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Animal Activity

August 8, 2017 By Adrienne Witzel

Carnivores and rodents are generally responsible for animal scavenging, though not all damage caused by animals is a result of carnivorous activity.  Postmortem damage may be the result of trampling by a large bodies animal, such as cows, deer, antelope, wild boars, and sheep.  Trampling also results in some amount of scattering of the remains.

Carnivore Damage

Features commonly associated with carnivorous damage are punctures, pits, scoring, and furrows. Punctures and pits are bite marks left in the form of holes on bone. Pits tend to be more superficial and can be located on any part of the skeleton, while punctures are deeper holes usually found in areas where bone is thin or on the ends of long bones.

 

Rodent Damage

Scoring and furrows are scratches across the surface of bones. Scoring usually occurs in the form of parallel lines. Furrows leave deeper groves than scoring and generally located on the ends of bones. Rodent markings are distinguishable from carnivorous markings by the straightness of the grooves. Rodents typically gnaw on bones in order to wear down their incisors and therefore do not contribute as much damage as carnivores. Generally, rodent gnawing is seen on larger bones.

 

Acknowledgements

Department of anthropology

University of Texas at Austin

Liberal Arts Instructional Technology Services

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