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Skeletal element distributions of the large herbivores from the Lingjing site, Henan Province, China

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Abstract

More than ten thousands of bone fragments were recovered from the Lingjing site, Henan Province during 2005 and 2006. In this paper, through the quantification and statistical analyses of the skeletal elements of the two predominant species in this assemblage, aurochs (Bos primigenius) and horse (Equus caballus), the differential influences and weights of a variety of taphonomic agencies in the formation of the assemblage are assessed respectively. Compared to the natural agencies, hominid hunting and the subsequent disarticulation, slaughtering, and their transport of the bone elements of the prey species are the main factors accounting for the formation of the present assemblage. More importantly, this study initiatively identifies hominid’s differential treatment of the bones of aurochs and horse in the Paleolithic record of East Asia and demonstrably suggests that hominids at the site have already practiced sophisticated hunting techniques and subsistence strategies and may be quite familiar with the ecological and anatomical characteristics and nutritional values of the large-sized prey animals and can accordingly take different processing and handling strategies at the hunting site.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Human Evolution, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100044, China

    ShuangQuan Zhang, Yue Zhang & Xing Gao

  2. Henan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, Zhengzhou, 450000, China

    ZhanYang Li

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  1. ShuangQuan Zhang
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  2. ZhanYang Li
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  3. Yue Zhang
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  4. Xing Gao
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Correspondence to Xing Gao.

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Zhang, S., Li, Z., Zhang, Y. et al. Skeletal element distributions of the large herbivores from the Lingjing site, Henan Province, China. Sci. China Earth Sci. 55, 246–253 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-011-4279-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-011-4279-x

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