Taphonomic interpretations of the Sterkfontein early hominid site (Gauteng, South Africa) reconsidered in light of recent evidence

This thesis tested two hypotheses concerning the formation of Plio-Pleistocene faunal assemblages from the cave site of Sterkfontein. C. K. Brain hypothesized that hominid bones were accumulated in Sterkfontein Member 4 (dated 2.8--2.3 million years old) mainly through the activities of large carnivores. Brain argued further that by later in the Pleistocene, during Sterkfontein Member 5 times, groups of early Homo were the carcass-scavenging occupants of the cave and were largely responsible for the deposition of animal bones in the site.; Analyses of hominid bone surface modifications and skeletal part representation do not provide support for Brain's hypothesis that carnivores were the primary accumulators of hominid body parts at Sterkfontein Member 4. In contrast to a primate bone assemblage created by modern carnivores, the fossil hominid assemblage contains bones typically consumed in their entirety by feeding carnivores and lacks abundant evidence of carnivore tooth-marks.; Analyses of bone assemblages from Sterkfontein Member 5 do not support Brain's idea that early Homo occupied the cave mouth and was responsible for the accumulation of the faunal remains. Instead, the taphonomic evidence suggests that bones were accumulated in the cave during an early phase of Member 5 mainly through animals failing into a narrow, vertical shaft and through slopewash of carcass parts from the surrounding ground surface. During a later depositional stage of Member 5, bones were collected in the cave predominantly by hyenas and porcupines.; Evidence of hominid behavior preserved on the Member 5 faunal remains is negligible. Only two cutmarked specimens have been observed in the combined sample of tens of thousands of bone pieces. It is concluded that there is no causal link between the abundant stone tools recovered from Member 5 and fauna spatially associated with those tools. Thus, Member 5 contains admixtures of re-deposited archaeological assemblages (stone tools) and unrelated paleontological assemblages of large mammal bones. This conclusion negates the possibility of using these assemblages to glean information about the utilization of large animal carcasses by early hominids in southern Africa.