A taphonomic investigation of the agency of microfaunal accumulation at Elands Bay Cave

Bibliography: pages 103-110.Up until the present, analyses of micromammal assemblages in South Africa have been based upon the premise that the agent responsible for the accumulation of these assemblages was the Barn owl. These micromammal assemblages were used to make extrapolations of past changes in vegetation and climate. It was assumed that the agent of accumulation, the Barn owl, remained constant. This thesis used taphonomy to analyse the micromammal bones from Elands Bay Cave in order to question the traditional assumption of the Barn owl as predator arid to ascertain which predator/s had been responsible for the accumulation of the microfaunal assemblages. The methods used to identify the accumulator of the microfaunal assemblages from Elands Bay Cave were based on those used by Andrews (1990a) in his investigation of the bone contents of pellets and scats of several species of owl, diurnal birds of prey and small carnivores. The results from Andrew's(1990a) analyses provided comparative information on breakage patterns of the cranial and postcranial bones and on the acid etching (produced during digestion) on micromammal bones and teeth, caused by the various species of predator. Information on the habits of various predators was collected. This information was used in combination with the results obtained from the analysis of the breakage patterns of the mandibles, maxillae and long bones, and from the acid etching on the incisors, in order to ascertain the agent of accumulation of the micromammal bones from Elands Bay Cave. The breakage patterns of the long bones and the acid etching on the incisors of the micromammals indicated that a variety of predators had contributed to the micromammal assemblages in the Holocene packages of the site. The Terminal Pleistocene packages appeared to have been deposited by a Bamowl but there was some circumstantial evidence that people may have also been responsible for the accumulation of some of the micromarnmal remains in these packages. The results from this thesis indicate that taphonomy should be used to ascertain the predator of micromammal assemblages prior to using the assemblages to trace palaeoenvironmental change. The use of taphonomy at Elands Bay Cave highlighted some of the problems that may arise when dealing with small samples and also raised the issue of the affect that the period of deposition of an archaeological assemblage could have on the micromammal population represented. This thesis found evidence that contradicts the traditional assumption, usually made in the analysis of micromammal assemblages in South Africa, that short-term fluctuations in rodent communities may be safely ignored during analysis