R-3 Repository :: Browsing by Author "Baquedano, Enrique"

Browsing by Author "Baquedano, Enrique"

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A taphonomic analysis of PTK (Bed I, Olduvai Gorge) and its bearing on the interpretation of the dietary and eco-spatial behaviors of early humans
(Elsevier, 2023) Organista, Elia; Moclán, Abel; Aramendi, Julia; Cobo-Sánchez, Lucía; Egeland, Charles P.; Uribelarrea, David; Martín-Perea, David; Vegara-Riquelme, Marina; Hernández-Vivanco, Lucía; Gidna, Agness; Mabula, Audax; Baquedano, Enrique; Domínguez-Rodrigo, Manuel
Here, we present a thorough taphonomic analysis of the 1.84 million-year-old site of Phillip Tobias Korongo (PTK), Bed I, Olduvai Gorge. PTK is one of the new archaeological sites documented on the FLK Zinj paleolandscape, in which FLK 22 level was deposited and covered by Tuff IC. Therefore, PTK is pene-contemporary with these sites: FLK Zinj, DS, AMK and AGS. The occurrence of these sites within a thin clay unit of ∼20 cm, occupying not only the same vertically discrete stratigraphic unit, but also the same paleosurface, with an exceptional preservation of the archaeological record in its primary depositional locus, constitutes a unique opportunity to explore early hominin behavioral diversity at the most limited geochronological scale possible. The Olduvai Bed I sites have been the core of behavioral modelling for the past half a century, and the newly discovered sites, excavated with 21st century technology, will increase significantly our understanding of early human adaptive patterns. Here, we present PTK as another assemblage where faunal resources were acquired by hominins prior to any carnivore, and where stone-tool assisted bulk defleshing was carried out. The abundance of juvenile individuals extends our understanding, as in Kanjera (Kenya), about the hunting skills of early Homo sensu lato. The increasing number of sites, where bulk defleshing of small and medium-sized carcasses took place is underscoring the importance of meat in the diets of some of the early hominins, and their patterned use of the space for food processing and consumption. The patterning emerging has a profound importance for the evolution of some of the features that have traditionally been used to identify the behavior of the genus Homo.
Computer vision enables taxon-specific identification of African carnivore tooth marks on bone
(Springer Nature, 2024) Domínguez-Rodrigo, Manuel; Pizarro-Monzo, Marcos; Cifuentes-Alcobendas, Gabriel; Vegara-Riquelme, Marina; Jiménez-García, Blanca; Baquedano, Enrique
Taphonomic works aim at discovering how paleontological and archaeofaunal assemblages were formed. They also aim at determining how hominin fossils were preserved or destroyed. Hominins and other mammal carnivores have been co-evolving, at least during the past two million years, and their potential interactions determined the evolution of human behavior. In order to understand all this, taxon-specific carnivore agency must be effectively identified in the fossil record. Until now, taphonomists have been able to determine, to some degree, hominin and carnivore inputs in site formation, and their interactions in the modification of part of those assemblages. However, the inability to determine agency more specifically has hampered the development of taphonomic research, whose methods are virtually identical to those used several decades ago (lagged by a high degree of subjectivity). A call for more objective and agent-specific methods would be a major contribution to the advancement of taphonomic research. Here, we present one of these advances. The use of computer vision (CV) on a large data set of images of tooth marks has enabled the objective discrimination of taxon-specific carnivore agency up to 88% of the testing sample. We highlight the significance of this method in an interdisciplinary interplay between traditional taphonomic-paleontological analysis and artificial intelligence-based computer science. The new questions that can be addressed with this will certainly bring important changes to several ideas on important aspects of the human evolutionary process.
Computer vision supports primary access to meat by early Homo 1.84 million years ago
(PeerJ, Inc, 2022) Cobo-Sánchez, Lucía; Pizarro-Monzo, Marcos; Cifuentes-Alcobendas, Gabriel; García, Blanca Jiménez; Beltrán, Natalia Abellán; Courtenay, Lloyd A.; Mabulla, Audax; Baquedano, Enrique; Domínguez-Rodrigo, Manuel
Human carnivory is atypical among primates. Unlike chimpanzees and bonobos, who are known to hunt smaller monkeys and eat them immediately, human foragers often cooperate to kill large animals and transport them to a safe location to be shared. While it is known that meat became an important part of the hominin diet around 2.6–2 Mya, whether intense cooperation and food sharing developed in conjunction with the regular intake of meat remains unresolved. A widespread assumption is that early hominins acquired animal protein through klepto-parasitism at felid kills. This should be testable by detecting felid-specific bone modifications and tooth marks on carcasses consumed by hominins. Here, deep learning (DL) computer vision was used to identify agency through the analysis of tooth pits and scores on bones recovered from the Early Pleistocene site of DS (Bed I, Olduvai Gorge). We present the first objective evidence of primary access to meat by hominins 1.8 Mya by showing that the most common securely detectable bone-modifying fissipeds at the site were hyenas. The absence of felid modifications in most of the carcasses analyzed indicates that hominins were the primary consumers of most animals accumulated at the site, with hyenas intervening at the post-depositional stage. This underscores the role of hominins as a prominent part of the early Pleistocene African carnivore guild. It also stresses the major (and potentially regular) role that meat played in the diet that configured the emergence of early Homo.
Equids can also make stone artefacts
(Elsevier, 2021) Domínguez-Solera, Santiago David; Maíllo-Fernández, José-Manuel; Baquedano, Enrique; Domínguez-Rodrigo, Manuel
Identifying how early humans flaked stone tools is one of the crucial elements in hominin evolution. Here, we show that equids can sometimes also produce equally complex cores with conchoidal breakages that exhibit the characteristics of intentionally-flaked hominin artefacts by bipolar technique and methods. As a result, sharp edged flakes with percussion platforms, previous scars and bulbs, which can easily be mistaken with hominin-made flakes, are also produced by equid self-trimming. Given the ubiquitous presence of equids in landscapes inhabited by hominins, this imposes caution when interpreting isolated flaked rocks and urges some degree of revision of the criteria to identify strictly hominin-made tools.
Neo-taphonomic analysis of the Misiam leopard lair from Olduvai Gorge (Tanzania): understanding leopard–hyena interactions in open settings
(The Royal Society, 2022) Domínguez-Rodrigo, Manuel; Organista, Elia; Baquedano, Enrique; Cifuentes-Alcobendas, Gabriel; Pizarro-Monzo, Marcos; Vegara-Riquelme, Marina; Gidna, Agness; Uribelarrea, David; Martín-Perea, David
Misiam is a modern wildebeest-dominated accumulation situated in a steep ravine covered with dense vegetation at Olduvai Gorge (Tanzania). It is interpreted here as a leopard lair to which carcasses have been transported for several years. Felid-specific bone damage patterns, felid-typical skeletal part profiles, taxonomic specialization and the physical presence of leopards observed by the authors show that leopards at Misiam can be specialized medium-sized carcass accumulators. Hyenas also intervened at intervals in the modification of the retrieved faunal assemblage. This makes Misiam a carnivore palimpsest. Here, we additionally show that leopards only transport and accumulate carcasses on occasions, that they can seem highly specialized despite being dietary generalists, and that such a behaviour may be prompted by seasonal competition or during the breeding season or both. Misiam is the first open-air leopard lair with a dense bone accumulation reported. There, leopards engaged in intensive accumulation of carcasses during the wet season, when the southern Serengeti short-grass plains undergo the effect of the famous wildebeest migration and this migratory species reaches the gorge. The ecological importance of this behaviour and its relevance as a proxy for reconstructing prehistoric carnivore behaviours are discussed.
Reassessing the role of carnivores in the formation of FLK North 3 (Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania): A pilot taphonomic analysis using Artificial Intelligence tools
(Elsevier, 2023) Vegara-Riquelme, Marina; Gidna, Agness; Uribelarrea del Val, David; Baquedano, Enrique; Domínguez-Rodrigo, Manuel
FLK North (FLK N) (Bed I, Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania) is one of the best examples of a palimpsest where felids, hyenids and hominins made use of the same space without or with minimal interaction between hominins and the other two carnivores. Felids have been interpreted as the main accumulators and carcass consumers followed by frequent hyenid intervention. The presence of hominins at this site has been documented through the discovery of stone tools. Here, we test previous taphonomic interpretations of this site through the application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools (computer vision applied to bidimensional images of tooth pits) to taxonomically discriminate carnivore-made tooth marks. The bones we analyzed constitute a small sample, being a preliminary study of bone surface modifications (BSM) through the application of AI to a sample of the FLK N archaeofaunal assemblage (mostly to Level 3 fossils), pending access to the larger excavated collections. The results obtained in the present study show that the marks analyzed have been generated both by hyenids and felids. The slight predominance of hyena tooth marks is expected, since the bone sample used is dominated by long limb bones, and hyenas are the most likely agent causing long bone breakage, although felids also break bones of carcasses smaller than 150 kg as documented in the site. Felid impact, in at least three cases, is documented with tooth marks imprinted by felids and hyenas occurring on the same specimens. Felid-hyenid interaction is, thus, documented though the deep learning methods applied. The limited number of specimens where both agents are documented suggest that both hyenids and felids were independently breaking a substantial part of the bones at FLK N. This preliminarily modifies previous interpretations that attributed most long bone fragmentation exclusively to hyenas.
Sabertooth carcass consumption behavior and the dynamics of Pleistocene large carnivoran guilds
(Springer Nature, 2022) Domínguez-Rodrigo, Manuel; Egeland, Charles P.; Cobo-Sánchez, Lucía; Baquedano, Enrique; Hulbert, Richard C.
Apex predators play an important role in the top-down regulation of ecological communities. Their hunting and feeding behaviors influence, respectively, prey demography and the availability of resources to other consumers. Among the most iconic—and enigmatic—terrestrial predators of the late Cenozoic are the Machairodontinae, a diverse group of big cats whose hypertrophied upper canines have earned them the moniker “sabertooths.” Many aspects of these animals’ paleobiology, especially their prey preferences and carcass consumption behavior, remain unsettled. While skeletal anatomy, dental morphology and wear, and isotopic profiles provide important insights, the most direct way to resolve these issues is through the fossil remains of sabertooth prey. Here, we report on a taphonomic analysis of an early Pleistocene faunal assemblage from Haile 21A (Florida, USA) that preserves feeding damage from the lion-sized sabertooth Xenosmilus hodsonae. Patterns of tooth-marking and bone damage indicate that Xenosmilus fully defleshed the carcasses of their prey and even engaged in some minor bone consumption. This has important implications for Pleistocene carnivoran guild dynamics, including the carcass foraging behavior of the first stone-tool-using hominins.
The Dorothy Garrod Site: a new Middle Stone Age locality in Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania
(Springer Nature, 2022) Maíllo-Fernández, José Manuel; Marín, Juan; Martín-Perea, David Manuel; Uribelarrea, David; Solano-Megías, Irene; Asiaín, Raquel; Baquedano, Enrique; Domínguez-Rodrigo, Manuel; Gidna, Agness; Medialdea, Alicia; Steven, Hekima Mwamakimbula; Chilonzi, Daniel Haruni; Arteaga, Carlos; Mabulla, Audax
Olduvai Gorge (Tanzania) is a key site for the study of human evolution as well as the origin of modern humans and the Middle Stone Age (MSA). In this study, we present a new MSA location named Dorothy Garrod Site (DGS), found in the main branch of Olduvai Gorge. The site has only one archaeological level, located stratigraphically in the Upper Ndutu. Although it has not yet been possible to radiometrically date it, it has yielded numerous archaeological remains with a functional association between the faunal remains and the lithic industry. The fauna identified includes Alcelaphini, Hippotragini, and Equidae, some of which present percussion marks and evidence of burning. The lithic industry involved knapping using discoid methods. The retouched blanks are denticulates and retouched flakes with, up to now, a total absence of points. DGS is therefore a new site that will aid our understanding of modern human occupations in northern Tanzania in a period for which there is a dearth of properly contextualised archaeological evidence.
Unraveling the spatial imprint of hominin and carnivore accumulations in Early Pleistocene African sites
(Springer Nature, 2024) Merino-Pelaz, Amanda; Cobo-Sánchez, Lucía; Organista, Elia; Baquedano, Enrique; Domínguez-Rodrigo, Manuel
Reconstructions of palimpsest formation and dynamics in Early Pleistocene African archaeological deposits have undergone significant advances thanks to taphonomic research. However, the spatial imprint of different agents implicated in most of these accumulations still needs to be addressed. We hypothesize that different site formation dynamics may yield diverse spatial distributions of archaeological remains, reflecting the intervention of different agents (i.e., hominins, felids, hyaenids) in palimpsests. This study aims to investigate the spatial patterns of archaeological remains in a selected sample of Early Pleistocene accumulations with the goal of understanding and characterizing their spatial dynamics. Building on previous taphonomic interpretations of twelve paradigmatic archaeological deposits from Olduvai Bed I (FLK Zinj 22 A, PTK 22 A, DS 22B, FLK N 1–2 to 5, FLK NN 3, DK 1–3) and Koobi Fora (FxJj50, FxJj20 East and FxJj20 Main), we explore the spatial patterns of remains statistically and use hierarchical clustering on principal components analysis (HCPC) to group the highest-density spots at these sites based on a number of spatial variables. The results of this approach show that despite sharing a similar inhomogeneous pattern, anthropogenic sites and assemblages where carnivores played the main role display fundamentally different spatial features. Both types of spatial distributions also show statistical differences from modern hunter-gatherer campsites. Additional taphonomic particularities and differing formation processes of the analyzed accumulations also appear reflected in the classifications. This promising approach reveals crucial distinctions in spatial imprints related to site formation and agents’ behavior, prompting further exploration of advanced spatial statistical techniques for characterizing archaeological intra-site patterns.

Browsing by Author "Baquedano, Enrique"

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