Mammal bone surface alteration during human consumption: An experimental approach Antonio J. Romero a,b, ⁎, J. Carlos Díez b , Palmira Saladié c,d,e a Dpto. Geografía, Prehistoria y Arqueología, Universidad del País Vasco/Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea (UPV/EHU), C/Tomás y Valiente, 01006 Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain b Laboratorio de Prehistoria, I + D + i, Universidad de Burgos (UBU), Pl/Misael Bañuelos s/n, 09001 Burgos, Spain c IPHES, Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social (Catalan Institute of Human Paleoecology and Social Evolution),, C/Marcel.li Domingo s/n, Campus Sescelades URV (Edifici W3), 43007 Tarragona, Spain d Área de Prehistoria (Department of Prehistory),, Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV), Avinguda de Catalunya 35, 43002 Tarragona, Spain e GQP-CG, Grupo Quaternário e Pré-História do Centro de Geociências (uI&D 73 e FCT), Portugal abstract article info Article history: Received 25 January 2016 Received in revised form 12 May 2016 Accepted 25 May 2016 Available online xxxx The study of human tooth marks on bones remains constitutes a promising line of research of high archaeological interest. Most taphonomic studies assume that tooth marks in bones are evidences of carnivore intervention. However, human beings, regardless of the use of lithic artifacts, access to animal nutrients through their masti- catory system producing bite marks. In order to solve equifinality problems of the marks left during consumption, a study with volunteers has been carried out. Ten volunteers ate meat from the scapulae, radii and phalanges of Ovis aries, trying to bite the bones and extract the meat as much as possible. Each piece was consumed raw, roasted and boiled by the same people in order to differentiate marks according to bone and the type of cooking treatment. A significant number of marks were observed including types, morphologies and metric values. Differ- ences between raw and cooked bones were also detected. These results may contribute to identify human bite marks and cooking treatment in the archaeological record. © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Experimental archaeology Taphonomy Human chewing Tooth marks Mammal bones Cooking 1. Introduction Consumption-related action on animal carcasses without recourse to technology leaves identifiable marks on the bone surface during the removal of flesh, marrow, fat and bone, as well as during digestion. This has been proven in the case of most animals whose diet includes meat protein: carnivores (Binford, 1981; Blumenschine, 1988, 1995; Capaldo, 1998; Ruiter and Berger, 2000; Selvaggio and Wilder, 2001; Domínguez-Rodrigo and Piqueras, 2003; Pickering et al., 2004; Pokines and Kerbis-Peterhans, 2007; White and Toth, 2007; Andrés et al., 2012; Rodríguez-Hidalgo et al., 2013, 2015; Sala et al., 2015), omni- vores (Saladié et al., 2013a; Sala and Arsuaga, 2013; Arilla et al., 2014), birds (Lloveras et al., 2014), insects (Backwell et al., 2012; Dirrigl and Perrotti, 2014) and even herbivores (Cáceres et al., 2011; Hutson et al., 2013). Most of the works have had more directed toward other preda- tors, but the need for referential from humans is obvious in archaeology. Thus, human chewing, as with other primates (Pickering and Wallis, 1997; Plummer and Stanford, 2000; Pobiner et al., 2007) and bunodonts (Saladié et al., 2013a; Sala et al., 2014; Arilla et al., 2014), leaves marks on bones during the consumption of soft tissue. This has been established in experiments with humans (Díaz, 2007; Delaney-Rivera et al., 2009; Lloveras et al., 2009; Sanchis et al., 2011; Saladié et al., 2013b; Romero et al., 2015) and also in ethnographic work (Binford, 1981; Brain, 1981; Oliver, 1993; Elkin and Mondini, 2001; Andrews and Fernández-Jalvo, 2003; Landt, 2004, 2007; Martínez, 2007, 2009). In addition, it has been detected in the archaeological record (Cáceres et al., 2007; Blasco, 2008; Fernández-Jalvo and Andrews, 2011; Saladié et al., 2014; Pickering et al., 2013; Martín et al., 2014; Thompson and Henshilwood, 2014). Understanding the effects of consumption processes on hard animal materials is of great importance for archaeological interpretation and moreover for specific lines of research related to taphonomy, in partic- ular the effects of human chewing on bone surfaces, which can help to detect anthropogenic interventions in the formation and disturbance of bone assemblages. This is all the more so bearing in mind that carcass consumption does not necessarily require the use of technology or leave unequivocal traces of its use, either because the animals or portions thereof in question can be processed and consumed without the aid of tools due to their size or other factors, or because the particular case is in a pre-technological context. Similarly, studies of alterations caused by human chewing of bones can be used to document the consumption of certain types of prey by Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 8 (2016) 82–89 ⁎ Corresponding author at: Dpto. Geografía, Prehistoria y Arqueología, Universidad del País Vasco/Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea (UPV/EHU), C/Tomás y Valiente, 01006 Vitoria- Gasteiz, Spain. E-mail addresses: antoniojesus.romero@ehu.eus (A.J. Romero), clomana@ubu.es (J.C. Díez), palmira@prehistoria.urv.cat (P. Saladié). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2016.05.061 2352-409X/© 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jasrep