Contextual Taphonomy in Zooarchaeology: From Refuse Behavior to Site-Occupation Intensity in Levantine Epipaleolithic Camps

Summary

In zooarchaeology, Contextual Taphonomy means the integration of the stratigraphic and contextual data with zooarchaeological and taphonomic data, to clarify the 'life history' of a faunal sub-assemblage in a given context. The approach uses animal remains to explain variability among site features by looking into the differential taphonomic histories of the bones, most importantly in the post-discard stage. Archaeofaunal remains are normally ubiquitous in foragers’ camps and their histories are readily deciphered, potentially making them excellent indicators of site-formation processes, refuse behavior and activity areas and, by extension, of site type and occupation intensity. A contextual taphonomy approach was recently applied to Late Epipaleolithic (Natufian) animal remains in Mount Carmel, Israel (ca. 15,000-11,700 cal. BP) in order to discern the formation and function of architectural contexts of these semi-sedentary foragers. At the Natufian basecamp of el-Wad Terrace, the contextual taphonomy approach identified fluctuations in site-occupation intensity through the 3,500-year-long Natufian sequence of the site. It also showed that a sequence of structures was used for everyday living activities, probably at the household level. Conversely, at the Natufian cemetery site of Raqefet Cave, the animal remains reflected short and punctuated periods of human activity, corresponding with a specialized burial site.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 21585