Experimental Effects of Water Abrasion on Bone Fragments

• Autores: Yolanda Fernández Jalvo
• Localización: Journal of taphonomy, ISSN 1696-0815, Vol. 1, Nº. 3, 2003, págs. 145-161
• Idioma: inglés
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• Dialnet Métricas: 12 Citas
• Resumen

  • Water transport is a frequent taphonomic agent in continental environments that may affect and disturb original bone associations. Fossil allochthony occurs as a result of resedimentation (before burial) and/or secondary deposition (after initial burial) altering palaeoenvironmental and palaeoecological indications provided by fossils. Skeletal element sorting or preferred orientations of fossils are evidence of fluvial transport as studied by several authors. Bone surface abrasion is another trait recorded on fossils that may provide evidence of water transport in a fossil association. Results of a preliminary experiment on the effects of abrasion have shown characteristic differences relating to the type of sediment (coarse to fine) and the type of bone involved (fresh, dry, weathered or fossil). This indicates that the effects and consequences of water transport on bone associations can be identified from traits of abrasion. This paper also considers other experiments involving abrasion on large and small mammal bones and owl pellets.