Economic anatomy of the Bennett's wallaby ( Macropus rufogriseus): Implications for understanding human hunting strategies in late Pleistocene Tasmania

Abstract

Humans in late Pleistocene southwest Tasmania focused on the medium-sized macropod, the Bennett's wallaby ( Macropus rufogriseus), with recent skeletochronological (dental growth-increment) analysis of wallaby teeth suggesting that hunting occurred in upland and lowland valleys on a coordinated seasonal basis. The frequencies of wallaby body parts and elements in the zooarchaeological assemblages, in particular the dominance of hindlimbs and metatarsals, implies that humans were selectively targeting these elements as part of their high latitude economic strategy despite the relatively small size of the prey. To help understand the economic potential of this prey species a meat utility index based on the associated flesh weight per skeletal element was derived for the Bennett's wallaby. It was found the posterior parts of the animal, especially the femur, tibia/fibula, sacral vertebrate and pelvis were the highest ranked body parts, while the cranium, pectoral girdle, forelimbs and manus were of little economic value. These results were then compared to the distribution of wallaby body parts found in the zooarchaeological record from Kutikina Cave to help better understand human adaptation and decision-making in late Pleistocene southwest Tasmania.