Faunal Dispersal, Reconcentration, and Gnawing Damage to Bone in Terrestrial Environments

Abstract

Gnawing from animal species is a common alteration to human bones and comes under frequent forensic analysis in order to separate these effects from human-caused trauma and to understand the context and postdepositional history of a set of remains. This chapter examines the motivations for (predation, defleshing, fat extraction, incisor sharpening, etc.) and mechanisms of bone gnawing, the typical sequences of body part consumption and long bone destruction, and defines tooth mark types and other bone damage, including pits, scores/striations, punctures, furrows, edge wear, crenellation, peeling, scalloping, and gastric corrosion. This chapter also examines bone dispersal by carnivores and how this common behavior impacts subsequent scene dimensions and searching methods; reconcentration of bones by some species into dens; and distinguishing among size class of carnivores that created tooth marks. The modifications by rodents gnawing on wet or dry bone are also examined, along with modifications made by pigs, other large ungulates (osteophagia), and humans. The overall patterns of skeletal modification by taxon are also examined.