Observations on the Butchering Technique of Some Aboriginal Peoples No. 2

1953 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 160-164 ◽  
Author(s):  
Theodore E. White
Keyword(s):  
South Dakota ◽  
Aboriginal Peoples ◽  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Cultural Complex ◽  
Food Animals ◽  
Number Of Individuals

In a brief report, which was read before the 8th Conference for Plains Archeology by George Metcalf, 1 attempted to reconstruct the procedure by which the carcass of an antelope was prepared for food. The inferences thus drawn were based upon the ratio of the various elements to each other and to the greatest number of individuals represented, as well as the location of the breaks or cuts in the bones. Since the antelope is one of the smaller food animals and could be moved to a convenient butchering place, the question immediately posed itself: “How would size affect the butchering technique since a bison must necessatily be butchered where it is killed?“The bison bone which provides the basis for this study was collected during the excavation of two archaeological sites near Pierre, South Dakota. The Dodd site was a multi-component village, but there was evidence of only a single cultural complex at the Phillips Ranch site (Lehmer, 1952).

Observations on the Butchering Technics of Some Aboriginal Peoples Numbers 7, 8, and 9

1955 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 170-178 ◽  
Author(s):  
Theodore E. White
Keyword(s):  
South Dakota ◽  
North Dakota ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Aboriginal Peoples ◽  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
American Antiquity ◽  
Raw Data ◽  
Large Animals

The Following 3 papers continue a series of brief articles on this subject appearing from time to time in American Antiquity (Vols. 17, 19). Each paper presents a group of raw data with some brief suggestions for their interpretation. All but one are the result of the study of materials recovered from archaeological sites excavated by the River Basin Surveys program of archaeological salvage in the Missouri Basin. That one (No. 6) dealt with an elk specimen from Michigan. Paper Number 1 was concerned with the analysis of the antelope bone from 2 sites in the Angostura Reservoir, South Dakota. Number 2 dealt with the bison bone from 2 earth-lodge villages sites in the Oahe Reservoir near Pierre, South Dakota. Number 3 compared the use of small and large animals as food in one site in the Garrison Reservoir, North Dakota. Number 4 was a comparison of the treatment of bison bone from 3 earth-lodge villages, 2 in Oahe Reservoir and one in Garrison Reservoir.

A Method of Calculating the Dietary Percentage of Various Food Animals Utilized by Aboriginal Peoples

1953 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 396-398 ◽  
Author(s):  
Theodore E. White
Keyword(s):  
River Basin ◽  
Smithsonian Institution ◽  
Complete Data ◽  
Aboriginal Peoples ◽  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Food Animal ◽  
The People ◽  
Plains Archaeology ◽  
Food Animals

The renewed activity in Plains Archaeology as a result of the salvage program of the River Basin Surveys of the Smithsonian Institution and cooperating agencies has reemphasized some very striking differences in the types of animals used for food by prehistoric peoples. Some groups, such as the Woodland and Upper Republican, set an extremely varied “table” while others appear to have subsisted almost entirely on one species of food animal. With those groups which subsisted on a variety of game, the question naturally poses itself: “What percentage does each species contribute to the diet of the people?” Although complete data on the “dressedout” weights of the various food animals found in archaeological sites is not available, calculations based on the data and procedure outlined here should provide a means of arriving at a reasonably reliable answer to the above question.

Observations on the Butchering Technique of Some Aboriginal Peoples: I

1952 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 337-338 ◽  
Author(s):  
Theodore E. White
Keyword(s):  
South Dakota ◽  
Aboriginal Peoples ◽  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Reservoir Basin ◽  
Accurate Reflection

During the identification of the osteological material from two archaeological sites (39FA23 and 39FA83) in the Angostura Reservoir basin, South Dakota, the distribution of the various elements began to assume a pattern which invited closer examination on the chance that inferences might be drawn concerning the method of preparing the carcass for food.Although the numerical count of the elements is subject to the accidents of preservation and the size of the excavation, the distribution of the various elements from an excavation which meets the archaeological requirements is probably a reasonably accurate reflection of the parts brought into camp, since one element has as good a chance of being preserved as another.

scholarly journals Looking beyond appearances: a multi-analytical approach on the prehistoric clay weights

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bogdan Manea ◽  
Mircea Lechintan ◽  
Gabriel Popescu ◽  
Theodor Ignat ◽  
Vasile Opriş ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
Analytical Approach ◽  
Experimental Archaeology ◽  
Relevant Information ◽  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Cultural Complex ◽  
Multiple Dimensions ◽  
Size Modification ◽  
Multiple Meanings ◽  
Transformation Processes

Abstract In this paper we analyzed a batch of 64 clay weights from three archaeological sites located in Romania (Gumelniţa, Măgura-Jilava, and Sultana) that belong to Kodjadermen-Gumelniţa-Karanovo VI cultural complex (4600–3900 cal. BC). Our approach includes an interdisciplinary investigation based on technological analysis, experimental archaeology, and X-ray CT scans coupled with statistical analysis. This investigation has a high potential to reveal relevant information regarding the technological background (e.g., inclusion, voids, temper, etc.), manufacturing stages (e.g., modeling, shaping, kneading, etc.), or transformation processes (e.g., drying and firing vs. weight and size modification) in order to identify, explain and understand the chaîne operatoire for this type of artefacts. Moreover, correlation of the results with the experimental archaeology could offer an integrative interpretation about the material culture of past humans and its multiple meanings, but also critical information about the multiple dimensions of manufacture for these objects (e.g., time, effort, physical–chemical processes, etc.). The multi-analytical approach proposed here also includes a comparative study of technological aspects of these clay weights across the three archaeological sites investigated, as well as the experimental replicas.

On the Methodology of Faunal Analysis

1973 ◽  
Vol 38 (4) ◽  
pp. 432-439 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald K. Grayson
Keyword(s):  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Faunal Analysis ◽  
Reliable Analysis ◽  
Animal Remains ◽  
Minimum Number ◽  
Minimum Number Of Individuals ◽  
Minimum Numbers ◽  
Faunal Studies ◽  
Number Of Individuals ◽  
Proper Unit

AbstractAlthough faunal analysis has a long history in archaeological studies, little emphasis has been placed upon the development of methodologies which would allow the valid and reliable analysis of animal remains from archaeological sites. The most crucial decision which a faunal analyst must make as regards the statistical manipulation of his data concerns the proper unit to use in that manipulation. The 2 units which seem to have gained most popularity in faunal studies are discussed, as are the generally non-comparable results which stem from the various ways in which 1 of these units—the minimum number of individuals—has been applied. Finally, suggestions for the standardization of the use of minimum numbers in faunal analysis are made.

NISP vs. MNI in Quantification of Body-Part Representation

1993 ◽  
Vol 58 (2) ◽  
pp. 261-269 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fiona Marshall ◽  
Tom Pilgram
Keyword(s):  
Bulk Density ◽  
Body Part ◽  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Body Parts ◽  
Neolithic Site ◽  
Minimum Number ◽  
Low Levels ◽  
Minimum Number Of Individuals ◽  
Pastoral Neolithic ◽  
Number Of Individuals

In an effort to understand the relative advantages and drawbacks of the minimum number of individuals (MNI) and number of identifiable specimens (NISP) for quantifying body-part representation in faunas from archaeological sites, we analyzed relations among NISP, MNI, fragmentation, and bulk density in the fauna from Ngamuriak, a Kenyan pastoral Neolithic site. Our findings suggest that MNI is at least as sensitive as NISP to effects of fragmentation. While MNI decreases with increasing fragmentation, NISP moves in two directions with fragmentation, increasing at low levels of fragmentation and decreasing at high levels of fragmentation. In addition, MNI appears more sensitive than NISP to the relative identifiability of different body parts. We believe MNI may be a less representative descriptor of relative element frequency than NISP in highly fragmented assemblages.

Observations on the Butchering Technique of some Aboriginal Peoples Nos. 3, 4, 5, and 6

1954 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 254-264 ◽  
Author(s):  
Theodore E. White
Keyword(s):  
River Basin ◽  
Single Component ◽  
Aboriginal Peoples ◽  
Reservoir Area ◽  
Animal Bone ◽  
Food Animals

This study is based on the bison, deer, and antelope bone from a fortified earth lodge village (32ME15) in the Garrison Reservoir Area. The site was excavated by River Basin Survey parties in 1950 and 1951, under the supervision of G. Ellis Burcaw and Donald D. Hartle respectively. The animal bone from this site is of particular interest because it permits a comparison to be made between the methods used on the smaller food animals and those used on the bison. In a previous study an attempt was made to compare the methods used on antelope and on bison, but the methods were those of very different peoples who were widely separated both geographically and temporally and the differences could as easily have been due to culture as well as the size of the game. Since this material is from a single component site, any difference in technique can safely be attributed to the size of the game.

Weighing vs. Counting: Measurement Reliability and the California School of Midden Analysis

1998 ◽  
Vol 63 (2) ◽  
pp. 303-324 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roger D. Mason ◽  
Mark L. Peterson ◽  
Joseph A. Tiffany
Keyword(s):  
University Of California ◽  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Measurement Reliability ◽  
Research Issues ◽  
Marine Habitats ◽  
Minimum Number ◽  
Minimum Number Of Individuals ◽  
Faunal Studies ◽  
The University ◽  
Number Of Individuals

The California School of Midden Analysis represents a long-standing tradition of using weight, rather than minimum number of individuals (MNI), to analyze shell recovered from archaeological sites in California. This method originated at the University of California, Berkeley, in the early twentieth century and continues to the present, in spite of the advent of counting measures such as MNI and NISP (number of identified specimens) in faunal studies. We argue that MNI estimates are more reliable than weight as a measure of taxonomic abundance for most research issues being addressed with California shell data. Examples using both weight and MNI measures for shell from California coastal sites produced divergent results. This disparity shows that weight measures produce potentially misleading interpretations regarding the importance of marine habitats exploited and the diet of the site’s occupants.

Butchering and marrow fracturing as a taphonomic factor in archaeological deposits

Paleobiology ◽  
1977 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 218-237 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nanna Noe-Nygaard
Keyword(s):  
Human Factors ◽  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Limited Area ◽  
Faunal Remains ◽  
Bone Material ◽  
Minimum Number ◽  
Bone Fragments ◽  
Minimum Number Of Individuals ◽  
Number Of Individuals ◽  
Degree Of Fragmentation

A major aim of the analysis of faunal remains from archaeological sites is the reconstruction of the palaeoecology of early man. Since taphonomic work must precede palaeoecological work, theories concerning the palaeoecology of early man would benefit from firmly based taphonomic studies of the archaeological deposits. One of the numerous taphonomic factors to be considered is the bone fragmentation produced by early man.The degree of bone fragmentation in a deposit uninfluenced by human factors is an expression of the resistance of the various bones to mechanical and chemical decomposition before and during burial. Thus, the degree of fragmentation where human factors are predominant should provide an illustration of man as a taphonomic factor. In both cases the degree of fragmentation may be used as an indicator of the degree of taphonomic overprint.Examination of bone material from four West European Mesolithic sites (all bog deposits), Star Carr 7200 ± 120 B.C., Kongemosen 6600 ± 100 B.C., Præstelyngen 3200 ± 100 B.C., and Muldbjerg I 2900 ± 80 B.C., reveals differences in marrow fracturing techniques. Furthermore, the different techniques result in different numbers of fragments for the same type of bone. Comparison of faunas from different sites based on the number of bone fragments must therefore be preceded by analysis of the marrow fracturing techniques used at the various sites. The number of fragments per estimated minimum number of individuals should indicate the degree of taphonomic loss.The various types of marrow fracturing found seem to belong to cultures at different levels of technical development. Thus, it may be possible within a limited area such as northern Europe to establish a chronology using marrow fracturing type as one of the ecostratigraphic tools.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document