Under the direction of Dr. Henry Bunn Mr. Travis Pickering will collect data for his doctoral dissertation. The goal of his research is to examine faunal remains associated with early hominid skeletons to determine whether such materials accumulated through non-human processes or as the result of human activity. If the latter is the case, then analysis of these materials will permit scientists to gain insight into early hominid diet and behavior. If the opposite proves true, then faunal remains can provide information on the specific local environment in which a hominid lived, but little more than that. A number of natural processes can act to aggregate bones - human and otherwise - into one place: leopards, porcupines and hyenas for example all accumulate such remains in desecrate concentrations. To determine whether humans are the responsible agent scientists have used as controls archaeological sites where it is known, on the basis of other evidence, that hunting has taken place and also conducted butchering experiments using stone tools to search for `signatures` of human butchering behavior. Likewise they have collected bones from hyena and other carnivore dens and from lion kills to determine the characteristics of non-human carnivore modification. As Pickering notes however it is quite unlikely that the earliest hominids who lived millions of years ago behaved in ways similar to their more recent counterparts and one has very little idea what such an assemblage should look like. Because they were similar in size to chimpanzees and probably relied primarily on their hands and teeth, Pickering believes that modern chimpanzees may provide a relevant model. Although it is not an important element in their diet, chimpanzees do eat meat and hunt and kill animals in the wild. In the first stage of this research Mr. Pickering will provide captive chimps with goat carcasses, and allow the chimps to feed on them. The residues will be collected, cleaned and taken to the University of Wisconsin for zooarchaeological analysis which focuses on the location and nature of gnaw marks and on breakage patterns. In a later stage of the research, also supported through this grant, he will travel to South Africa to analyze faunal remains from the australopithecine site of Sterkfontein. Similarities and differences in skeletal part representation and bone modifications between the Sterkfontien material modern control material will then be noted. This research is important for several reasons. It will provide insight into early hominid behavior. It will help to develop analytic techniques which can be employed in many sites and it will assist in training a promising young scientist.
