A new experimental study on percussion marks and notches and their bearing on the interpretation of hammerstone-broken faunal assemblages

Abstract

Preliminary experiments on bone breakage have shown the potential utility of quantifying some of its diagnostic features (percussion marks, percussion notches) for taphonomic inferences about human and carnivore involvement in bone breakage in faunal assemblages. The present study increases the range of experiments undertaken to understand the identification of hammerstone percussion (dynamic loading) and its differences from carnivore bone breakage through tooth pressure (static loading). This study contributes to a better understanding of frequencies of percussion marks, uncovers and quantifies those percussion marks that lack key diagnostic features to be identifiable and that could be mistaken with carnivore tooth marks, quantifies notch types, shows different size ranges for notches on bones from small and large fauna than previously reported, quantifies the proportion of notches bearing percussion marks, and introduces new size data for percussion (impact) flakes and percussion marks. Furthermore, all these variables have been applied to a dual experimental set: one experiment using non-modified hammerstones and another based on the use of modified hammerstones. Results vary considerably according to hammerstone type. Some of these taphonomic variables increase the range of equifinality when identifying marks and notches created by different human and non-human agents. This calls for further caution when using isolated variables and features rather than a holistic approach to make taphonomic inferences.