부산대학교 도서관

To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhevol.2008.05.021 Byline: Charles P. Egeland (a)(b), Manuel Dominguez-Rodrigo (c) Abstract: The faunal assemblages excavated by Mary Leakey in Bed II of Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania, have, like the more well-known Bed I assemblages, traditionally been interpreted as the result of hominid butchering activities in the lake margin and riverine settings of the paleo-Olduvai Basin. A reexamination of all of Leakey's Bed I sites has shown that hominids played little or no role in the formation of all but one of those faunal assemblages, a finding that prompted the reanalysis of the Bed II sites presented here. We expand upon a previous taphonomic study that provided systematic data for HWK East Levels 1-2, MNK Main, and BK. In addition to these assemblages, we provide data on HWK East Levels 3-5, FC West, TK, and SHK. Our data contradict previous interpretations of MNK Main as a hominid accumulation but uphold the contention that BK represents a primarily hominid accumulation reflecting early access to carcasses. The small and poorly preserved assemblages from FC West and TK are difficult to link unambiguously to either hominids or carnivores. Site MNK Main and HWK East Levels 3-5 appear to be death arenas where carcasses accumulated via natural deaths and/or serial predation. Site SHK is severely biased by selective retention and therefore little can be said of its formational history. Nevertheless, no hominid modifications were documented in this assemblage. Comparisons with other Olduvai sites indicate a more conspicuous hyena taphonomic signal during Bed II times than Bed I times, which appears to mirror the changing configuration of the large carnivore guild. These findings also beg the question of what activities were being carried out by hominids with the stone tools discarded at these sites. Although it seems clear that hominids were utilizing stone tools to carry out subsistence activities unrelated to carcass butchery, more excavation and techniques such as phytolith analysis should be employed to explore alternative explanations. Author Affiliation: (a) Department of Anthropology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA (b) Museum Archaeology Program, Wisconsin Historical Society, 523 Atlas Avenue, Madison, WI 53714, USA (c) Departamento de Prehistoria, Universidad Complutense, 28040 Madrid, Spain Article History: Received 13 November 2007; Revised 26 May 2008; Accepted 27 May 2008