A landscape taphonomic model of the scale of prehistoric scavenging opportunities

Abstract

The character of degreased mammal bones scattered over modern East African landscapes is shown to provide a measure of competition among carnivores for fresh carcasses. The number of bones by which individuals are represented, skeletal part profiles, and the completeness of surviving bones are shown to differ among three settings: Ngorongoro Crater, the Acacia woodlands and grass plains of the Serengeti, and riparian woodlands of the Serengeti. These differences are correlated directly to the scale of scavenging opportunities previously documented for these ecosystems and habitats. The results are explicable through reference to the sequence in which spotted hyenas consume carcass parts, and their competitively-induced motivation to destroy bone before its edible contents decompose. The landscape assemblages provide a taphonomic model for estimating the degree of competition for carcasses in prehistoric settings. Such estimates are a prerequisite for assessing the frequency by which prehistoric hominids may have acquired and consumed food from scavenged carcasses.