Taphonomy Flashcards
Father of taphonomy and when
1960 bob brain
Describe phases of taphonomy
Phase 1= death , decay, bury
Phase 2 = time , minerals and water , erosion
Defn taphonomy
- process that affect the animal from the time it dies until it is examined by an analyst
-burial laws
Defn taphonomy
- processes that affect the animals’ remains from the time the animal dies until it is examined by an analyst
-burial laws
History of taphonomy, branch of.? Who decided ? When
Branch of palaeontology by Ivan Efremov
1940
All about how animals stay fossilized
Osteodontokeratic culture involves what 3 elements?who came up with theory & when
Osteo= bone
Donto= teeth
Keratic=horn
Tools were made using those elements ..theory of Robert dart 1940s
Problem of osteodontokeratic culture
Bob brain says that they are just remains of animals killed by leopards because the polish may be caused by wind or soil (natural erosion)
Others say that the remains were used as tools because of the intentional polish on the bone
Defn of Post deposition mod and what post depo mod tells us
Process that change bone after it has been buried
It tells us about site formation.. (deposit formation-> excavation)
Is diagenesis (bone chem changes) from post or pre depo mod ? And why? Give eg of factors that cause diagenesis
Post
Wind , water, animal, soil chem
Eg of post depo mod
Root etching
Weathering
Gastric acid etching
Gnaw marks
Defn of pre depo mod and what pre depo mod tells us
Process that mark bone btwn animal die/kill until animal is covered by sediment
How animal died & what occurred b4 burial
When do anthropogenic marks occur ? Post depo or pre depo and why ..?
Pre depo
As they are caused by people
Eg cut marks , percussion marks, burning , tooth marks, chop marks
What does anthropogenic modification tell us
Prey choice of human
How they processed the animal
Skinning acts
Bone density mediated attraction
How bone disintegrates (fracture)
Why does bone density mediated attrition occur
Low and high density of bone determine how long a bone will survive and not disintegrate
Eg epiphyses disintegrate faster than shaft of femur
