Accumulation agents and bird assemblages: The case of the TE9d level at Sima del Elefante (Sierra de Atapuerca, Spain)
Abstract Bird assemblages can be found in archeological sites throughout the Pleistocene. Taphonomy studies are key to understanding how such assemblages were formed. These assemblages can be generated by various agents, including human groups, animals, and natural death. In this paper, we analyzed...
Published in: | International Journal of Osteoarchaeology |
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crwiley:10.1002/oa.3185 2024-06-02T08:07:45+00:00 Accumulation agents and bird assemblages: The case of the TE9d level at Sima del Elefante (Sierra de Atapuerca, Spain) Marqueta, Mario Huguet, Rosa Núñez‐Lahuerta, Carmen Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación 2022 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/oa.3185 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/oa.3185 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1002/oa.3185 en eng Wiley http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ International Journal of Osteoarchaeology volume 33, issue 4, page 652-667 ISSN 1047-482X 1099-1212 journal-article 2022 crwiley https://doi.org/10.1002/oa.3185 2024-05-03T11:59:33Z Abstract Bird assemblages can be found in archeological sites throughout the Pleistocene. Taphonomy studies are key to understanding how such assemblages were formed. These assemblages can be generated by various agents, including human groups, animals, and natural death. In this paper, we analyzed the avifaunal assemblage from level TE9d at the Sima del Elefante site, where corvid (Corvidae) remains are the most abundant taxa, as reported in previous studies from that deposit. The remains of smaller birds (Charadriiformes, Rallidae) and large raptors ( Aquila cf. heliaca/adalberti , Haliaeetus albicilla ) have also been documented. Our taphonomic analysis shows that birds of prey were the main accumulators of bird remains at the site. The presence of modifications such as beak/talon marks and different degrees of digestion reinforce the idea that both diurnal and nocturnal raptors were involved. Nevertheless, we cannot rule out the accumulation by natural death of those species that could have nested in the rocky walls of the cave. The absence of evidence of anthropogenic activity on the bird remains from level TE9d therefore indicates that hominins were not involved in this accumulation. These results can be considered a new contribution to the discussion on the origin of avifaunal accumulations in Pleistocene archeological contexts. Article in Journal/Newspaper Haliaeetus albicilla Wiley Online Library Elefante ENVELOPE(-55.167,-55.167,-61.167,-61.167) Talon ENVELOPE(148.658,148.658,59.762,59.762) International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 33 4 652 667 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Wiley Online Library |
op_collection_id |
crwiley |
language |
English |
description |
Abstract Bird assemblages can be found in archeological sites throughout the Pleistocene. Taphonomy studies are key to understanding how such assemblages were formed. These assemblages can be generated by various agents, including human groups, animals, and natural death. In this paper, we analyzed the avifaunal assemblage from level TE9d at the Sima del Elefante site, where corvid (Corvidae) remains are the most abundant taxa, as reported in previous studies from that deposit. The remains of smaller birds (Charadriiformes, Rallidae) and large raptors ( Aquila cf. heliaca/adalberti , Haliaeetus albicilla ) have also been documented. Our taphonomic analysis shows that birds of prey were the main accumulators of bird remains at the site. The presence of modifications such as beak/talon marks and different degrees of digestion reinforce the idea that both diurnal and nocturnal raptors were involved. Nevertheless, we cannot rule out the accumulation by natural death of those species that could have nested in the rocky walls of the cave. The absence of evidence of anthropogenic activity on the bird remains from level TE9d therefore indicates that hominins were not involved in this accumulation. These results can be considered a new contribution to the discussion on the origin of avifaunal accumulations in Pleistocene archeological contexts. |
author2 |
Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Marqueta, Mario Huguet, Rosa Núñez‐Lahuerta, Carmen |
spellingShingle |
Marqueta, Mario Huguet, Rosa Núñez‐Lahuerta, Carmen Accumulation agents and bird assemblages: The case of the TE9d level at Sima del Elefante (Sierra de Atapuerca, Spain) |
author_facet |
Marqueta, Mario Huguet, Rosa Núñez‐Lahuerta, Carmen |
author_sort |
Marqueta, Mario |
title |
Accumulation agents and bird assemblages: The case of the TE9d level at Sima del Elefante (Sierra de Atapuerca, Spain) |
title_short |
Accumulation agents and bird assemblages: The case of the TE9d level at Sima del Elefante (Sierra de Atapuerca, Spain) |
title_full |
Accumulation agents and bird assemblages: The case of the TE9d level at Sima del Elefante (Sierra de Atapuerca, Spain) |
title_fullStr |
Accumulation agents and bird assemblages: The case of the TE9d level at Sima del Elefante (Sierra de Atapuerca, Spain) |
title_full_unstemmed |
Accumulation agents and bird assemblages: The case of the TE9d level at Sima del Elefante (Sierra de Atapuerca, Spain) |
title_sort |
accumulation agents and bird assemblages: the case of the te9d level at sima del elefante (sierra de atapuerca, spain) |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/oa.3185 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/oa.3185 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1002/oa.3185 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-55.167,-55.167,-61.167,-61.167) ENVELOPE(148.658,148.658,59.762,59.762) |
geographic |
Elefante Talon |
geographic_facet |
Elefante Talon |
genre |
Haliaeetus albicilla |
genre_facet |
Haliaeetus albicilla |
op_source |
International Journal of Osteoarchaeology volume 33, issue 4, page 652-667 ISSN 1047-482X 1099-1212 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/oa.3185 |
container_title |
International Journal of Osteoarchaeology |
container_volume |
33 |
container_issue |
4 |
container_start_page |
652 |
op_container_end_page |
667 |
_version_ |
1800752871139966976 |