Reassessing the role of carnivores in the formation of FLK North 3 (Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania): A pilot taphonomic analysis using Artificial Intelligence tools

FLK North (FLK N) (Bed I, Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania) is one of the best examples of a palimpsest where felids, hyenids and hominins made use of the same space without or with minimal interaction between hominins and the other two carnivores. Felids have been interpreted as the main accumulators and ca...

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Authors: Vegara Riquelme, Marina, Gidna, Agnes, Uribelarrea Del Val, David, Baquedano, Enrique, Domínguez Rodrigo, Manuel
Format: article
Publication Date:2023
Country:España
Institution:Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM)
Repository:Docta Complutense
Language:English
OAI Identifier:oai:docta.ucm.es:20.500.14352/72167
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/72167
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:569.74(678)
Taphonomy
Palimpsest
Tooth marks
Artificial Intelligence
Olduvai Gorge
FLK North
Paleontología
2416 Paleontología
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spelling Reassessing the role of carnivores in the formation of FLK North 3 (Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania): A pilot taphonomic analysis using Artificial Intelligence toolsVegara Riquelme, MarinaGidna, AgnesUribelarrea Del Val, DavidBaquedano, EnriqueDomínguez Rodrigo, Manuel569.74(678)TaphonomyPalimpsestTooth marksArtificial IntelligenceOlduvai GorgeFLK NorthPaleontología2416 PaleontologíaFLK North (FLK N) (Bed I, Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania) is one of the best examples of a palimpsest where felids, hyenids and hominins made use of the same space without or with minimal interaction between hominins and the other two carnivores. Felids have been interpreted as the main accumulators and carcass consumers followed by frequent hyenid intervention. The presence of hominins at this site has been documented through the discovery of stone tools. Here, we test previous taphonomic interpretations of this site through the application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools (computer vision applied to bidimensional images of tooth pits) to taxonomically discriminate carnivore-made tooth marks. The bones we analyzed constitute a small sample, being a preliminary study of bone surface modifications (BSM) through the application of AI to a sample of the FLK N archaeofaunal assemblage (mostly to Level 3 fossils), pending access to the larger excavated collections. The results obtained in the present study show that the marks analyzed have been generated both by hyenids and felids. The slight predominance of hyena tooth marks is expected, since the bone sample used is dominated by long limb bones, and hyenas are the most likely agent causing long bone breakage, although felids also break bones of carcasses smaller than 150 kg as documented in the site. Felid impact, in at least three cases, is documented with tooth marks imprinted by felids and hyenas occurring on the same specimens. Felid-hyenid interaction is, thus, documented though the deep learning methods applied. The limited number of specimens where both agents are documented suggest that both hyenids and felids were independently breaking a substantial part of the bones at FLK N. This preliminarily modifies previous interpretations that attributed most long bone fragmentation exclusively to hyenas.ElsevierUniversidad Complutense de Madrid20232023-02-0120232023-02-01journal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501info:eu-repo/semantics/articleapplication/pdfhttps://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/72167reponame:Docta Complutenseinstname:Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM)Inglésengopen accesshttp://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2Atribución 3.0 Españahttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/es/info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:docta.ucm.es:20.500.14352/721672026-06-02T12:44:21Z
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Reassessing the role of carnivores in the formation of FLK North 3 (Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania): A pilot taphonomic analysis using Artificial Intelligence tools
title Reassessing the role of carnivores in the formation of FLK North 3 (Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania): A pilot taphonomic analysis using Artificial Intelligence tools
spellingShingle Reassessing the role of carnivores in the formation of FLK North 3 (Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania): A pilot taphonomic analysis using Artificial Intelligence tools
Vegara Riquelme, Marina
569.74(678)
Taphonomy
Palimpsest
Tooth marks
Artificial Intelligence
Olduvai Gorge
FLK North
Paleontología
2416 Paleontología
title_short Reassessing the role of carnivores in the formation of FLK North 3 (Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania): A pilot taphonomic analysis using Artificial Intelligence tools
title_full Reassessing the role of carnivores in the formation of FLK North 3 (Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania): A pilot taphonomic analysis using Artificial Intelligence tools
title_fullStr Reassessing the role of carnivores in the formation of FLK North 3 (Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania): A pilot taphonomic analysis using Artificial Intelligence tools
title_full_unstemmed Reassessing the role of carnivores in the formation of FLK North 3 (Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania): A pilot taphonomic analysis using Artificial Intelligence tools
title_sort Reassessing the role of carnivores in the formation of FLK North 3 (Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania): A pilot taphonomic analysis using Artificial Intelligence tools
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Vegara Riquelme, Marina
Gidna, Agnes
Uribelarrea Del Val, David
Baquedano, Enrique
Domínguez Rodrigo, Manuel
author Vegara Riquelme, Marina
author_facet Vegara Riquelme, Marina
Gidna, Agnes
Uribelarrea Del Val, David
Baquedano, Enrique
Domínguez Rodrigo, Manuel
author_role author
author2 Gidna, Agnes
Uribelarrea Del Val, David
Baquedano, Enrique
Domínguez Rodrigo, Manuel
author2_role author
author
author
author
dc.contributor.none.fl_str_mv Universidad Complutense de Madrid
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv 569.74(678)
Taphonomy
Palimpsest
Tooth marks
Artificial Intelligence
Olduvai Gorge
FLK North
Paleontología
2416 Paleontología
topic 569.74(678)
Taphonomy
Palimpsest
Tooth marks
Artificial Intelligence
Olduvai Gorge
FLK North
Paleontología
2416 Paleontología
description FLK North (FLK N) (Bed I, Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania) is one of the best examples of a palimpsest where felids, hyenids and hominins made use of the same space without or with minimal interaction between hominins and the other two carnivores. Felids have been interpreted as the main accumulators and carcass consumers followed by frequent hyenid intervention. The presence of hominins at this site has been documented through the discovery of stone tools. Here, we test previous taphonomic interpretations of this site through the application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools (computer vision applied to bidimensional images of tooth pits) to taxonomically discriminate carnivore-made tooth marks. The bones we analyzed constitute a small sample, being a preliminary study of bone surface modifications (BSM) through the application of AI to a sample of the FLK N archaeofaunal assemblage (mostly to Level 3 fossils), pending access to the larger excavated collections. The results obtained in the present study show that the marks analyzed have been generated both by hyenids and felids. The slight predominance of hyena tooth marks is expected, since the bone sample used is dominated by long limb bones, and hyenas are the most likely agent causing long bone breakage, although felids also break bones of carcasses smaller than 150 kg as documented in the site. Felid impact, in at least three cases, is documented with tooth marks imprinted by felids and hyenas occurring on the same specimens. Felid-hyenid interaction is, thus, documented though the deep learning methods applied. The limited number of specimens where both agents are documented suggest that both hyenids and felids were independently breaking a substantial part of the bones at FLK N. This preliminarily modifies previous interpretations that attributed most long bone fragmentation exclusively to hyenas.
publishDate 2023
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2023
2023-02-01
2023
2023-02-01
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv journal article
http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501
dc.type.openaire.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
format article
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/72167
url https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/72167
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv Inglés
eng
language_invalid_str_mv Inglés
language eng
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv open access
http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2
Atribución 3.0 España
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/es/
dc.rights.openaire.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
rights_invalid_str_mv open access
http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2
Atribución 3.0 España
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/es/
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv application/pdf
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv Elsevier
publisher.none.fl_str_mv Elsevier
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv reponame:Docta Complutense
instname:Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM)
instname_str Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM)
reponame_str Docta Complutense
collection Docta Complutense
repository.name.fl_str_mv
repository.mail.fl_str_mv
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score 15,300719

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