Search results for "Fossil bone"
showing 6 items of 6 documents
A Reconstruction of the Taphonomic History of GBY
2011
This chapter aims to reconstruct the taphonomic processes that influenced the assemblages of Layers V-5 and V-6, as well as to identify the taphonomic role of particular agents that may have influenced the fossil bones and the stone artifacts deposited in these layers, and considers these results vis-a-vis other data, both from the site and experimental.
Poggetti Vecchi (Tuscany, Italy): A late Middle Pleistocene case of human-elephant interaction
2019
Abstract A paleosurface with a concentration of wooden-, bone-, and stone-tools interspersed among an accumulation of fossil bones, largely belonging to the straight-tusked elephant Palaeoloxodon antiquus, was found at the bottom of a pool, fed by hot springs, that was excavated at Poggetti Vecchi, near Grosseto (Tuscany, Italy). The site is radiometrically dated to the late Middle Pleistocene, around 171,000 years BP. Notable is the association of the artifacts with the elephant bones, and in particular the presence of digging sticks made from boxwood (Buxus sp.). Although stone tools show evidence of use mainly on animal tissues, indicating some form of interaction between hominins and an…
Oxygen isotopes in mammal bone phosphate: A new tool for paleohydrological and paleoclimatological research?
1984
Abstract Oxygen isotope analyses of water in blood of humans and domestic pigs indicate that the oxygen isotope fractionation effects between ingested water and body water are the same in all specimens of the same species. The δ 18 O of body water has been shown to vary linearly with the mean δ 18 O of local meteoric water. This conclusion also holds for the bone phosphate. Thus, δ 18 O ( PO 3− 4 ) values of unaltered fossil bones from humans and domestic pigs can be used to reconstruct the δ 18 O values of local meteoric waters during the life-times of the mammals. Such data can be used for paleohydrological and paleoclimatological studies both on land and at sea.
Towards the development of a fossil bone geochemical standard: An inter-laboratory study
2007
Ten international laboratories participated in an inter-laboratory comparison of a fossil bone composite with the objective of producing a matrix and structure-matched reference material for studies of the bio-mineralization of ancient fossil bone. We report the major and trace element compositions of the fossil bone composite, using in-situ method as well as various wet chemical digestion techniques. For major element concentrations, the intra-laboratory analytical precision (%RSDr) ranges from 7 to 18%, with higher percentages for Ti and K. The %RSDr are smaller than the inter-laboratory analytical precision (%RSDR; 100% was found for the high field strength elements (Hf, Th, Zr, Nb). The…
The Acheulian Site of Gesher Benot Ya‘aqov
2011
Gesher Benot Ya‘aqov (GBY) is located in the southern Hula Valley, which, in turn, is located in the northernmost segment of the Dead Sea Rift, part of the Great African Rift System. This region is an integral part of the “Levantine Corridor,” a land bridge connecting Africa and Europe, through which the diffusion and biotic exchange of many organisms took place in prehistoric times. The Hula Valley has preserved data of a phenomenon of great importance in human history: archaeological evidence recording hominin diffusion/migration out of Africa and into Eurasia. The unique sedimentological and hydrological conditions prevailing in the Hula, along with extensive and intensive tectonic activ…
Characterization of recent marks produced on fossil bone surface during sullegic and trephic processes and their influence on taphonomic studies
2018
Different taphonomic processes throughout the history of a fossil assemblage may preserve, modify or destroy, particular palaeobiological traits, but these processes always increase taphonomic information of the past. Similarly, fossils are affected during later stages of taphonomic history, i.e. excavation, preparation, study and storage of fossils, known as sullegic and trephic phases. Tools used during excavation and preparation of fossils can damage them and produce marks on their surface. Some of these recent marks highly mimic taphonomic marks produced before excavation. Both modern and fossil marks lead to misinterpretations and erroneous conclusions when similarities are not clearly…