Modifications on the bovid bone assemblage from Dunefield Midden, South Africa: stage one of a multivariate taphonomic analysis

Abstract

A three-stage taphonomic analysis was performed on the small, small-medium and large bovid bone assemblages from Dunefield Midden, an open-air Later Stone Age site on South Africa's west coast. The results of the first stage of the analysis, which focuses on surface and subsurface bone modifications, are presented here. A forthcoming paper will detail the subsequent two stages, in which skeletal element abundance, longbone breakage patterns and overall taphonomic variability are investigated. The Dunefield Midden bovid bone assemblages are amenable to such an indepth study since they were subjected to a comprehensive refitting operation, with particular emphasis on longbone reconstruction. This enabled the systematic incorporation into the analysis of shaft fragments, a crucial yet frequently ignored component of mammalian zooarchaeological assemblages. Including shafts not only improves estimates of skeletal element abundance and thus our understanding of how prehistoric foragers acquired, transported and distributed animal carcasses, but also yields better assessments of the techniques employed for carcass butchery and bone processing. This paper explores the latter two aspects of subsistence at Dunefield Midden by integrating quantitative and configurational data on bovid bone modifications. It shows that the assemblage was principally shaped from within-bone nutrient acquisition by humans. Variation in bone modification patterning is suggested to stem largely from size-related differences in butchery effort and utility-related differences in skeletal element treatment.