Cut marks on the Middle Pleistocene elephant carcass of Áridos 2 (Madrid, Spain)
Áridos 1 and Áridos 2 (Madrid, Spain) are two Middle Pleistocene sites belonging to the isotopic stages 9e11. Both places contain partial carcasses of Elephas (Paleoxodon) antiquus associated to Acheulian stone tools. In this work, the taphonomic study of the elephant remains of Áridos 2 is presente...
| Autores: | , , , , , , |
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| Tipo de recurso: | artículo |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2010 |
| País: | España |
| Institución: | Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM) |
| Repositorio: | Docta Complutense |
| Idioma: | inglés |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:docta.ucm.es:20.500.14352/43390 |
| Acceso en línea: | https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/43390 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | 902(460.27) Taphonomy Cut marks Middle Pleistocene Butchery Elephant Prehistoria 5504.05 Prehistoria |
| Sumario: | Áridos 1 and Áridos 2 (Madrid, Spain) are two Middle Pleistocene sites belonging to the isotopic stages 9e11. Both places contain partial carcasses of Elephas (Paleoxodon) antiquus associated to Acheulian stone tools. In this work, the taphonomic study of the elephant remains of Áridos 2 is presented. This study has documented several cut marks on different bones, which indicate bulk flesh and viscerae extraction by Middle Pleistocene hominins. Several arguments are provided to support that at least some of the cut marks were made with handaxes, further suggesting that some of these artifacts were butchering tools in this stage of human evolution. Although cut marks on elephant carcasses have been documented at some Middle Pleistocene sites, very few have been published in detail to allow consideration of their status as hominin-imparted marks. By doing so, the present study provides more evidence of large carcass exploitation by hominins during this period. |
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