부산대학교 도서관

We document variability in the gross energetic yield and skeletal distribution of long bone marrow in 27 East African ungulates, representing eight species of bovids, equids and suids. Body size explains much of the variability in marrow wet weights among and within bovid species, but locomotor adaptations and marrow cavity structure are also important, especially in explaining the lower absolute marrow yields of suid (warthog) and equid (zebra) long bones. When expressed in terms of actual kilocalorie content, variability in the absolute yield and skeletal distribution of marrow is increased among adults by fat-depletion attendant upon nutritional stress, and among subadults by incomplete fat deposition. Long bone marrow yields of sheep and caribou (Binford, Nunamiut Ethnoarchaeology, 1978; New York: Academic Press), upon which most economic analyses of zooarchaeological assemblages are based, are not representative of the variability seen in East African ungulates. Application of individual bovid Kcal models to Bunn's (Journal of Human Evolution, 1986; 15, 673-690) data on long bone abundances at two Bed I archaeological sites from Olduvai Gorge suggests that hominids selectively broke those bones with higher energy yields from marrow. This application is also used to discuss problems in economic analyses of zooarchaeological assemblages, particularly the need to construct utility indices that are sensitive to the tremendous variability in economic anatomy, but not so specific as to go beyond the resolution of zooarchaeological data. Copyright 1993, 1999 Academic Press