Accumulation agents and bird assemblages: The case of the TE9d level at Sima del Elefante (Sierra de Atapuerca, Spain)
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 avifa...
Published in: | International Journal of Osteoarchaeology |
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Online Access: | http://zaguan.unizar.es/record/123901 https://doi.org/10.1002/oa.3185 |
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ftunivzaraaneto:oai:zaguan.unizar.es:123901 2024-09-15T18:10:35+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 2022 application/pdf http://zaguan.unizar.es/record/123901 https://doi.org/10.1002/oa.3185 eng eng info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/MICINN/CEX2019-000945-M info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/MICINN/FJCI-2020-044561-I info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/MICIU-FEDER/PGC2018-093925-B-C32 http://zaguan.unizar.es/record/123901 doi:10.1002/oa.3185 by http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/es/ info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion 2022 ftunivzaraaneto https://doi.org/10.1002/oa.3185 2024-08-05T14:07:10Z 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 Digital Repository of University of Zaragoza (ZAGUAN) International Journal of Osteoarchaeology |
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Open Polar |
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Digital Repository of University of Zaragoza (ZAGUAN) |
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ftunivzaraaneto |
language |
English |
description |
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. |
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) |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
http://zaguan.unizar.es/record/123901 https://doi.org/10.1002/oa.3185 |
genre |
Haliaeetus albicilla |
genre_facet |
Haliaeetus albicilla |
op_relation |
info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/MICINN/CEX2019-000945-M info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/MICINN/FJCI-2020-044561-I info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/MICIU-FEDER/PGC2018-093925-B-C32 http://zaguan.unizar.es/record/123901 doi:10.1002/oa.3185 |
op_rights |
by http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/es/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/oa.3185 |
container_title |
International Journal of Osteoarchaeology |
_version_ |
1810448182551773184 |