Unraveling hominin behavior at another anthropogenic site from Olduvai Gorge (Tanzania): new archaeological and taphonomic research at BK, Upper Bed II M. Domı ´nguez-Rodrigo a, * , A. Mabulla b , H.T. Bunn c , R. Barba a , F. Diez-Martı ´n d , C.P. Egeland e , E. Espı ´lez f , A. Egeland e , J. Yravedra a , P. Sa ´ nchez d a Department of Prehistory, Complutense University, Prof. Aranguren s/n, 28040 Madrid, Spain b Archaeology Unit, University of Dar es Salaam, P.O. Box 35050, Dar es Salaam, United Republic of Tanzania c Department of Anthropology, University of Wisconsin,1180 Observatory Drive, Madison, WI 53706, USA d Department of Prehistory and Archaeology, University of Valladolid, Plaza del Campus s/n, 47011 Valladolid, Spain e Department of Anthropology, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 426 Graham Building, P.O. Box 26170, Greensboro NC 27402-6170, USA f Fundacio ´n Conjunto Paleontolo ´gico de Teruel, Edificio Dino ´polis, Avda. Sagunto s/n, 44002 Teruel, Spain article info Article history: Received 12 August 2008 Accepted 26 April 2009 Keywords: Olduvai Gorge Meat-eating Cut marks Percussion marks Taphonomy Lower Pleistocene archaeology Hunting Scavenging abstract New archaeological excavations and research at BK, Upper Bed II (Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania) have yielded a rich and unbiased collection of fossil bones. These new excavations show that BK is a stratified deposit formed in a riverine setting close to an alluvial plain. The present taphonomic study reveals the second- largest collection of hominin-modified bones from Olduvai, with abundant cut marks found on most of the anatomical areas preserved. Meat and marrow exploitation is reconstructed using the taphonomic signatures left on the bones by hominins. Highly cut-marked long limb shafts, especially those of upper limb bones, suggest that hominins at BK were actively engaged in acquiring small and middle-sized animals using strategies other than passive scavenging. The exploitation of large-sized game (Pelorovis) by Lower Pleistocene hominins, as suggested by previous researchers, is supported by the present study. Ó 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Introduction Recent taphonomic re-analyses of all the Olduvai Bed I sites have shown that with the exception of FLK Zinj, all sites were palimpsests with minimal hominin input in the accumulation and modification of archaeofaunas (Domı ´nguez-Rodrigo et al., 2007). An extension of this analysis to all Bed II sites has also shown that, with the exception of BK, all faunal assemblages were either too poorly preserved to evaluate, or accumulated by biotic agents other than hominins (Egeland and Domı ´nguez-Rodrigo, 2008). A tapho- nomic review of all sites older than 1 Ma (Domı ´nguez-Rodrigo, 2008a) stresses the scarcity of sites of anthropogenic origin in all of the Lower Pleistocene, in which a functional link between stone tools and fauna can be established. Therefore, archaeologists are faced with the following questions: were the butchery and meat-consumption behaviors inferred from sites such as FLK Zinj marginal or common in Plio-Pleistocene hominins? Is there any other Plio-Pleistocene site where the faunal assemblage could be identified as completely (or mostly) accumulated and modified by hominins? The fact that many sites are now understood to be palimpsests underscores the need to increase samples of faunal assemblages that might be attributed to hominin behavior, and thoroughly analyze them with modern taphonomic techniques so as to understand hominin behavioral variability. A recent study of the BK faunal collection stored at the National Museums of Kenya (Nairobi) showed some affinities with FLK Zinj that deserved further scruti- nizing (Egeland, 2007; Egeland and Domı ´nguez-Rodrigo, 2008). This prompted our re-investigation of the BK site. The BK (Bell’s Korongo) site was found in 1935 at the top of Bed II in lateral connection with a tuff (Tuff IID) that was dated to 1.2 Ma (Leakey, 1971; Hay, 1976). The clays, silts, and sands that contain the archaeological deposit represent the fillings of a riverine system responsible for the erosion of Tuff IID, which the site overlies. Several visits, minor excavations, and selective surface and in situ collections were carried out in 1952, 1953, 1955, 1957, and eventually in an extensive and less selective excavation in 1963. These excavations (totaling 10 trenches) revealed a very rich assemblage of stone tools and bones amounting to over 6,800 lithic * Corresponding author. E-mail address: m.dominguez.rodrigo@gmail.com (M. Domı ´nguez-Rodrigo). Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Human Evolution journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jhevol 0047-2484/$ – see front matter Ó 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2009.04.006 Journal of Human Evolution 57 (2009) 260–283