discovered by humans at least 12,500 years ago. How much earlier than 12,500 years ago is still a matter of conjecture.^6,10,12,15 Some proponents prefer a long chronology of 20,000 to 45,000 years ago,⁸ while others advocate a short chronology of 15,000 to 20,000 years ago^10–12 or only 11,000 years ago.^1–3. © 1999 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

An Unusual Method of Flint Chipping

Abstract

Three ethnographic examples, two from the Plains and one from Australia, of the process of sharpening chipped stone tools with the teeth are noted.     

Factors Associated with Severe Human Rift Valley Fever in Sangailu,Garissa County,Kenya

BackgroundMosquito-borne Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV) causes acute, often severe, disease in livestock and humans. To determine the exposure factors and range of symptoms associated with human RVF, we performed a population-based cross-sectional survey in six villages across a 40 km transect in northeastern Kenya.Conclusions/SignificanceOur results demonstrate that a significant proportion of the population in northeastern Kenya has been infected with RVFV. Village and certain animal husbandry activities were associated with more severe disease. Older age, male gender, herder occupation, killing and butchering livestock, and poor visual acuity were useful markers for increased RVFV infection. Formal vision testing may therefore prove to be a helpful, low-technology tool for RVF screening during epidemics in high-risk rural settings.     

Observations of tree growth, woodland structure and elephant damage on Colophospermum mopane in Luangwa Valley, Zambia

Six samples of tagged Colophospermum mopane were monitored for five years in locations with varying soil characteristics but with similar elephant densities. Physiognomic variation among the samples was related to soil differences, which also correlated with different browsing habits by elephants. The impact of elephant browsing further influenced both the physiognomy and demography of C. mopane. Results from this study suggest that the influence of soils and elephants on C. mopane alter successional transitions from grassland to woodland. Soils that promote coppicing of C. mopane yield less stable woodlands when associated with elephants than soils promoting woodlands with large bolus, non-coppicing trees. The dynamics of the latter are determined more by tree recruitment as influenced by such agents as other browsers or frequency and seasonality of bush fires. Implications for forest/elephant management are discussed.     

Confundiendo al confuso: reflexiones sobre el factor de impacto,el índice h(irsch), el valor Q y otros cofactores que influyen en la felicidad del investigador

BackgroundThe need to evaluate curricula for sponsorship for research projects or professional promotion, has led to the search for tools that allow an objective valuation. However, the total number papers published, or citations of articles of a particular author, or the impact factor of the Journal where they are published are inadequate indicators for the evaluation of the quality and productivity of researchers. The h index, proposed by Hirsch, categorises the papers according to the number of citations per article. This tool appears to lack the limitations of other bibliometric tools but is less useful for non English-speaking authors.AimsTo propose and debate the usefulness of the existing bibliometric indicators and tools for the evaluation and categorization of researchers and scientific journals.MethodsSearch for papers on bibliometric tools.ResultsThere are some hot spots in the debate on the national and international evaluation of researchers’ productivity and quality of scientific journals. Opinions on impact factors and h index have been discussed. The positive discrimination, using the Q value, is proposed as an alternative for the evaluation of Spanish and Iberoamerican researchers.ConclusionsIt is very important de-mystify the importance of bibliometric indicators. The impact factor is useful for evaluating journals from the same scientific area but not for the evaluation of researchers’ curricula. For the comparison of curricula from two or more researchers, we must use the h index or the proposed Q value. the latter allows positive discrimination of the task for Spanish and Iberoamerican researchers.