Abstract
Vultures are ubiquitous taphonomic agents in most biomes. However, taphonomic studies of vultures are scarce and very little is known of the damage they cause to bone surfaces when consuming carcasses. This study presents the results of a taphonomic analysis of bones modified by griffon vultures. Although some marks created by these agents are diagnostically unique, others are extremely similar to modifications caused by other biostratinomic processes. This renders interpretations of marks on bones very problematic when these modifications are considered in isolation rather than at the assemblage and contextual levels.
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Acknowledgments
We would like to thank José Yravedra, Almudena Hernando, the Domínguez-Solera family, Vanesa Fernández, Julián and Javier Valenciano (Delegación de Agricultura de la Junta de Comunidades de Castilla-La Mancha) for their help and comments on an earlier draft of this paper.
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Domínguez-Solera, S., Domínguez-Rodrigo, M. A taphonomic study of a carcass consumed by griffon vultures (Gyps fulvus) and its relevance for the interpretation of bone surface modifications. Archaeol Anthropol Sci 3, 385–392 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-011-0071-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-011-0071-2