Regarding beasts and humans: A review of taphonomic works with living carnivores

Abstract

Understanding how fossil assemblages were formed and which species modified the bones recovered in archaeological sites is no easy task. Nevertheless, during recent decades taphonomists have been working on the study of living carnivores in order to have a framework available for comparing fossil assemblages. In this paper we provide an overview of the results obtained from taphonomic work with living carnivores, the limitations of the results in relation to the variety of procedures implemented, and the application of the results obtained from the fossil record. The experimental conditions, i.e., wild versus captive carnivores, the prey size of the carcasses, etc., in large part determine the validity of the results obtained from taphonomic observations. For this reason we must be cautious when comparing the data with the fossil record. More studies on carnivores, especially on wild species, are necessary for us to increase our knowledge of the role of carnivores in the fossil record.