Taphonomic Modifications Research Articles

Taphonomic histories of Quaternary fossil accumulations preserved in Brazilian cave deposits

The taphonomic histories of five cave deposits in Brazil were interpreted, focusing on the accumulation and taphonomic modes. These caves, Complexo Suíço, F3, Toca das Onças, Lapa dos Peixes and Gruna das Três Cobras, show evidence of remains being accumulated through entrapping, sheltering, and water transportation. Cluster Analysis revealed a predominance of irregular breaks and low stages of weathering as the primary taphonomic mode, along with lack of corrosion and abrasion. Factor Analysis also indicated that incrustation played a major role in distinguishing between the deposits. The remains in F3, Toca das Onças, Lapa dos Peixes, and Gruna das Três Cobras caves experienced similar preservation conditions, including fragmentation from reworking, block collapses, exposure to acidified rainwater, incrustation and abrasion from water-borne sediments, and corrosion due to bat guano and acidified water.

Anthropogenic modification of a giant ground sloth tooth from Brazil supported by a multi-disciplinary approach

Identifying evidence of human modification of extinct animal remains, such as Pleistocene megafauna, is challenging due to the similarity of anthropogenic and non-anthropogenic taphonomic features observed under optical microscopy. Here, we re-investigate a Late Pleistocene ground sloth tooth from northeast Brazil, previously suggested as human-modified based only on optical observation. To characterize the macro- and micro-morphological characteristics of the marks preserved in this tooth and evaluate potential human modification, we used stereomicroscope and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) supplemented by energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), UV photoluminescence (UV/PL), synchrotron-based X-ray fluorescence (SR-XRF), and synchrotron micro-computed tomography (SR-µCT). These methods allowed us to discriminate non-anthropogenic taphonomic features (root and sedimentary damage), anthropogenic marks, and histological features. The latter shows the infiltration of exogenous elements into the dentine from the sediments. Our evidence demonstrates the sequence of anthropogenic and non-anthropogenic taphonomic modification of this tooth and supports its initial intentional modification by humans. We highlight the benefits of emerging imaging and spectral imaging techniques to investigate and diagnose human modification in fossil and archaeological records and propose that human modification of tooth tissues should be further considered when studying possibly anthropogenically altered fossil remains.

Well‐drained floodplain taphonomic mode of Late Pleistocene vertebrates from northwestern Argentina

ABSTRACTThe vertebrate assemblage recovered from the Toropí/Yupoí Formation (Late Pleistocene) in the Arroyo Toropí area, Bella Vista (Corrientes Province, Argentina), has been subjected to taphonomic evaluation. The fossil‐bearing levels have been dated to ~53 ka (MIS 3) based on Optically Stimulated Luminescence dating. This assemblage primarily comprises mammal remains, with a notable prevalence of herbivorous megamammals. Also, reptiles and birds have been documented. Sedimentological analysis suggests that the skeletal remains were preserved within a floodplain environment influenced by the dynamics of the adjacent fluvial system, and taphonomic features observed in the assemblage support this interpretation. The assemblage resulted from the deposition of disarticulated mammal remains and local dispersion over a relatively short period. Rapid burial is evident, but several processes such as weathering and breakage have contributed to the observed patterns. The loss of several skeletal elements within the assemblage may be attributed to sporadic water flows occurring on the floodplain. During the post‐burial stage, the specimens were affected by diagenetic processes, including filling, impregnation, deformation and breakage. In summary, the taphonomic evaluation of the Toropí/Yupoí Formation offers valuable comparison with other fossil fluvial assemblages. This research contributes to our understanding of the processes and environmental conditions that shaped this Late Pleistocene ecosystem.

Interpreted depositional conditions of balanced-fill lake basin strata incorporating vertebrate and invertebrate trace fossils, Triassic Santa Clara sub-basin, Cuyana rift basin, Argentina

ABSTRACT The Santa Clara Abajo and Santa Clara Arriba formations host a diverse assemblage of trace fossils that record a wide range of behaviors and a broad array of ecological niches during the Middle Triassic—a critical period in the evolution of continental fauna with the diversification of both synapsids (cynodont and dicynodont) and archosauromorphs (dinosaurs, pterosaurs, and crocodilians) that represent post-Permian faunal recovery. The Santa Clara formations are part of the continental infill of the Cuyana rift basin in Argentina and represent a lacustrine system with fluvial input and delta development. Sedimentological characteristics of these units as well as their stacking patterns characterize a “fluctuating profundal” facies association typical of a balanced-fill lake basin. The lacustrine and associated terrestrial environments preserve a rich record of invertebrate traces with 26 ichnogenera from ethological classes of fodichnia, domichnia, repichnia, pascichnia, and cubichnia occupying all continental tiers (subaerial and subaqueous, surficial, and/or very shallow, shallow, mid, and deeper) and ecological niches (epiterraphilic, terraphilic, hygrophilic, and hydrophilic). In association with invertebrate traces, two taphonomic modes of tetrapod footprints have been found: a moderate-fidelity mode and a high-fidelity mode. Physical sedimentary features, burrows, trails, and tracks, and their stratigraphic positions are integrated to interpret the main factors involved in footprint preservation in these subsettings. The most significant and variable preservational factor found is water-table fluctuation controlled by the paleohydrology of a balanced-fill lake system. These data show that in balanced-fill lake systems, diverse trace assemblages occur in the lake and associated subsettings such as delta plains and lake-margin settings, whereas trace fossils can be totally absent in coeval lake-center strata, particularly if anoxic lake-bottom conditions occur, as probably occurred in the meromictic Santa Clara lake system.

Life on the Edge: The Cambrian Marine Realm and Oxygenation

The beginning of the Phanerozoic saw two biological events that set the stage for all life that was to come: (a) the Cambrian Explosion (the appearance of most marine invertebrate phyla) and (b) the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event (GOBE), the subsequent substantial accumulation of marine biodiversity. Here, we examine the current state of understanding of marine environments and ecosystems from the late Ediacaran through the Early Ordovician, which spans this biologically important interval. Through a compilation and review of the existing geochemical, mineralogical, sedimentological, and fossil records, we argue that this interval was one of sustained low and variable marine oxygen levels that both led to animal extinction and fostered biodiversification events throughout the Cambrian and Early Ordovician. Therefore, marine ecosystems of this interval existed on the edge—with enough oxygen to sustain them but with the perennial risk of environmental stressors that could overwhelm them.▪We review the current research on geochemistry and paleontology of the Cambrian and Early Ordovician periods.▪Low and oscillating oxygen levels in the marine realm promoted diversification and evolutionary innovation but also drove several extinction events.▪Taphonomic modes and marine authigenic pathways that were abundant in the Cambrian were supported by oceans that were persistently less oxygenated than today's oceans.

Remains of fill and floor? contextual taphonomy in a semi-subterranean structure in the hyperarid coast of the Atacama Desert, Chile

Architectural features and shell-matrix sites are one of the most challenging records for archaeological interpretation, due to their intricate stratification and complex depositional paths. In the hyperarid coast of the Atacama Desert, hunter-gatherer-fisher developed standardized stone-built architectural features mostly built on or directly related to shell-matrix deposits during the Late Archaic period (5700 – 4000 cal. years B.P.). These structures have been usually interpreted as sedentary villages or long-term campsites. These functional interpretations are based primarily upon intrasite variability, lacking systematic site formation analysis and chronostratigraphy. As a response to concerns arising from limited interpretive approaches, we propose a detailed taphonomic study of bone assemblages from a stone-built funerary structure of the Zapatero site (∼25°S, Taltal, Chile). We recorded macroscopic taphonomic modification features on mammal and avian bone remains (n = 1776) from five stratigraphic units within the structure. Our results attest that despite some similarities between strata, key differences in overall proportions suggest different taphonomic pathways. This variability within the sample is interpreted as a re-deposition of bone refuse from previous occupations as structural filling, intentionally deposited previous to the abandonment of the structure, therefore not directly related to the occupation of the architectonic feature. Finally, we highlight the role that relatively simple zooarchaeological and taphonomical comparisons intra-site, might shed light on exceptional site formation processes on short timescales, emphasizing why we must consider this sort of data even in low relative abundances in order to interpret taphonomic history pathways and depositional practices.

THE SIZE INHERITED AGE EFFECT ON RADIOCARBON DATES OF ALLUVIAL DEPOSITS: REDATING CHARCOAL FRAGMENTS IN A SAND-BED STREAM, MACDONALD RIVER, NSW, AUSTRALIA

ABSTRACT Radiocarbon dates on charred plant remains are often used to define the chronology of archives such as lake cores and fluvial sequences. However, charcoal is often older than its depositional context because old-wood can be burnt and a range of transport and storage stages exist between the woodland and stream or lake bed (“inherited age”). In 1978, Blong and Gillespie dated four size fractions of charcoal found floating or saltating in the Macdonald River, Australia. They found larger fragments gave younger age estimates, raising the possibility that taphonomic modifications could help identify the youngest fragments. In 1978 each date required 1000s charcoal fragments. This study returns to a sample from the Macdonald River to date individual charcoal fragments and finds the inherited age may be more than 1700 years (mode 250 years) older than the collection date. Taphonomic factors, e.g., size, shape or fungal infestation cannot identify the youngest fragments. Only two fragments on short-lived materials correctly estimated the date of collection. In SE Australia, this study suggests that wood charcoal will overestimate the age of deposition, taphonomic modifications cannot be used to identify which are youngest, and multiple short-lived materials are required to accurately estimate the deposition age.

Archaeozoological studies: new database and method based on alphanumeric codes

The database is an important tool to collect all the necessary information by any archaeozoologist. However, the specialists do not use a recurring methodology to describe the bone remains, and that complicates the possibility to compare the results from different sites. For these reasons, first, it is necessary to provide a complete and versatile database structure and secondly, employ a fast and objective methodology. In this case, we propose simplified method based on alphanumeric codes.We have designed four databases in FileMaker©, all of them interrelated and focused on a part of an archaeozoological study: 1) site data, taxonomy; 2) taphonomy modifications; 3) osteometry; 4) teeth analysis. Besides, for taphonomic modifications we have created a compilation of alphanumeric codes that simplified and sum up the description of bone morphology, the origin and morphotypes of fractures and the localization of the taphonomic modifications. This new methodology has been applied to different samples. Some of them have an anthropic origin, others are natural accumulations, and even mixed ones. In all cases we have aimed to contrast the results in an objective way, leaving the interpretation to the final step of the analysis. In order to achieve this objective, we should use the same methodology, one that facilitates the way we compile the data and the way we can share the information and compare it within different sites.

Put down roots and find the plant!: preliminary results of root etching and its implications

ABSTRACT Vegetation provides direct information to interpret the environment, ecology, climate and deposit of a site. The identification of the surrounding vegetation from root marks recorded on the surface of skeletal elements is a new source of information of special interest. This article is a preliminary approach to relate root marking (i.e. taphonomic effect) recorded on bone surfaces caused by plants (i.e. taphonomic agent) through an experimental model. Distinguishing the root marks of one type of plant from marks produced by any other type of plant is an investigation that has been neglected in taphonomy. The preliminary results described here represent the starting point of this research field. This is an experimental work that is currently in progress, and further studies will include higher sample sizes and the analysis of different specimens in contact with other plants such as shrubs and trees. Our preliminary results shown here come from three different root plant types (underground, subaerial and aquatic) displaying characteristic differences that reinforce the need of extending this research and the importance of the analysis of this taphonomic modification.

Early Bronze Age violence in Ojo Guareña (Merindad de Sotoscueva, Burgos, Spain). Perimortem modifications in two male individuals

This paper analyses the taphonomic modifications of the human remains identified within Cueva Palomera, the main entrance to Ojo Guareña karstic system (Merindad de Sotoscueva, Burgos, Spain). The human skeletons were found deposited over the cave floor of two high, narrow and hard-to-reach sectors called Terraza del Enterramiento de la Galería Principal and Galería Sepulcral de la Sima Dolencias. Both sites represent primary depositions, in anatomical association and preserved partial joints but without grave goods. These humans are directly dated between 2000–1750 cal BC, suggesting that both events took place within a short time frame during the Early Bronze Age. The anthropological and taphonomic studies show that two adult male individuals suffered different types of lesions in their cranium, clavicle, and ribs, including traumatisms and cut marks. Taphonomic techniques have identified diagenetic and biostratinomic modifications, helping the assessment of their postmortem and perimortem interval. The morphological features of these modifications confirm that both individuals suffered lesions performed during the perimortem interval, suggesting their likely cause of death. The concentration of the injuries and the contemporaneity of both individuals are coherent with intentional anthropic action, indicating that they could result from a violent conflict.

An experimental approach to the analysis of altered cut marks in archaeological contexts from Geometrics Morphometrics

Geometric Morphometrics (GMMs) is a useful tool for the experimental characterization of different taphonomic modifications on bone surfaces, including anthropogenic cut marks. Until now, most research has been conducted evaluating experimental and non-altered cut marks, in order to obtain a better control of the studied variables. However, in archaeological contexts, bones are frequently subject to different taphonomic alterations and, in most cases, bone surfaces and the associated taphonomic signals show different grades of alteration. In this study, we present an experimental approach in which experimental cut marks were produced, mechanically altered, digitized, and analyzed using GMMs, in order to provide an in-depth characterization of how overlying taphonomic traces can alter cut marks. In the experiment, 40 cut marks were subjected to abrasion by a mixture of distilled water, sands, and gravels, using a tumbling machine in a series of cumulative cycles for a total of 4 h: cycle 1 (0.5′), cycle 2 (0.5′), cycle 3 (1 h) and cycle 4 (2 h). Cut mark cross-section profiles were then obtained using 3D digital microscopy, and a 2D 7-landmark designed for cut mark analyses were employed. Our results show a clear statistical differentiation among non-altered cut marks belonging to Cycle 0, and altered cut marks. The depth and opening angle of cut marks appear to be the features with a higher weight in the differentiation between altered and non-altered cut marks. On the other hand, there are no distinctions when differentiating between the diverse altered cycles. These results, like those previously obtained in an experimental approach using a binocular microscope, point to the limitation of the identification of cut marks and other taphonomic signals in archaeological contexts with altered bone surfaces, caused by the fast alteration and the loss of diagnostic criteria of the bone surface modifications.

The management of symbolic raw materials in the Late Upper Paleolithic of South-Western France: a shell ornaments perspective

Personal ornaments manufactured on marine and fossil shell are a significant element of Upper Palaeolithic symbolic material culture, and are often found at considerable distances from Pleistocene coastlines or relevant fossil deposits. Here, we report on a significant collection of shell objects (n=377) from the Upper Magdalenian site of Rochereil (Dordogne, France). Despite the location of the site at more than 200km from the Pleistocene coast, the majority of the shells recovered here are unmodified, suggesting that transport and accumulation of shell raw material was an important component in the production of symbolic technologies some 16 15,000 years ago. A detailed comparative and microscopic reanalysis of this assemblage explores which species were selected, examines technological and taphonomic modification of the material, and compares this collection with the use of similar shell ornaments in the wider Magdalenian world.

Taphonomic overprinting on the late Palaeozoic terrestrial plant–animal interactions: a noise in the record

Plant–animal interactions investigated largely in Glossopteris leaf fossils (1214 specimens) from the lower Permian strata of peninsular India reveal evidence of taphonomic modifications of the ichnofabric. The leaf fossils indicate both above-ground (pre-depositional) and on-ground (post-depositional) animal activities. Animal traces that extend beyond the margins of the leaf compressions or are emplaced on the leaf impressions are evidently post-depositional, preserved ex situ. Both feeding (herbivory/detritivory) and locomotary animal traces are interpreted in the host media. Preserved traces in the leaf fossils depict arrays of pre- and post-depositional events (viz., biotic interactions on green foliage, leaf detachment from the trees, post-mortem transport and burial) along taphonomic pathways. Accordingly, five taphonomic pathways are proposed based on varied combinations of pre- and post-depositional traces, emplaced on leaf fossils. Low diversity and persistent rarity of post-depositional traces (4%) as compared to more common pre-depositional traces (7%) in the sample population are noted. Less common post-depositional trace fossil assemblages of depauperate diversity indicate that stressed habitats prevailed at the depositional sites and a limited time window for preservation of plant–animal interactions. The recognition of pre- and post-depositional trace fossil suites ensures ichnological and ethological fidelity of faunal data on plant–animal interactions.

Tetrapod-track taphonomic modes (TTTM) applied to Triassic lacustrine systems from southern South America

Tetrapod-track taphonomic modes (TTTM) have been used recently as sensitive indicators of paleoenvironmental and paleoclimatic conditions during deposition and imprinting of the track-bearing beds in an underfilled lake basin from NW Argentina. Three tetrapod track preservation modes were defined based on the fidelity of preservation of anatomical features: a High Fidelity Mode shows sharp and detailed impressions of the digits and palms, with the clear impression of the print walls; a Moderate Fidelity Mode shows impressions of digits and palms that have little detail of the anatomy of the trackmaker's autopodia; and finally, a Low Fidelity Mode characterized by oval or irregular depressions with outlines surrounded by deep and distinct rims of displaced sediment. In this contribution, we expand our initial TTTM approach to all three lake-basin types: underfilled, balanced-fill, and overfilled. We review the Triassic tetrapod track record preserved in several lacustrine deposits of three continental basins from central-western Argentina and Patagonia. Our results show that our TTTM are consistently expressed in the different lake basins analyzed, and that substrate rheology it is not only a function of water content, but also of grain-size distribution (sand:clay ratio), the type of clay minerals, and stratal stacking at the bed scale. Linking tetrapod-track taphonomic modes to the lake-basin-type framework places observations of vertebrate traces into a broader context of depositional systems, landscape evolution, and climate and tectonic changes.

The Ediacaran−Cambrian transition in the southern Great Basin, United States

The Ediacaran−Cambrian boundary strata in the Great Basin of the southwestern United States record biological, geochemical, and tectonic change during the transformative interval of Earth history in which metazoans diversified. Here, we integrate new and compiled chemostratigraphic, paleontological, sedimentological, and stratigraphic data sets from the Death Valley region, the White-Inyo Ranges, and Esmeralda County in Nevada and California and evaluate these data within a regional geologic framework. A large negative carbon isotope (δ13C) excursion—also known as the Basal Cambrian Excursion, or BACE—is regionally reproducible, despite lateral changes in sedimentary facies and dolomitization across ∼250 km, consistent with a primary marine origin for this perturbation. Across the southern Great Basin, Ediacaran body fossils are preserved in a variety of taphonomic modes, including cast and mold preservation, two-dimensional compressional preservation, two-dimensional and three-dimensional pyritization, and calcification. The stratigraphic framework of these occurrences is used to consider the relationships among taphonomic modes for fossil preservation and paleoenvironmental settings within this basin. In this region, Ediacaran-type fossils occur below the nadir of the BACE, while Cambrian-type trace fossils occur above. Sedimentological features that include giant ooids, stromatolites, and textured organic surfaces are widespread and abundant within the interval that records biotic turnover and coincide with basaltic volcanism and the BACE. We hypothesize that the prevalence of these sedimentological features, the BACE, and the disappearance of some Ediacaran clades were caused by environmental perturbation at the Ediacaran-Cambrian boundary.

A fresh look at the Hyolithid Doliutheca from the Early Cambrian (Stage 4) Shipai Formation of the Three Gorges Area, Hubei, South China.

Simple SummaryDoliutheca orientalis is revised from the Shipai Formation (early Cambrian Stage 4) of the Three Gorges area, South China. Specimens are preserved as casts in silty mudstone and as small shelly fossils in calcareous pelites. SEM and Micro-CT analyses show that Doliutheca possessed hyolithid-like skeletons (especially regarding the operculum) but significantly lack helens. This combination of features sees the genus placed within the Family Paramicrocornidae, a group of hyoliths closely related to hyolithids. Newly compressed specimens of Doliutheca from silty mudstone show some soft-part preservation with the gut clearly visible. Additionally, the highly variable apex morphology of Doliutheca is explained as a consequence of differences in preservation due to secondary deposits formed inside the shell. This finding highlights the challenge of preservational artefacts in calculating the disparity and diversity of early Cambrian skeletal fossils, and the resulting potential effects on taxonomic assessments on the diversity of skeletal taxa in the Cambrian.New hyolith specimens from the early Cambrian (Stage 4) of the Three Gorges area, western Hubei Province are described and assigned to the species Doliutheca orientalis. Doliutheca are preserved in two taphonomic modes: casts in silty mudstone revealing gross morphology and some soft parts, and internal molds in calcareous pelites, which exhibit new morphological details of the conch and operculum. SEM and Micro-CT analyses show that Doliutheca preserve well-developed platy clavicles and cardinal processes on the interior of the operculum composed of rod-shaped tubular elements. This observation and the distinct cardinal and conical shields of the operculum indicate that Doliutheca could be placed within the Family Paramicrocornidae, most recently established as a group of hyoliths closely related to hyolithids.

A LATE MIOCENE MAMMAL ASSEMBLAGE REVEALS A COMPLEX TAPHONOMIC HISTORY IN FLUVIAL DEPOSITS OF CENTRAL ARGENTINA

ABSTRACT Micro- and macromammal remains from Cerro La Bota (late Miocene; La Pampa Province, Argentina) are taphonomically analysed. All remains form a single sample recovered from Chasicoan sediments (facies FA2) of the Cerro Azul Formation, constituted by a lateral and vertical erosive superposition of sandstone and conglomeratic bodies, formed by episodic development of perennial streams without flow division on a loessic substrate. The analysis reveals that micro- and macromammal remains originally accumulated independently and differently. Once each type of accumulation was buried in a loessic context, the development of streams gave place to a reworking process of fossils that were finally incorporated together into the stream channel. Taphonomic characteristics of micromammals are interpreted as the result of the leftover prey accumulated by predators, probably at a den site. Instead, the macromammals respond to an attritional accumulation of individuals inhabiting the area. Even considering the reworking as an important process that affected this assemblage, the taxonomic and taphonomic evidences suggest a relatively short time for its formation. The different taphonomic histories of the remains evidence a complex association that differs from other assemblages from the Cerro Azul Formation previously analysed, and it is here assigned to the channel-lag taphonomic mode.

Mammal Taphonomy in a Cave Deposit From Quaternary of Brazil

In Brazil, the Quaternary caves of the Brazilian Intertropical Region (BIR) host important fossiliferous deposits of terrestrial vertebrates, whose fossil content is taxonomically well known. Here, we conducted a taphonomic analysis based on macroscopic and microscopic features of 543 specimens collected in the F3 cave, a fossiliferous deposit located in the municipality of Baraúna, northeast of Brazil. This deposit encompasses 17 taxa, but it is dominated by fossils of Eremotherium laurillardi. Most bones were buried in less than a year, but the taphonomic history of this deposit was governed by alternation of dry and wet cycles. This led us to recognize four taphonomic modes, that differ according to the climatic conditions in which the bones were preserved as well as the time interval between the accumulation and the final burial of the remains.

The first fossil record of a bone assemblage accumulated by New World vultures (Gruta do Presépio, Holocene, southern Brazil)

Here we present the first fossil record of a bone assemblage that could have been accumulated by New World vultures (Cathartidae). The bone remains were found in an archaeological rockshelter called Gruta do Presépio (GPR), located in the tropical rainforest environment of Santa Catarina State, southern Brazil, where groups of hunters and gatherers lived from the Early to Middle Holocene (9.3–4.6 cal. ka BP) until the Late Holocene (1.3 cal. ka BP). The results of taphonomic analysis of the archaeological sample are compared with actualistic taphonomic modifications produced by New World vultures. The findings of autopodials (mainly phalanges) of medium and large mammals, with a high degree of digestive corrosion but without tooth marks, could be related to the pellet deposit pattern of New World vultures. Seven mammal taxa associated with a forest environment were identified, four of which were obtained from pellets deposited by Cathartidae; these included some native taxa (Cervidae, Dasypodidae, Felidae and Tayassuidae) that are frequently consumed today by these scavenger birds. The bone and tooth remains contained in the pellets regurgitated by Cathartidae were found together with faunal remains discarded by humans that lived in GPR from the Early to the Late Holocene. This palimpsest highlights the relevance of archaeological and actualistic taphonomic studies.

The osteology and provenance of a portion of the Parkinson collection, Gazelle Peninsula, New Britain, c. 1897

AbstractThis article presents the results of combined osteological and archival research into the demographics, preservation condition, taphonomy, pathology, cultural modification, and collecting history of that specific portion of the Parkinson collection of human crania from New Britain, collected c. 1897, currently housed in the Etnografiska Museet (Ethnography Museum), Stockholm, Sweden. This assemblage of crania (n = 45) was acquired by Richard Heinrich Robert Parkinson (1844–1909), a Danish explorer and anthropologist initially in the employ of the Hamburg based J. C Goddefroy & Sohn in Samoa trading firm. In 1897, after independently settling on the Gazelle Peninsula of New Britain with his family and beginning to make collecting trips to local communities and those on neighboring islands, this collection of crania eventually came to reside at its present location. This article provides the first in‐depth analysis of the osteology of this collection contextualized within what is known and knowable about its ownership history and movement between collection and arrival in Stockholm. This includes translation of previously untranslateded correspondence from the original German that provide heretofore undisclosed information about Parkinson's collecting activities. Osteological analysis includes age and sex estimation, taphonomic modification as an indicator of initial depositional environment, discussion of select examples of pathology and trauma, and the comparative analysis of decorative motifs (where present). Results indicate a primarily young adult male assemblage, but with all major age classes and both sexes present. Incidents of trauma and pathology are low, but some unique examples are highlighted. The results of the taphonomic analysis reveal new insights into most probable means of primary and secondary deposition before collection and export to Europe. Overall, the work presented here furthers the argument that research into colonial‐era collecting and trading of human remains is most effective when osteological and archival research is conducted together whenever possible.