Burning damage and small-mammal human consumption in Quebrada del Real 1 (Cordoba, Argentina): an experimental approach

Journal of Archaeological Science 39 (2012) 737e743

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Burning damage and small-mammal human consumption in Quebrada del Real 1 (Cordoba, Argentina): an experimental approach Matías E. Medina a, Pablo Teta b, *, y Diego Rivero a a b

CONICET e Área de Arqueología y Etnohistoria, Centro de Estudios Históricos “Prof. Carlos S. A. Segreti”, Miguel C. del Corro 308, (C.P. 5000) Córdoba (Capital), Córdoba, Argentina Unidad de Investigación Diversidad, Sistemática y Evolución, Centro Nacional Patagónico, Casilla de Correo 128, 9120 Puerto Madryn, Chubut, Argentina

a r t i c l e i n f o

a b s t r a c t

Article history: Received 23 August 2011 Received in revised form 3 November 2011 Accepted 4 November 2011

The zooarchaeological study of small-vertebrate consumption requires a taphonomical approach to differentiate animal bones that were incidentally incorporated from those that were intentionally exploited in the past human subsistence. In order to make this distinction, the relationship between archaeological small-rodent burned bones and prehistoric human behavior was explored using an experimental cooking study as a modern analogue. During the cooking experiment the entire carcasses of three guinea pigs (Cavia porcellus) and two yellow-toothed cavies (Galea leucoblephara) were placed in the coals of an open fire that simulate a real campfire, rotating their positions until the meat was completely cooked. Subsequently, the intensity of burning damage and the loss of skeletal elements were analyzed at macroscopical levels. The data was used to identify cooking evidence in the Ctenomyidae and Caviidae rodent bones recovered from Quebrada del Real 1 (ca. 6000e300 BP, Córdoba, Argentina). Remarkable similarities between the archaeological and analogical records were found, including the distinctive burning pattern on the distal extremities of the unmeaty long bones (e.g, radii and tibiae), the high frequency of broken incisor teeth and the loss of autopodium elements. Based on these comparative results, it is suggested that the small-rodent assemblages of QR1 were primary accumulated by humans though butchery, cooking and consumption related activities. Extending this study to other archaeological sites in South America may help to identify the prehistoric bone collectors of these small-animals. Ó 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Caviidae Ctenomyidae Burning damage Rodent consumption

1. Introduction The recovering of small-mammal bone remains in the archaeological record recognizes two classes of associations: (1) physical associations, where bones and tools are simple found in the same deposit, and (2) behavioral associations, in which human and smallmammal interaction is demonstrated by unequivocal markers (see a review in Stahl, 1996). Thus, their zooarchaeological study always requires a taphonomically informed approach to differentiate the animal bones that were incidentally incorporated from those that were intentionally exploited in the past human subsistence. In order to make this distinction, methodological tools are needed to evaluate the integrity and taphonomic history of faunal assemblages (e.g., Andrews, 1995; Lyman, 1994; Smoke and Stahl, 2004). Human behavioral interaction with small-vertebrates can be measured directly by the presence of cut-marks on bones (Laroulandie, 2005a). However, it is not always easy to recognize cut-marks on small-vertebrate bones because sometimes their * Corresponding author. E-mail address: [email protected] (P. Teta). 0305-4403/$ e see front matter Ó 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.jas.2011.11.006

depth and width are superficial (Lloveras et al., 2009; Quintana, 2005), being similar to trampling marks (Domínguez-Rodrigo et al., 2009). In addition, evidence of butchery or modification from human tools use is commonly lacking because smaller bodies are in less need of processing for consumption (Stahl, 1996). Thus, the zooarchaeological study of small-mammals have to rely on less reliable markers such as the presence of burned bones, behavioral characteristic, skeletal representation, breakage patterns and/or the age profile of the bone assemblage (e. g., Pardiñas, 1999a, 1999b). Each of these markers should be qualified individually on a case by case basis, taking into account the multiplicity of post-burial processes that could affect the faunal remains (Crandall and Stahl, 1995; Pardiñas, 1999a; Laroulandie, 2005a; Lloveras et al., 2009; Simonetti and Cornejo, 1991). For example, Pardiñas (1999a, 1999b; Pardiñas et al., 2011) used the burned bone pattern on specific small-rodent species to discuss their prehispanic exploitation in Pampean and Patagonian archaeological sites. These arguments were reinforced when prey-size and burning damage are positively correlated (Simonetti and Cornejo, 1991) or if the faunal assemblage comes from rockshelters where natural fires are exceptional (Klein and Cruz-Uribe, 1984).

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Fire has a central role in food preparation (see Wranghan, 2009). Thus, it is reasonable to expect that cooking activities may produce burned bones if the small-mammal carcasses were directly exposed to high temperatures (Lyman, 1994). However, the relationship between small-mammal burned bones and cooking is complex because there are several human behaviors and post-depositional processes that can produce or mimic burning damage (Cain, 2005; De Nigris, 2004; Lyman, 1994; Nicholson, 1993; Stiner, 2005). On the other hand, the actualistic studies on burning were mostly focused on large mammals (see a review in De Nigris, 2004; Gifford-González, 1989; Shipman et al., 1984; Nicholson, 1993; Stiner, 2005). Relatively little actualistic data has been published on small-vertebrate burned bone modification, including examples made on grey partridges (Perdix perdix), terrapins (Pelosius adansoni), European rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) and Cape dune mole-rats (Bathyergus suillus) (Henshilwood, 1997; Laroulandie, 2001; Lloveras et al., 2009; Rybczynski et al., 1996). The aim of this article is to explore the relationship between small-rodent burned bones and human behavior using an experimental cooking study as a modern analogue. In order to meet this objective, five small-caviomorph rodents were cooked according to ethnographic observation. Then, the intensity of burning damage was used to identify reliable markers of cooking in the Ctenomyidae and Caviidae rodent bones recovered from Quebrada del Real 1 (ca. 6000e300 BP, Córdoba, Argentina).

2. Experimental cooking of caviomorph rodents The entire carcasses of three guinea pigs (Cavia porcellus) and two yellow-toothed cavies (Galea leucoblephara) with live weight ranging 226e910 g were placed in the coal of an open fire and rotated for 60e65 min until the meat was totally cooked. This technique tries to replicate ethnographic observations made on small-caviomorph rodents and others taxa similar in size and morphology (e.g., Cavia aperea, Acosta and Pafundi, 2005: 68; Ctenomys sp., Hesse, 1984: 47; Bathyergus suillus, Henshilwood, 1997:661). The carcasses of C. porcellus were purchased in a Peruvian market whereas G. leucoblephara were trapped for taxonomical studies and included in the experiment. Experimental fire was simply arranged intending to simulate a real ethnographic campfire. The fire used hardwood of Eucalyptus sp. No pieces of wood were greater than 5 cm of diameter. The peak temperature was reached 10 min of setting, with maximum temperatures of ca. 400
C. Once in the laboratory, the carcasses were boiled during ca. 4 h, stripped of the adhering soft tissue and dried for macroscopic level description. Two-millimeter mesh was used in order to recover all the small-bone pieces. Two aspects of the assemblage were examined: the pattern of burned bone modification and the pattern of elements loss. Thus, the experimental assemblage was quantified by the Number of Identified Specimens per Taxon (NISP), differentiating unburned, burned

Fig. 1. Caviidae skeletons indicating bone burning damage and the pattern of elements loss during the experimental cooking study: a) Number of Identified Specimen per Taxon (NISP) burned (q), calcined-carbonized (cc) and affected by breakage and/or disintegration (f). Black to greyish colors represents those portions mostly affected by fire; b) Minimal Number of Elements (MNE). Shading denotes the elements with major differences between observed MNE and expected MNE.

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Greatest damage occurred on distal shafts and ends of radii, ulnae and tibiae, which acquiring a brown to black coloration on parts less protected by muscle tissues (Figs. 1 and 2). Damage does not extend the distal 1/5 of the bone length. Thus, proximal portions of these skeletal elements were not affected and maintained the original cream-white coloration of the unburned bones (see Laroulandie, 2001; Lloveras et al., 2009; Figs. 1 and 2). Burning sometimes resulted in the high susceptibility to breakage of the damaged portion of the bones (e.g., distal tibiae and ulnae) or even in their total disintegration (e.g. autopodium elements) (Fig. 1). Axial and proximal limb-bones remained also unburned because the meat protected them from fire (Fig. 1). The only exceptions were the upper and lower incisor teeth and the bone around them. Upper incisors were slightly burned but also heavily affected by transverse breakage in its distal third (Figs. 1 and 2), whereas the lower incisors presented the brown coloration of the charred bones (see Henshilwood, 1997; Lloveras et al., 2009). 3. Stratigraphy and small-mammal taphonomy at Quebrada del Real 1

Fig. 2. Examples of burning damage on rodent bones from the experimental cooked (a-f) and Quebrada del Real 1 (g-n) assemblages: a and b, lateral views of Cavia porcellus skulls; c, ulna; d, radius; e and f, tibiae of Cavia porcellus; g, h, i and j, tibiae and k, humerus of Caviidae; l, tibia of Cricetidae cf. Holochilus brasiliensis; m, n, ventral and lateral view of Ctenomys sp. skulls. The arrows denote the areas affected by burning damage. Scale ¼ 5 mm.

and carbonized-calcined bones (Stiner, 1994). The Minimal Number of Elements (MNE) was also considered to evaluate the differential conservation and the pattern of elements loss (Lyman, 1994). The intensity of the burning damage was sorted by colors according to Shipman et al. (1984). Burnt areas were recorded and described on each skeletal element according to the portion (i.e. proximal, shaft or distal). Colors of burning were described as unburned (white-cream), slightly burned (yellow-reddish-brown), carbonized (blue-black) and calcined (blue-greyish). This chromatic scale was generally consistent with those used in previous experimental studies of burning bones as a proxy data to assess the degree of thermolteration (see Nicholson, 1993; Stiner, 2005; Lloveras et al., 2009). Cooking experiment shows that burning damage was a frequent form of bone modification and a diagnostic mark of cooking activities exposing the carcasses directly on fire. Of all the collected specimens, 13,5% were burned (Fig. 1). The burnt marks occurred in a range of appearance from superficial speckles to heavily charring (Figs. 1 and 2; Tables 1 and 2). As intensity of burning increased, the fragility of the bone and its probability of being fragmented also increased. Nearly all the burnt specimens were appendicular.

Quebrada del Real 1 (QR1; 1914 m) is a cave located in the Pampa de Achala Provincial Hydrical Reserve, central Argentina (Rivero et al. 2008e2009; Fig. 3). Three cultural components (sensu Politis and Madrid, 2001) were detected during its excavation. The lowest component (C1) is associated to lanceolate projectile points and charcoal dated at 5980  50 years BP (LP-2133) and 7360  120 BP (LP-2339). The middle component (C2) is characterized by the presence of triangular projectile points with slightly to markedly concave bases dated at 2950  90 years BP (LP-2042; charcoal). Finally, the top component (C3) contains small-stemmed triangular arrowpoints as well as pottery fragments. This assemblage was temporal-assigned to the Late Holocene due to the absence of radiocarbon dates (Rivero et al. 2008e2009). A detailed study of the stratigraphical sequence, chronology, lithic artifacts, bone technology, faunal assemblage and micro-botanical remains from QRl 1 is in Medina et al. (in press), Rivero and López (2011), Rivero and Medina (in press), Rivero et al. (2010), Rivero and Pastor (2009), Rivero et al. (2008e2009). This paper considers the 2754 small-vertebrate bone remains obtained from the exploratory 2 m2 pit-sampling. Two-millimeter mesh was used to sieve the sediments and recover all the smallbone pieces. Small-vertebrate was arbitrarily defined as any prey with a maximum live weight of 1 kg. Rodents, birds and other small-taxa were identified in several Holocene archaeological sites from Sierras of Córdoba. However, QR1 presents a high frequency of these small animal bones accumulated along thousands of years, providing an excellent opportunity to examine resource intensification process previously proposed for the region (Medina and Pastor, in press; Medina et al., in press; Rivero and Medina, in press; Rivero et al. 2010; Rivero et al. 2008e2009). Above the 50% of the assemblage from QR1 was constituted by rodent tooth elements such as molars and broken incisors (toothbased NISP ¼ 1498). The remaining fraction included appendicular and axial skeletal elements, mainly tibiae, pelves, skulls and mandibles (bone-based NISP ¼ 1256). This pattern of skeletal representation agrees with other small-mammal assemblages associated with human activities (e.g., Dewar and Jerardino, 2007; Hesse, 1984; Pardiñas, 1999a). Caviidae and Ctenomyidae rodents dominated the sequence with over 95% of the NISP (Table 1; Medina et al., in press; Rivero et al. 2008e2009). Caviidae were represented by the wild cavies G. leucoblephara and Microcavia australis. Ctenomyidae included a large and a small form of Ctenomys, but their taxonomical status is under study (Verzi com. pers). The sigmodontine Holochilus

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Table 1 Ctenomyidae and Caviidae from Quebrada del Real 1 by layer: Number of Identified Specimens per Taxon (NISP), fraction with cut-marks (NISPcm), fraction with slightly burnt marks (NISPb), fraction with carbonized-calcined burnt marks (NISPcc) and Minimal Number of Elements (MNE). Note: Layer 1 ¼ Component 3; layers 2 and 3 ¼ Component 2; and layers 4 and 5 ¼ Component 1. Ctenomyidae

Caviidae

NISP

NISPcm

NISPb

NISPcc

MNE

NISP

NISPcm

NISPb

NISPcc

MNE

Layer 1 Mandible Skull Incisor Molariform Scapula Innominate Femur Tibia

21 2 16 14 e 1 e 1

17 e e e e e e e

1 e e e e e e e

e 1 e e e e e e

21 1 e e e 1 e 1

16 e 6 23 1 10 3 9

14 e e e 1 6 3 5

e e e e e e e e

e e e e e 1 e e

15 e e e 1 10 3 9

Layer 2 Mandible Skull Incisors Molariform Vertebrae Scapula Humerus Ulna Innominate Femur Tibia

124 50 150 102 e 3 1 2 13 e 4

76 11 e e e 1 e e 8 e 2

2 e e e e e e e e e 1

e e e e e e e e e e e

120 31 e e e 3 1 2 12 e 3

177 63 112 431 3 26 13 2 79 11 72

95 13 e e e 7 8 1 22 4 37

2 1 e e e e 1 1 e e 24

e e e 2 e e e e 1 e e

166 28 e e 3 24 13 2 73 8 60

Layer 3 Mandible Skull Incisor Molariform Scapula Humerus Innominate Femur Tibia

32 18 49 37 e e 2 e e

13 3 e e e e e e e

1 e e e e e e e e

e e e e e e e e e

32 10 e e e e 2 e e

55 25 37 125 16 2 46 4 12

14 3 e e 5 1 9 3 3

e e e e e e e e 8

e e e e e e e e 1

55 14 e e 16 2 45 3 11

Layer 4 Mandible Skull Incisor Molariform Vertebrae Scapula Humerus Ulna Innominate Femur Tibia

50 34 91 62 1 e e 1 2 e e

13 10 e e e e e e 1 e e

e e e e e e e e e e e

e e e e e e e e e e e

48 23 e e 1 e e 1 2 e e

45 43 35 135 1 5 2 e 33 8 10

17 4 e e e 1 2 e 6 2 5

1 e e e e e e e e 1 3

e e e e e e e e e e e

41 12 e e 1 4 2 e 32 6 8

Layer 5 Mandible Skull Incisor Molariform Innominate Femur Tibia

7 2 8 6 e e e

2 e e e e e e

e e e e e e e

1 e e 1 e e e

7 2 e e e e e

6 2 3 22 1 3 1

2 e e e e e 1

e e e e e e e

e e e e e e e

6 1 e e 1 3 1

Table 2 Quebrada del Real 1, Layer 2: Number of Identified Specimens per Taxon (NISP) of Cricetidae cf. Holochilus brasiliensis and small-birds showing similar pattern of burning damage than caviomorph rodents. Taxa

Cricetidae cf. H. brasiliensis Cricetidae cf. H. brasiliensis Cricetidae cf. H. brasiliensis Fulica sp. Tinamidae Ave indet.

Burned (distal)

Carbonized-calcined

Element

NISP

Element

NISP

Tibia Humerus Femur Tibiatarsus Tibiatarsus e

1 1 1 1 1 e

e e e e e Vertebra

e e e e e 1

brasiliensis was present in all the components. Small-birds were also recorded but in low-frequencies (<1%), especially in the upper levels. No bone evidenced tooth-marks and digestion damage that characterize assemblages accumulated by raptor pellets and mammalian carnivore scats (see a complete discussion in Medina et al., in press). In contrast, a high percentage of the smallvertebrate assemblage presented cut-marks (37,7% of the bonebased NISP). Cut-marks were concentrated in mandibles (59,1%), skulls (9,9%), pelves (11,7%) and tibiae (10,8%), mainly resulting from skinning and dismembering activities (Medina et al., in press). Traces of burning were present on few bones (Tables 1 and 2). Sixty-one specimens (2,2%) of rodents (NISP ¼ 55) and other small-vertebrate taxa (NISP ¼ 6) showed burning damage focused

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Fig. 3. Geographic location (left), plan view (right, above) and stratigraphic profile (right, below) of the archaeological site Quebrada del Real 1 (Holocene, Córdoba Province, Argentina).

in those bones less rich in meat located in terminal parts of the skeleton. Burned bones were recovered in all the archaeological sequence but higher frequencies were documented in Component 2 (layer 2). The 85,5% of the burnt marks have the reddish-brown coloration of the slightly burned bones (sensu Shipman et al., 1984). Only 14,5% presented the blue-black or the blue-greyish colors of the carbonized and calcined bones. Burned long bones were dominated by tibiae, showing damage only on the distal shafts and ends of the elements (NISP ¼ 44; Fig. 2 and Tables 1 and 2). The damage on mandibles was restricted to the incisor teeth and the anterior portion of the horizontal ramus. Burned bone modification only affected small-prey with body size averaged 800 g, including caviomorph and cricetid rodents as well as birds such as coots (Fulica sp.) and tinamous (Tinamidae). Other smaller taxa lacked of evidences of thermoalteration as the cricetid Reithrodon auritus and passerine birds. This taxonomical and body size pattern of burning damage suggested a long-term selective economic behavior that reinforces the hypothesis of human consumption (cf. Simonetti and Cornejo, 1991). 4. Discussion and conclusion Experimental and archaeological rodent assemblages presented several remarkable similarities (Table 3). Firstly, thermoalteration was mostly restricted to the distal portions of unmeaty long-bones such as tibiae and radii. This pattern is difficult to associate with

natural fires or with the post-consumption bone discard onto fires. In these cases, the probability that any particular element or any portion of an element burns should be relatively equal (Hockett and Ferreira Bicho, 2000). Pardiñas (1999a) correlated this distinctive burning pattern with the retraction of the proximal muscular masses of the limb-bones when they were cooked on fire, exposing the unmeaty distal portion of the bones to damage. Similar scenarios were

Table 3 Summary of observed burning damage pattern on rodent bones from the experimental cooking and Quebrada del Real 1 assemblages. Pattern of burning damage

Experimental cooking assemblage

Quebrada del Real 1 assemblage

Frequency Location

Low, ca. 13.5% Mostly restricted to distal portion of distal long bones, specially tibiae; incisors and mandibles

Extremely low, ca. 2% Mostly restricted to distal portion of distal long bones, specially tibiae, radii, ulnae; and mandibles Increased 0.07

Fragility Increased Ratio axial and 0.32 appendicular burned bones Incisor breakage ca. 30%, restricted to the distal third Survival of autopodium Low, ca. 34% elements

ca. 90%, mostly restricted to the distal third Extremely low, <1%

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documented in other archaeological cases, not only in ungulates bones (e. g., Gifford-González, 1989; Cain, 2005) but also in smallvertebrate assemblages (e. g., Hockett and Ferreira Bicho, 2000; Santiago, 2004; Blasco and Fernández Peris, 2009; Rodríguez Loredo, 1997e1998; Cassoli and Tagliacozzo, 1997; Vigne and MarinvalVigne, 1983; Vigne et al., 1981; Blasco, 2008; Henshilwood, 1997; Laroulandie, 2005b; Lloveras et al., 2009; Del Papa et al., 2010; Medina and Pastor, in press; Pardiñas et al., 2011). Secondly, the frequency of in situ and isolated broken incisor teeth in QR1 (toothbased NISP ¼ 463) resembled the pattern found in the cooking experiment. Finally, the experimental assemblage resulted in the susceptibility to fragmentation of the most damaged bones or the affected portion of the bones, biasing its representation. Thus, the absence of autopodium elements and some distal tibiae in QR1 could be related to in situ burning damage-mediated decomposition increased by long-term post-depositional processes (Smoke and Stahl, 2004; Cain, 2005; Costamagno et al., 2005; Gifford, 1981; Lyman, 1994; 2008; Stiner, 2005). The differential conservation also explained the lower percentage of burned bones in QR1 (2,2%) from the experimental sample (13,5%) where the traces of thermoalteration were crumbled by attritional mechanisms (Stiner et al., 1995). Based on these results it is suggested that the small-mammal assemblage of QR1 was primarily accumulated by human through butchery, cooking and consumption related activities (Medina et al., in press; Rivero et al. 2008e2009). This hypothesis is supported not only by the high occurrence of cut-marks and the skeletal element representation (Table 1; see a complete description in Medina et al., in press), but also by the sediments rich in ash and ash by-product, indicating multiple time-averaged cooking events across the Holocene. However, the experimental analogy may not fully contemplate the past human burning-related behaviors despite similarities (cf. O’Connell, 1995). For example, the rodent incisors of QR1 were heavily transversely broken but not burned as in the analogical records, or the damage did not penetrate the teeth deeply and was difficult to see at a macroscopical level. The high susceptibility to disintegration of the damaged distal third of the incisors would also explain this bias. On the other hand, the burned bones of QR1 included some elements that were unburned during the experiment, such as humeri and pelves. This archaeological pattern may indicate that sometimes the preys were dismembered and cooked separately or together with the rest of the carcass from which the meatless parts of the extremities had been removed (Laroulandie, 2001, 2005b:173; Vigne et al., 1981). The presence of cut-marks in burned bones (Table 1) reinforces this hypothesis, suggesting that some skeletal elements were defleshed or processed prior to cooking. Moreover, the carbonized and calcined specimens show that sometimes bones could have been thrown onto the fire once the meat and viscera had been removed or consumed. Finally, limbbones that according to the experimental model should be burned, were not always damaged such as a high frequency of cavy tibiae. This pattern suggests that occasionally the defleshed meat was cooked separately from the bone, the muscle mass was eaten uncooked or the elements were cooked but the fire not affected the bone (Blasco and Fernández Peris, 2009). The experimental model only contemplates a segment of the taphonomic history of the small-vertebrate bone assemblage from QR1. Most archaeological deposits such as QR1 were accumulated along decades or thousands of years, averaging human behaviors and multiple post-depositional processes at coarse-grain (Borrero, 1991; Klein and Cruz-Uribe, 1984; Marean, 1995; Stiner, 1994). The sum of generalizations obtained from short-term observation of modern events may not fully describe the long-term consequence of the same process (Stiner, 1994). Thus, the actualistic analogies must be translated and scaled according to archaeological-scale

resolution, expanding the range of situations to understand the fossil record and considering the variety of multidimensional variables that affected the deposits throughout their taphonomic history (Borrero, 1991; O’Connell, 1995; Stiner, 1994). The cooking experiment presented here plays a key role as a methodological tool establishing causal relation among cooking behaviors, the pattern of burning damage and the context which generates them, providing an essential background for interpreting the taphonomical history of the small-rodent and bird bones from QR1. Extending this study to other archaeological sites in South America may help to identify the prehistoric bone collectors of these small-animals. Acknowledgements We thank Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET) for the financial support (PIP 11220080102678) and to Eduardo Berberián for his kind professional advice and help. One of the authors (PT) has a grant from the Agencia Nacional de Promoción Científica y Técnica. Our acknowledgement also extends to U. F. J. Pardiñas, S. Pastor, C. Quintana, V. Laroulandie and R. Blasco, who provided bibliography and replied to our numerous requests to improve the original manuscript. References Acosta, A., Pafundi, L., 2005. Zooarqueología de Cavia aperea en el humedal del Paraná Inferior. Intersecciones en Antropología 6, 59e74. Andrews, P., 1995. Experiments in taphonomy. Journal of Archaeological Science 22, 147e153. Blasco, R., 2008. Human consumption of tortoises at Level IV of Bolomor Cave (Valencia, Spain). Journal of Archaeological Science 35, 2839e2848. Blasco, R., Fernández Peris, J., 2009. Middle Pleistocene bird consumption at Level XI of Bolomor Cave (Valencia, Spain). Journal of Archaeological Science 36, 2213e2223. Borrero, L., 1991. Experimentos y escalas arqueológicas. Shincal 3, 142e148. Cain, C., 2005. Using burned animal bone to look at Middle Stone Age occupation and behavior. Journal of Archaeological Science 32, 873e884. Cassoli, P., Tagliacozzo, A., 1997. Butchering and cooking birds in the Paleolithic site of Grotta Romanelli (Italy). International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 7, 303e320. Costamagno, S., Théry-Parisot, I., Brugal, J., Guibert, R., 2005. Taphonomic consequences of the use of bones as fuel: Experimental data and archaeological applications. In: O’Connor, T. (Ed.), Biosphere to Lithosphere. New Studies in Vertebrate Taphonomy. Oxbow Books, Oxford, pp. 52e64. Crandall, B., Stahl, P., 1995. Human digestive effects on a micromammalian skeleton. Journal of Archaeological Science 22, 789e797. De Nigris, M., 2004. El Consumo en Grupos Cazadores Recolectores. Un ejemplo Zooarqueológico de Patagonia Meridional. Sociedad Argentina de Antropología, Buenos Aires. Del Papa, L., De Santis, L., Togo, J., 2010. Consumo de roedores en el sitio Villa La Punta, agro-alfarero temprano de la región Chaco-Santiagueña. Intersecciones en Antropología 11, 29e40. Dewar, G., Jerardino, A., 2007. Micromammals: when humans are the hunters. Journal of Taphonomy 5, 1e14. Domínguez-Rodrigo, M., de Juana, S., Galán, A., Rodriguez, M., 2009. A new protocol to differenciate trampling marks from butchery cut marks. Journal of Archaeological Science 36, 2643e2654. Gifford, D., 1981. Taphonomy and paleoecology: a critical review of archaeology’s sister disciplines. Advances in Archaeological Method and Theory 4, 365e438. Gifford-González, D., 1989. Ethnographic analogues for interpreting modified bones. some cases from East Africa. In: Bonnichsen, R., Sorg, M. (Eds.), Bone Modification. Center for the Study of the First Americans, Orono, pp. 179e246. Henshilwood, C., 1997. Identifying the collector: Evidence for human processing of the Cape dune mole-rat, Bathyergus suillus, from Blombos Cave, Southern Cape, South Africa. Journal of Archaeological Science 24, 659e662. Hesse, B., 1984. Archaic exploitation of small mammal and birds in northern Chile. Estudios Atacameños 7, 42e61. Hockett, B., Ferreira Bicho, N., 2000. The rabbits of Picareiro Cave: small mammal hunting during the late upper paleolithic in the Portuguese Estremadura. Journal of Archaeological Science 27, 715e723. Klein, R., Cruz-Uribe, K., 1984. The Analysis of Animal Bones from Archaeological Sites. Chicago University Press, Chicago. Laroulandie, V., 2001. Les traces liées à la boucherie, à la cuission et à la consommation d’oiseaux. Apport de l’expémentation. In: Bouruignon, L., Ortega, I., Chantal Frère-Sautot, M. (Eds.), Préhistoire et Appoche Expérimentale. Éditions Monique Mergoil, Montagnac.

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