Dissertation Research: Scavenging in Hominid Evolution

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Paleoanthropologists have long considered scavenging to have played an important role in hominid development. This research will test the possibility that tree-stored leopard kills of small bovids may have provided arboreally adapted Plio-Pleistocene hominids with a regular source of scavengeable meat. This project will systematically document the duration and pattern of carcass consumption and temporary abandonment of tree-stored leopard kills in the Serengeti National Park, Tanzania. The results will permit an assessment of the feasibility and value of arboreal scavenging by hominids, and the extent to which scavengeable bones can be identified at early East African archaeological sites. This project will extend knowledge about early hominid foraging strategies and also enable archaeologists to better understand the remains left by early hominids.