Taphonomic observations on ground sloth bone and dung from Cueva del Milodón, Ultima Esperanza, Chile: 100 years of research history

This paper is focused on the history of taphonomically relevant observations made on the deposits of the Cueva del Milodon, Ultima Esperanza, Chile. Taphonomic information was obtained in written accounts by travellers and explorers, as well as in published research reports. Observations made on carnivore marks, trampling marks and other taphonomic markers on ground sloth bone and dung collected at the site are also used. The large size of the cave makes it particularly useful to discuss variation in the distribution of stratigraphic deposits with different preservational properties. A pattern of decreasing preservation of bone and dung from the southern to the northern extremes of the cave was identified.