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Weathering Stages of Proboscidean Bones: Relevance for Zooarchaeological Analysis

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Abstract

This paper describes weathering modifications to elephant bones in Zimbabwe, southern Africa, and discusses possible implications about conditions of deposition and the time elapsed since death or skeletonization. The observed patterns of proboscidean bone weathering, the times elapsed since death, and burial times may not be same as for bones of smaller terrestrial mammals typically found in fossil assemblages. A system of weathering stages is proposed for proboscidean long bones, flat bones, mandibles, and ribs. Special attention is given to drying cracks that affect breakage patterns when weathered bones are trampled or impacted. Weathering effects on elephant bones vary for several reasons, such as differences between juvenile and adult cortical bone and frequency of wet/dry cycling. Also briefly discussed are the observed or possible effects of burning, dissolution, organic erosion such as root etching, and inorganic carbonate (calcite) encrustation. Comparable weathering effects are also reported on bones of Mammuthus spp., supporting the probability that (1) bone weathering in fossil proboscidean assemblages can be described in corresponding terms, and (2) implications about assemblage origins may be similar, although this inference must be cautiously drawn. The data reported here will allow analysts to describe assemblage materials in consistent terms.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Janis Klimowicz for her help in the preparation of this paper. GH acknowledges that field studies of African elephant bones were conducted with permission and assistance from the Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority. The research work establishing comparative data was partly funded by the Smithsonian Institution Paleoindian Program, the National Geographic Society, the Leakey Foundation, the Fulbright Foundation Sub-Saharan Africa Research Program, the University of Nevada-Reno, the International Research and Exchanges Board, the US Academy of Sciences and USSR Academy of Science Scientist Exchange Program, and the National Science Foundation. Studies of curated proboscidean bones were facilitated by staff at the Institute of Systematics and Evolution of Animals of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Kraków, the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. and the Museum Support Facility in Suitland, Maryland, the Vienna Museum of Natural History, the Polish State Geological Institute in Warsaw, the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia in Mexico City, the University of Alaska Museum of the North in Fairbanks, the Milwaukee Public Museum, the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, the George C. Page Museum in Los Angeles, the Mammoth Site of Hot Springs, South Dakota, the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Science, the University of Nebraska State Museum in Lincoln, the American Museum of Natural History in New York city, the Arizona State Museum in Tucson, the Moravské zemské muzeum in Brno and the museum’s storerooms in Budisov, the Paleontological Institute of the Russian Academy of Science in Moscow, and the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg.

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  1. Anthropology Department, University of Nevada-Reno, Reno, NV, USA

    Gary Haynes

  2. Institute of Systematics and Evolution of Animals, Polish Academy of Sciences, Kraków, Poland

    Piotr Wojtal

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All authors contributed equally to the conception and design of this study. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by Gary Haynes and Piotr Wojtal. Field studies of African elephant bones were conducted by Gary Haynes. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Gary Haynes; both authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Haynes, G., Wojtal, P. Weathering Stages of Proboscidean Bones: Relevance for Zooarchaeological Analysis. J Archaeol Method Theory 30, 495–535 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10816-022-09569-3

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