Characterizing felid tooth marking and gross bone damage patterns using GIS image analysis: An experimental feeding study with large felids

In recent years there has been much disagreement over the nature of carnivore involvement in Early Pleistocene zooarchaeological assemblages. This partially reflects the lack of reliable ways to identify the taphonomic signatures of different large carnivore taxa. It is often unclear which carnivore taxon or taxa may have played a role in forming or modifying faunal assemblages found associated with stone tools, and this lack of clarity impacts reconstructions of hominin behavior. The mode, frequency and nutritional yield of carcasses acquired by hominins, and the extent to which hominin foraging impinged on or was constrained by the guild of large predators are topics of great importance. This paper characterizes the taphonomic signature of large felids using a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) image analysis method to study tooth marking and gross bone damage on neotaphonomic experiments carried out with tigers (Panthera tigris) and African lions (Panthera leo) at the Carolina Tiger Rescue (Pittsboro, North Carolina). This sample of over 400 bones significantly increases the size of current neotaphonomic samples modeling felid feeding traces, more than doubling the number of felid-modified specimens described in the literature. We identify a typical pattern of bone damage resulting from large felid carcass modification, which can be distinguished from bone damage patterns produced by hyaenids and canids. In summary, this pattern consists of tooth marking largely restricted to limb bone ends and minimal bone fragmentation. The frequency of tooth marking imparted by large felids in this study is lower than that produced by hyaenids, while canid tooth mark frequencies fall between the two. Investigation of the FLK Zinj assemblage from Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania, has documented several specimens with surface damage similar to our neotaphonomic sample. This may signal early access to carcasses through ‘power scavenging’ by hominins.