Resumen de Taphonomic Effects of a Grassland Fire on a Modern Faunal Sample and its Implications for the Archaeological Record
María Clara Álvarez, Agustina Massigoge, Nahuel A. Scheifler, Mariela E. González, Cristian Kaufmann, María A. Gutiérrez, Daniel J. Rafuse
The main objective of this paper is to characterize the pattern of thermal alteration in a sample of modern bones collected after a natural grassland fire in the Pampas region (Argentina). A total of 917 bone remains were recovered, including a variety of different body size taxa. Results suggest that natural grassland fires affect bone remains in a more severe way than previously documented. In general, a high proportion of bones with thermal alteration (70%) was recorded for the different body size categories, with calcined bones dominating the sample. Some differences in relation to the size classes were found; specifically, a higher extension of burning was recorded for the smaller-sized taxa. For the small animals, the homogeneous distribution of the burning damage in long bones and mandibles could help to differentiate a natural grassland fire from cooking, in which the burning pattern would be more heterogeneous.
