Flesh availability and bone modifications in carcasses consumed by lions: palaeoecological relevance in hominid foraging patterns

Competing explanations of early human behavior concerning animal carcass acquisition and exploitation are currently some of the most debated topics in the study of human evolution. Various hypotheses depict hominids as either hunters and flesh-eaters, or as scavengers who mainly consumed marrow and brains. One of the main arguments advanced to support the scavenging hypothesis is that flesh-bearing medium-sized carcasses (weighing between 150 kg and 350 kg) at early sites could have been obtained from large felid kills. This paper presents the results of a preliminary study, in which I have analyzed lion-killed carcasses with respect to the availability and disposal of flesh and conspicuous carnivore-inflicted bone damage patterns, so as to have a reference that can be applied both to archaeofaunas and to actualistic experiments that try to model early human behavior. Bone damage made by lions overlaps the damage patterns caused by other carnivores, such as canids and hyenids, although it is not as intense. Scraps of flesh available after consumption are rare and show a typical anatomical distribution. The scavenging hypothesis is thus testable by comparing the distribution of cut marks on fossil archaeofaunas to the location of flesh in lionsʹ kills. Comparisons between carcasses in different environments show that scraps of flesh can be obtained in open habitats. Carcasses consumed by lions in closed habitats are flesh depleted. The application of this referential framework to archaeological bone assemblages can help to identify hominid foraging strategies, and indirectly, trophic dynamics on savannas: scavenging in open habitats is only feasible in wet savannas with a slightly marked seasonality and lack of migratory biomass [M. Tappen (1992) Ph.D. Thesis, Dept. Anthropology, Harvard Univ., Cambridge, MA]; scavenging in closed habitats can only be made in semi-arid seasonal savannas whose biomass is subjected to migratory processes [R.J. Blumenschine (1986) B.A.R. Int. Ser. 283, Oxford].