The Upper Paleolithic hard animal tissue under the microscope: Selected examples from Moravian sites

Abstract

The microscopic study fills the morphological and taphonomical gaps produced on the macroscopic research level of human and animal hard tissues. In this paper 17 burned and unburned animal bone fragment samples (smaller than 4 cm) were subjected to histological non-metric and metric analyses. Characterization of 3 wolf teeth aimed analysis of daily secretion rates and Retzius periodicity to compare its value to dogs. All samples were selected from Mid- and Late Upper Paleolithic Moravian sites, namely settlement areas Dolní Věstonice I and II, Pavlov I and Milovice IV (dated ~ 34–29 ka cal BP), and a killing site Stránská skála IV (dated ~ 22 ka cal BP). We aimed to evaluate the importance and risk of selected analytical micro-scale methods, including a) species determination from indeterminate burned and unburned fragments, b) crown enamel mineralization and growth differences between species, and c) agents of micro-taphonomic changes in the histological structure of bones and teeth hindering the examination of thin sections.