White-Tailed Deer Marrow Yields and Late Archaic Hunter-Gatherers

Abstract

Information on the economic utility of animal body parts is often used by zooarchaeologists to interpret skeletal element abundances at archaeological sites. In this study, data is presented on the kilocalorie yield of marrow from the longbones, mandibles, and phalanges of seven white-tailed deer. Variation in the marrow yields of different bones is discussed. Our results indicate that captive wolves given access to complete deer carcasses in controlled experimental settings tend to destroy epiphyses of bones with high marrow yields, while element abundance at two Late Archaic bone assemblages from New York is positively correlated with marrow yield. While marrow yields may explain a significant amount of patterning in faunal assemblages, taxon-specific flesh and grease indices should also be developed and used in concert with marrow indices to more fully understand the variation in patterning seen in the archaeological record.