ArticleProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America2017
Hominid butchers and biting crocodiles in the African Plio-Pleistocene.
Article in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers.
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12 citing papers in PubMed, 81 citations in OpenAlex.
- The earliest elephant-bone tool from Europe: An unexpected raw material for precision knapping of Acheulean handaxes.Science advances · 2026Article
- Reassessing deep learning (and meta-learning) computer vision as an efficient method to determine taphonomic agency in bone surface modifications.Biology methods & protocols · 2025Article
- Attitudes and Perceptions of Local Communities towards Nile Crocodiles (Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2024Article
- Tooth enamel nitrogen isotope composition records trophic position: a tool for reconstructing food webs.Communications biology · 2023Article
- Assessing the subsistence strategies of the earliest North African inhabitants: evidence from the Early Pleistocene site of Ain Boucherit (Algeria).Archaeological and anthropological sciences · 2023Article
- No sustained increase in zooarchaeological evidence for carnivory after the appearance ofProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2022Article
- More data needed for claims about the earliest Oldowan artifacts.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2019Article
- Searching for the emergence of stone tool making in eastern Africa.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2019Article
- Distinguishing butchery cut marks from crocodile bite marks through machine learning methods.Scientific reports · 2018Article
- Morphological characteristics of preparator air-scribe marks: Implications for taphonomic research.PloS one · 2018Article
- Article
- Revised taphonomic perspective on African Plio-Pleistocene fauna.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2017Article
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3 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
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No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Zooarchaeologists have long relied on linear traces and pits found on the surfaces of ancient bones to infer ancient hominid behaviors such as slicing, chopping, and percussive actions during butchery of mammal carcasses. However, such claims about Plio-Pleistocene hominids rely mostly on very small assemblages of bony remains. Furthermore, recent experiments on trampling animals and biting crocodiles have shown each to be capable of producing mimics of such marks. This equifinality-the creation of similar products by different processes-makes deciphering early archaeological bone assemblages difficult. Bone modifications among Ethiopian Plio-Pleistocene hominid and faunal remains at Asa Issie, Maka, Hadar, and Bouri were reassessed in light of these findings. The results show that crocodiles were important modifiers of these bone assemblages. The relative roles of hominids, mammalian carnivores, and crocodiles in the formation of Oldowan zooarchaeological assemblages will only be accurately revealed by better bounding equifinality. Critical analysis within a consilience-based approach is identified as the pathway forward. More experimental studies and increased archaeological fieldwork aimed at generating adequate samples are now required.
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