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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Environ. Archaeol.
Sec. Zooarchaeology
Volume 3 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fearc.2024.1411853
This article is part of the Research Topic Neanderthal Complex Behaviour Through the Lens of Faunal Resources View all articles

Experimental replication of early human behaviour in bird preparation: A pilot-study focusing on bone surface modification and breakage patterns

Provisionally accepted
Mariana Nabais Mariana Nabais 1,2,3*Anna Rufà Anna Rufà 4,5Marina Igreja Marina Igreja 3,6
  • 1 Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social (IPHES), Tarragona, Spain
  • 2 University of Rovira i Virgili, Tarragona, Catalonia, Spain
  • 3 UNIARQ, Centro de Arqueologia da Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal, Lisbon, Portugal
  • 4 Interdisciplinary Center for Archaeology and Evolution of Human Behaviour, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Algarve, Faro, Faro, Portugal
  • 5 UMR5199 De la Prehistoire A l'actuel Culture, Environnement et Anthropologie (PACEA), Pessac, Aquitaine, France
  • 6 Centro de Investigacao em Biodiversidade e Recursos Geneticos (CIBIO-InBIO), Vairão, Porto, Portugal

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The origin of complex behaviour amongst early humans is a subject of heated debate within the scientific community, and the study of small prey remains has become a significant aspect when examining such modern behaviour. Nonetheless, the consumption of small prey by human populations poses analytical difficulties due to the often negligible, or entirely absent, traces on bone surfaces. To address this difficulty, an experimental study focusing on terrestrial avifauna has been prepared, and here we present a preliminary phase of this research. The aim is to distinguish potential modifications on bird bone surfaces and fracture patterns that might facilitate the recognition of human manipulation of avian skeletal remains.Building upon the challenges encountered in the study of archaeological findings recovered from recent excavations in Iberian Middle Palaeolithic sites, the experimental protocol was formulated to encompass the processing of two uncooked and three roasted birds; and the lithic use-wear analysis of the flint flake used in the processing of raw birds. The results showcase distinct patterns of bone surface modifications and breakage between cooked and uncooked birds. Higher numbers of cut marks and manual disarticulation breaks are found on raw animals, whereas roasted animals show no cut marks, local-specific burns and higher bone loss. This pilot-study provide a baseline for future research to further explore the role of avifauna in Neanderthal subsistence and food processing, which may help highlight cultural choices.

    Keywords: Experimental archaeology, Taphonomy, Use-wear, cooked versus raw meat processing, Avifauna

    Received: 03 Apr 2024; Accepted: 30 May 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Nabais, Rufà and Igreja. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Mariana Nabais, Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social (IPHES), Tarragona, Spain

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