12 - TAPHONOMY OF FISH, BIRDS, REPTILES, AND AMPHIBIANS

Summary

Introduction

In preceding chapters I review various analytic techniques for assessing the taphonomic history of vertebrate faunal remains. That discussion focuses on mammalian remains because that taxonomic group has received the most attention in the literature. But mammals are not the only vertebrates with which zooarchaeologists deal. Birds, reptiles, amphibians, and some fish are also vertebrates. Many of the analytic techniques developed for mammalian remains are also applicable to these other vertebrate taxa. To illustrate this, in this chapter I review, with less attention to detail and fewer examples than in previous chapters, much of the literature on non-mammalian vertebrate taphonomy. The reader who has ingested and digested (keeping this somewhat taphonomic) the content of previous chapters will see many parallels among variables studied by taphonomists whatever the taxonomic subject. These include skeletal completeness, natural disarticulation sequences, inherent properties of skeletal elements such as size, shape, and structural density, and various kinds of modifications to bones.

This chapter is not meant to imply that non-mammalian vertebrates are less important taphonomically than mammalian remains. For example, it may prove very interesting to compare the taphonomic histories for each vertebrate category in assemblages rich in fish, birds, and mammals. I am unaware of any such comparative study, but this form of comparative analysis may prove enlightening beyond the details of, say, small mammal versus large mammal taphonomy.