Zooarchaeological and Taphonomic Perspectives on Hominid And
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ZOOARCHAEOLOGICAL AND TAPHONOMIC PERSPECTIVES ON HOMINID AND CARNIVORE INTERACTIONS AT OLDUVAI GORGE, TANZANIA Charles Peter Egeland Submitted to the faculty of the University Graduate School in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Anthropology, Indiana University June 2007 Accepted by the Graduate Faculty, Indiana University, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Doctoral Committee ________________________ Travis R. Pickering, Ph.D. ________________________ Nicholas Toth, Ph.D. ________________________ Kathy Schick, Ph.D. ________________________ Kevin Hunt, Ph.D. ________________________ Claudia Johnson, Ph.D. June 8, 2007 ii ©2007 Charles Peter Egeland ALL RIGHTS RESERVED iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS As with any work of such magnitude, this dissertation simply would not have been possible without the support and assistance of many individuals and institutions. I wish to first thank Nick Toth, Kathy Schick, Kevin Hunt and Claudia Johnson. They not only generously sacrificed their time and energy as members of my committee but offered unfailing support, friendship and ideas throughout all stages of this research. Nick and Kathy provided a stimulating environment at CRAFT and the Stone Age Institute for which I will always be grateful. Nick‟s impromptu experiments and “what would happen if…” questions served as a constant reminder of what makes this field so fun and interesting. Kevin always stressed that research should focus on simple, straightforward questions, not only because they are the most easily tested but because they often provide the most influential results. I have tried to take that advice to heart in this dissertation. To Claudia I am particularly indebted to the support and enthusiasm she has offered at all stages of this project, even though it has had little to do with her own research. I truly admire her insistence on learning from everyone she interacts with, and her belief in dialogue and discussion as a means of expressing and refining scientific ideas has been inspiring. Chapters 1 and 2 are an expansion of my classroom interactions with her. To all of these individuals I offer my sincere thanks. My development as a scientist in general and an archaeologist and taphonomist in particular is due largely to my interactions with three people: Larry Todd, Manuel Domínguez-Rodrigo and Travis Pickering. To Larry I owe my initial interest in bones and taphonomy. Larry‟s systematic and detailed approach to archaeology is one I hope to emulate. His dedication to his students cannot be overstated and I am genuinely grateful to have him as a teacher and a friend. I must also thank Larry for introducing me to land-dwelling walruses in Wyoming. Manuel provided me with this project by generously allowing me to participate in the reanalysis he had planned for the Olduvai Bed I assemblages. I am therefore proud to say that my research is an outgrowth of his initial vision. He was also kind enough to furnish me with permit and logistical assistance throughout my stays in Kenya and Tanzania. I will never forget the trust he placed in me, and I hope this dissertation goes some way towards repaying it. I cannot begin to express my gratitude to Travis for all he has done for me. From the very first he treated me as a collaborator and friend and my adventures with him in South Africa, including our meals at Anat (whose swarmas I am convinced are the world‟s best food), iv remain among my fondest memories of Africa. I respect Travis as a scientist and I am truly lucky to be able to call him my friend. I would also like to thank the whole Pickering family for inviting me into their home and their lives. Liese kept me well-fed and, to Travis‟s detriment, fully stocked with leftover desserts. Little Grace provided a care-free outlook on life, and watching Sponge Bob with her helped me to keep things in perspective. Biscuit‟s bug eyes and shenanigans provided more than a handful of laughs over the years. To Nick Conard and the Institut für Ur- und Frühgeschichte und Archäologie des Mittelalters, Abteilung Älter Urgeschichte und Quartärökologie at the University of Tübingen I am thankful for providing my first overseas experience in Germany in 2000 to assist in laboratory and field work. The high quality research and the hospitality and kindness of all the people there kept me coming back for a total of six field seasons, all of which made for a truly memorable experience. I also had the pleasure of meeting Laura Niven during my first year in Germany. Whether over a beer or during a heated game of SkipBo, our conversations about zooarchaeology and life in general have always been enjoyable. This research would not have been possible without the hospitality of the National Museums of Kenya in Nairobi. To Emma Mbua, Mary Muungu and all the staff of the Paleontology Division I offer thanks for facilitating access to the Olduvai collections. The value of the amazing comparative collection in the Osteology Division also cannot be overstated. Permission to study the Olduvai material was granted through permits issued by the Commission for Science and Technology, Tanzania, and the National Museums of Kenya (both under the principle investigation of Manuel Domínguez-Rodrigo). I thank Manuel Domínguez-Rodrigo for help in collecting the Masaai Mara hyena den data and Dr. Julian Kerbis Peterhans for allowing its inclusion in this dissertation. Dr. Laura Bishop kindly provided information concerning the identification of the Olduvai suids and Dr. Teresa Steele furnished the mortality analysis program. I would also like to thank Rebeca Barba and Elia Organista for the Spanish lessons and good friendship during our time as lab mates in Nairobi during the summer of 2005. Funding for this project was provided by a Dissertation Improvement Grant from the National Science Foundation (Award #0603746), a McNutt Dissertation Year Fellowship from the College of Arts and Sciences, Indiana University, a Graduate Fellowship from the College of Arts and Sciences, v Indiana University, several Research Awards from the Graduate and Professional Student Organization, Indiana University, and, through Manuel Domínguez-Rodrigo, Complutense University. To these institutions I am extremely grateful. I would also like to thank the Department of Anthropology at the University of Wisconsin−Madison for providing me with an Honorary Fellowship in order to utilize their library facilities during the writing-up stages of this dissertation. There are several other individuals I would like to single out. First, I have had the honor of interacting with Bob Brain and Henry Bunn who, in addition to being intellectual giants in the field of taphonomy, are sincerely nice people. Bob has offered nothing but kind and encouraging words every time I have seen him and Henry‟s ideas on everything from the Hadza to mortality profiles have influenced me greatly during the final stages of this research. Ryan Byerly has been a good friend ever since that day out at Kaplan-Hoover way back in 1998. Our shared appreciation of carcass butchery, maceration and heavy metal has forged a lasting friendship and I continue to value him as a friend and respect him as a taphonomist. Despite his misguided endorsement of vegetables and lack of respect for the great sport of bowling, Chris Nicholson helped make my first extended absence from the states a fantastic experience and continues to provide a constant stream of informative single-line e-mails. Finally, Cameron Griffith served as an excellent foosball partner and shared with me a deep appreciation for MXC. The following people served as friends, stimulating conversationalists, advisors and/or drinking pals over the course of my undergraduate and graduate career: R. Balzac, David Braun, Oskar Burger, Paul Burnett, Kris Carlson, Parth Chauhan, August Costa, Matt Crane, Sean Dougherty, Melanie Everett, Carlina de la Cova, Anthony Fernandez, Alison Foley, Todd Foster, Ryan Grange, Kevin Hammer, Marc Händel, Heather Hanson, Corey Hayashi, Matt G. Hill, Ryan Hurtado, Paul Jamison, Chad Jones, Andrew Kandel, Ryan Kiley, Kurt Langguth, Michael Lingnau, John Lorinskas, Maria Malina, Connie Meister, Kevin Meskill, Lauren Miller, Dan and Britta Osborne, Briana Pobiner (whose recently completed dissertation provided useful data on carnivore ravaging), Mary Prendergast, Gil Ramos, Dirk Röttinger, Mohammed Sahnouni, Sileshi Semaw, Eric Stockdell, Dietrich Stout, Anna Tison, Robert Walker, Josh Wells, Don Young and Gina Zavala. I also thank the incredible administrative staff at Indiana‟s Department of Anthropology. Linda Barchet, Susie Bernhardt, Connie Adams, Marcy Covey and especially Debra Wilkerson were always vi there to answer questions (many of them more than once!). Carolyn Schmid helped facilitate the processing of my NSF grant. I also have to thank my favorite furry friends Logan, Walter and Kitten. They always provided a much-needed distraction and many of my best ideas coalesced when I was with Logan, whether on a long walk or when he was doing his business. My family, Richard, Sharon, Heather and Ashley, have been supportive of my endeavors from the start. My sisters have been a constant source of laughter, which I have found can cure almost anything. Thanks Heath and Ash (and stop squishing my rolls!). My mother has been the most important woman in my life, and her love and unfailing support have made more than one bad day better. My father is my hero and my role model. His selflessness, intellectual curiosity and gentleness define what a good man should be. It is the most rewarding feeling in the world to know that he is proud of me. It is to my family that I dedicate this dissertation. I cannot begin to put into words what my wife Amy means to me.