Minimal Tools, Maximum Meat: A Pilot Experiment to Butcher an Elephant Foot and Make Elephant Bone Tools Using Lower Paleolithic Stone Tool Technology

IF 1.8 0 ARCHAEOLOGY

Ethnoarchaeology Pub Date : 2020-07-02 DOI:10.1080/19442890.2020.1864877

B. Starkovich, Patrick Cuthbertson, K. Kitagawa, Nicholas Thompson, G. Konidaris, Veerle Rots, Susanne Münzel, D. Giusti, Viola C. Schmid, Angel Blanco-Lapaz, Christian Lepers, Vangelis Tourloukis

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引用次数: 13

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article presents a pilot experiment conducted to better understand how Middle Pleistocene hominins might have processed and exploited elephants using simple stone and bone tools. The experiment was conducted in three phases: (1) production of small, flake-based stone tools, (2) butchery of the lower hind-leg of an Indian elephant, and (3) manufacture of bone tools from the tibia. The experiment shows it is possible to cut through elephant skin in under four minutes using small chipped-stone flakes; disarticulating the astragalus from the tibia is relatively easy, whereas disarticulating the astragalus from the other tarsals is difficult; breaking open an elephant tibia is possible in two minutes; the tibia of the elephant used in the experiment lacked a hollow marrow cavity; extraction of the large fatty cushion encased in the metatarsals and phalanges required several hours; and elephant bone tools are useful for retouching lithic materials of differing quality.

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最小的工具，最大的肉:用旧石器时代早期的石器技术屠宰大象脚和制作大象骨头工具的试点实验

为了更好地了解中更新世人类如何使用简单的石器和骨工具加工和利用大象，本文进行了一项试点实验。实验分三个阶段进行:(1)生产小型的、以薄片为基础的石器;(2)屠宰一头印度象的后腿下部;(3)用胫骨制造骨工具。实验表明，用小的碎石片在四分钟内切开大象的皮肤是可能的;从胫骨上分离黄芪相对容易，而从其他跗骨上分离黄芪则比较困难;在两分钟内就可以打开大象的胫骨;实验中使用的大象胫骨缺少一个中空的骨髓腔;取出包裹在跖骨和指骨中的大脂肪垫需要几个小时;象骨工具对于修饰不同质量的石器材料很有用。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Ethnoarchaeology ARCHAEOLOGY-

CiteScore

1.60

自引率

0.00%

发文量

期刊介绍： Ethnoarchaeology, a cross-cultural peer-reviewed journal, focuses on the present position, impact of, and future prospects of ethnoarchaeological and experimental studies approaches to anthropological research. The primary goal of this journal is to provide practitioners with an intellectual platform to showcase and appraise current research and theoretical and methodological directions for the 21st century. Although there has been an exponential increase in ethnoarchaeological and experimental research in the past thirty years, there is little that unifies or defines our subdiscipline. Ethnoarchaeology addresses this need, exploring what distinguishes ethnoarchaeological and experimental approaches, what methods connect practitioners, and what unique suite of research attributes we contribute to the better understanding of the human condition. In addition to research articles, the journal publishes book and other media reviews, periodic theme issues, and position statements by noted scholars.