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Science Forum Index » Anthropology - Paleo Forum » Human occupation or natural processes?
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| Author |
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| Marc Verhaegen |
 Posted: Sat Jun 02, 2007 11:39 am |
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Taphonomy and the Concept of Paleolithic Cultures:
The Case of the Tayacian from Fontéchevade
PaleoAnthropology 2006: 1-21
HL Dibble, SJP McPherron, P Chase, WR Farrand & A Debénath 2006
Though many Paleolithic assemblages bear the name, the Tayacian has never
been well defined. In fact, its rather non-descript character is a large
part of its definition and, while not technically the type site for the
Tayacian, the cave site of Fontéchevade with its thick deposits of Tayacian
and detailed publication has served as an important reference for this
industry. Here we report on our recent re-excavation of the site and study
of the existing collections. Based on this work it is clear that the
Tayacian of Fontéchevade is largely a result of taphonomic factors of
mainly natural origin that brought together unworked, fractured flints from
the cave walls, rolled worked and unworked flints from the overlying
plateau, gravels from the overlying plateau that were interpreted as
hammerstones, and infrequent occurrences of stone artifacts that may in fact
have been manufactured in place or at least deposited there by hominins. As
a result we suggest that the term Tayacian should no longer be used to
describe lithic assemblages and that archaeologists need to continue to be
careful linking archaeological assemblages to shared patterns of behavior
that might be interpreted as Paleolithic cultures.
.... It is equally clear that taphonomic factors ‹ purely natural processes ‹
may produce lithic assemblages that resemble archaeological ³industries² or
³cultures² left behind by culture-bearing people. The most famous example of
this is the Osteodontokeratic, which was proposed by Dart (1957) as an early
Australopithecine precursor to later lithic industries.
.... The basal deposit ‹ the ³argiles de fond² of Henri-Martin ‹ found at the
bottom of the Main Profile (Level 8 in the terminology of the new
excavation) appear to be residual karstic clays deposited before, perhaps
long before, the cave was utilized by humans. It is pure clay with no rocks
and no exotics, though it did contain natural casts of reeds.
.... From the sample of 511 bones excavated by Henri-Martin, there were 476
specimens on which evidence of butchering could have been observed (the
surfaces of the rest were obscured in some way). Of these, only 4 had
probable cut marks. There were 15 bones or bone fragments with a large
number of light scratches scattered over the surface of the bone, which
probably indicate trampling or sediment movement rather than hominin
activity. In addition, there were 9 specimens with questionable marks. These
data indicate that hominin activity played a real but minor role in the
formation of the faunal assemblage, less important than that played by
carnivores.
.... Given what we know of Fontéchevade should be removed from the list of
sites that provide evidence for hominin use of fire (cf.James 1989).
.... Tayacian of Fontéchevade cannot be interpreted as the result of hominin
behavior. It is best interpreted as mixed accumulation of lithic and other
material ‹ some artifactual, some not ‹ resulting primarily from purely
geological processes.
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