Vollbrecht, J. (2000). The antler finds at Bilzingsleben, excavations 1969-1993. Internet Archaeology 8: Visualisation Theme. Vol 8, York: Internet Archaeology. https://doi.org/10.11141/ia.8.1.

Title:

The antler finds at Bilzingsleben, excavations 1969-1993

Issue:

Internet Archaeology 8: Visualisation Theme

Series:

Internet Archaeology

Volume:

Biblio Note

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Licence Type:

Creative Commons Attribution 3.0
International Licence

Publication Type:

Journal

Abstract:

2820 antler remains from the Lower Palaeolithic site of Bilzingsleben, Thuringia, Germany (excavations 1969-1993) were the subject of detailed investigations. The two major goals were:the consideration of taphonomic aspectsthe critical evaluation of suggestions about artificial modifications to the antler materialA detailed morphological description of the antler material provided the basis for the investigation. A prerequisite was the transfer of provenance data onto an x-y coordinate grid.Taphonomic aspects considered in this work include the relative frequencies of antler elements, estimates regarding the minimum number of individual deer, their age structure and seasonality, and, insofar as the condition of the antlers allowed, the classification of surface preservation, size classes and spatial distribution of the finds.The assemblage of antler finds, the majority of which seems to have come from red deer, is dominated by small fragments, mostly of tines. About one quarter of the finds are larger than 150 mm. Lower beams are more abundant than upper beams (e.g. crowns). Detailed counting, substantiated by systematic reconstruction, shows that in general the antlers are incomplete.After reconstruction of unshed antlers, it was possible to assess the minimum number of heads at 150 animals. Preliminary counting of postcranial and cranial (non antler) cervid material points to about 70 cervids. Intentional accumulation of antlers by hominids can only be accepted as the reason for these disproportionate figures if other site formation processes can be ruled out. In fact, the correlation between sediment thickness and maximum antler densities, at least for finds smaller than 120mm, suggests that fluvial accumulation has to be taken into account as a probable element of the site formation history. Further, the mixture of unifacially abraded finds together with finds that exhibit bifacial abrasion points to a succession of changing fluvial environments in the area of accumulation. More investigation is needed to help the understanding of site formation processes, without which head counts and evaluations of age structures and seasonality of the antler material are of little use for examining hominid contribution to the antler accumulation.

Author:

Jurgen Vollbrecht

Publisher:

Internet Archaeology

Year of Publication:

2000

Subjects / Periods:

LOWER PALAEOLITHIC (ENG)
	TOOLS AND EQUIPMENT (Object England)
	ANTLER (Object England)
	ANTLER TINE (Object England)

Source:

ADS Library (ADS Library)

Relations:

DOI:	https://doi.org/10.11141/ia.8.1

Created Date:

02 Apr 2019