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Skeletal Fat, Processing Intensity, and the Late Holocene Bison from Baker Cave, Southern Idaho

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Ryan P. Breslawski  and
David A. Byers
Ryan P. Breslawski
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Southern Methodist University, 3225 Daniel Avenue, Dallas, TX 75205-1437 ([email protected])
David A. Byers
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology, Social Work and Anthropology, 0730 Old Main Hill, Utah State University, Logan, UT 84322-0730
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Abstract

Although Idaho’s Snake River Plain contains a trans-Holocene record of bison exploitation, archaeologists have rarely investigated carcass butchery strategies in the region. We fill this knowledge gap with a study of bison remains from Baker Cave, a late Holocene processing site on the eastern Snake River Plain. We hypothesize that these remains resulted from fat-seeking behavior in response to winter fat scarcity. We explore this hypothesis with a series of variables designed to measure processing intensity: Impacts per Element, Percent Complete, and Number of Identified Specimens/Minimum Number of Elements. All three variables generate similarly strong correlations with skeletal fat utility, suggesting that Baker Cave’s inhabitants organized processing efforts around winter fat scarcity.

Aunque la llanura del Snake River de Idaho contiene un registro trans-Holoceno de explotación de bisontes, arqueólogos han raramente investigado las estrategias de procesamiento carnicero de carcasas en la región. Zanjamos esta brecha de conocimiento con una investigación de restos de bisontes de Baker Cave, un sitio Holoceno tardío de procesamiento de bisontes en la llanura oriental del Snake River. Llegamos a la hipótesis de que estos restos resultan de comportamiento de búsqueda de grasa en respuesta a escasez invernal de grasa. Exploramos esta hipótesis con una serie de variables diseñadas para medir la intensidad de procesamiento: impactos por elemento, porcentaje completo, y Número de Ejemplares Identificados/Número Mínimo de los Huesos. Las tres variables generan correlaciones con utilidad de grasa esquelética de fuerza similar, sugiriendo que los habitantes de Baker Cave organizaron los esfuerzos de procesamiento alrededor de la escasez invernal de grasa.

Type
Reports
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 80 , Issue 1 , January 2015 , pp. 184 - 192
Copyright
Copyright © 2015 by the Society for American Archaeology.

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