Spiral Fractures and Bone Pseudotools at Paleontological Sites
Spiral Fractures and Bone Pseudotools at Paleontological Sites
复制标题
古生物遗址的螺旋骨折和骨假工具
作者：
Thomas P. Myers;M. Voorhies;R. G. Corner
一些工人认为螺旋状（“绿骨”）断裂是人类活动的一个指标。然而，我们对内布拉斯加州西部六个古生物地点的断裂有蹄类长骨的研究表明，这种断裂通常发生在中新世和上新世，远早于北美洲人类的出现。伪工具也经常出现在这些站点中。我们假设螺旋断裂，包括假工具的产生，可能是由于动物的践踏。我们的研究表明，无论是螺旋断裂还是大体形态，单独或联合，都不能诊断人类活动。有问题的样品必须完全根据假定的工具的磨损情况来接受或拒绝。
Spiral ("green bone") breakage has been suggested as an indicator of human activity by some workers. Our examination of broken ungulate long bones from six paleontological localities in western Nebraska, however, shows that such fractures commonly occurred in the Miocene and Pliocene, long before the advent of man in North America. Pseudotools also occur frequently in these sites. We postulate that spiral breakage, including the production of pseudotools, may be due to trampling by animals. Our study demonstrates that neither spiral breakage nor gross morphology, alone or in combination, is diagnostic of human activity. Problematical examples must be accepted or rejected wholly upon the basis of patterned wear on the supposed tools.