Arctic Wolf and Spotted Hyena Gnawing Damage on an Experimental Faunal Assemblage

• Autores: Alexander Nascou, Eugène Morin
• Localización: Journal of taphonomy, ISSN 1696-0815, Vol. 12, Nº. 1, 2014, págs. 1-36
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • Humans compete with carnivores for animal resources. As a result of this competition and because carcasses can be used sequentially by different classes of predators, it is often difficult to identify the agent of accumulation in archaeological settings. If efficiency in feeding behaviour has been selected for, it may be possible to use such behavioural predispositions to predict the manner in which a faunal assemblage will be modified. To assess this problem, we performed a series of feeding experiments with captive arctic wolves and spotted hyenas. Our results suggest that these species produce predictable patterns of gnawing damage on skeletal elements when key variables are manipulated, including prey body size and the presence of intact marrow cavities. Patterns of gnawing damage also appear to be associated with bone density, developmental age, and the amount of adhering flesh. The effect of these factors also appears to vary between carnivore species. Further understanding of carnivore ecology and behaviour will be useful to archaeozoologists and palaeontologists who are faced with complex site formation processes involving multiple agents.