Distinguishing offshore bird hunting from beach scavenging in archaeological contexts: The value of modern beach surveys
Distinguishing offshore bird hunting from beach scavenging in archaeological contexts: The value of modern beach surveys
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DOI：
10.1016/j.jas.2016.04.006
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发表时间：
2016-06-01
影响因子：
2.8
通讯作者：
Parrish, Julia K.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Bovy, Kristine M.;Watson, Jessica E.;Parrish, Julia K.
确定从沿海贝壳贝冢中发现的海鸟是否是通过积极狩猎或清理海滩尸体获得的，这对考古学家来说是一个挑战。传统的方法包括分析骨骼部位的频率、丰度、年龄分布和背景证据。根据有限的生物学数据，人们做出了这样的假设：从海滩上捡来的一堆尸体将有更多的翅膀，更少的腿和头。然而，很少有研究采用现代海滩数据来验证这一假设，并评估可供清除的潜在动物资源。我们分析了海岸观测和海鸟调查小组（COASST）观察到的现代海滩鸟类的骨骼部分表示，将COASST数据集与考古学家使用的两个理想化假设进行比较：人类拾荒假说（仅恢复翅膀，而头部和腿部缺席）和人类狩猎假说（所有身体部位都以相等的比例发现）。最后，我们将这些结果应用于分析的鸟类遗骸从密纳德网站（45-GH-15），晚全新世沿海网站在格雷港，华盛顿。我们发现，与人类拾荒假说相比，当代海滩鸟类数据更接近于复制人类狩猎假说，因为COASST数据集中的19，599具尸体中有>75%具有头部，翅膀和腿的组合。这一结果，以及我们当代海滩鸟类数据和密纳德组合之间的分类分布的相似性，表明土著人民可能在过去使用清除作为一种可行的资源获取手段。使用同期海滩鸟类数据可以提供动物考古学的物候，丰富和鸟类尸体的条件与统计上的辩护基线的信息。(C)2016爱思唯尔有限公司版权所有
Determining whether seabirds recovered from coastal shell middens were obtained via active hunting or scavenging of beached carcasses is a challenge for archaeologists. Traditional methods have included analyzing skeletal part frequencies, abundance, age profiles, and contextual evidence. The assumption has been made, based on limited biological data, that an assemblage of carcasses scavenged from the beach will have more wing elements, and fewer legs and heads. Few studies, however, have embraced modern beaching data to verify this assumption and assess the potential faunal resources available for scavenging. We analyze the skeletal part representation of modern beached birds observed by the Coastal Observation and Seabird Survey Team (COASST), comparing the COASST dataset to two idealized hypotheses used by archaeologists: the human scavenging hypothesis (wings only are recovered, while heads and legs are absent) and the human hunting hypothesis (all body parts are found in equal proportions). Finally, we apply these results to analysis of the bird remains from the Minard site (45-GH-15), a late Holocene coastal site in Grays Harbor, Washington. We find that contemporary beached bird data are closer to replicating the human hunting hypothesis as compared to the human scavenging hypothesis, as >75% of the 19,599 carcasses in the COASST dataset had a combination of head, wings and legs. This result, and the similarity in taxonomic distribution between our contemporary beached bird data and Minard assemblage, suggests that indigenous peoples may have used scavenging as a viable means of resource acquisition in the past. Use of contemporaneous beached bird data may provide zooarchaeology with a statistically defensible baseline of information on the phenology, abundance and condition of bird carcasses. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.