Range of bone modifications by human chewing
- by Palmira Saladié, Antonio Rodríguez-Hidalgo, Carlos Díez, Patricia Martín-Rodríguez and Eudald Carbonell
“In this paper we present an experimental study of bone modifications caused by human chewing during consumption. Traditionally, tooth marks have been attributed to non-human actors. However, ethnoarchaeological as well as previous experimental work has shown that humans can make many modifications during chewing. Our results suggest that the range of damage is as extensive as that most likely to be produced by carnivores. This damage includes furrowing, scooping-out, crenulated and saw-toothed edges, longitudinal cracking, crushing, peeling and tooth marks. In this paper we present a description of the types of damage observed in the experimental sample. Some of this damage shows parallels between the experimental modifications and archaeological assemblages from Pleistocene and Holocene deposits at the Sierra de Atapuerca sites (Burgos, Spain). The repetition of morphologies allowed us to attribute some of the damage to tooth marks made by human chewing” (read more).
(Image and text source: Journal of Archaeological Science 2013, 40(1):380-397)
Oh I can’t wait to read this! Reblogging so I remember.