A Tale of Three Substrates: Effects of Trampling on Ostrich Eggshell and Applicability to the Archaeological Record

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Few taphonomic experiments have considered Ostrich eggshell, despite its ubiquity at archaeological sites in Africa and Asia. This experiment seeks to fill some of the gaps in taphonomic knowledge by determining the effect of trampling on ostrich eggshell. Ostrich eggshell fragments were photographed, distributed across the surface of sand, soil, or gravel, and trampled for a period of ten minutes or two hours. To create a significantly robust sample, each experiment was replicated ten times. The more intense trampling and increasingly compact substrate yielded a higher number of fragments, and lower average length. An increased number of marks were noted after trampling, however, the appearance of these trampling marks were indistinguishable from marks observed on eggshells before trampling. Discoloration of fragments subjected to two hours of trampling was significantly higher, although this result varied between substrates. Comparison with ostrich eggshell recovered at a Middle Stone Age site in South Africa suggests that the surface modification observed was not caused by trampling, because no analogous marks were observed on the trampled assemblages. Further studies should consider additional taphonomic effects, including the effects of trampling on artifacts below the surface.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 23199