Accumulation agents and bird assemblages: The case of the TE9d level at Sima del Elefante (Sierra de Atapuerca, Spain)

• Main Authors: Marqueta, Mario, Huguet, Rosa, Núñez-Lahuerta, Carmen
• Other Authors: Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (España)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: John Wiley & Sons 2022
• Subjects: Bird accumulations; Early Pleistocene; Raptor; Sima del Elefante; Taphonomy; Cierva; Elefante; Talon; Haliaeetus albicilla
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10261/288355; https://doi.org/10.1002/oa.3185; https://doi.org/10.13039/501100004837

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. This research was conducted as part of competitive projects PGC2018-093925-B-C32 (MICINN-FEDER); AGAUR SGR 2017-1040; URV 2014, 2015, and 2016 PFR-URV-B2-17; [100576, 2014], C.N.-L. is the recipient of a Juan de la Cierva-Formación contract (FJC2020-044561-I), supported by the MCIN and co-financed by the NextGenerationEU/PRTR. The research technical support of Maria Dolors Guillén was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation through the “María de Maeztu” excellence accreditation (CEX2019-000945-M). With funding from the Spanish government through the "Severo Ochoa Center of Excellence" accreditation CEX2019-000945-M. Peer reviewed