Taphonomic Effects of a Grassland Fire on a Modern Faunal Sample and its Implications for the Archaeological Record

Abstract

The main objective of this paper is to characterize the pattern of thermal alteration in a sample of modern bones collected after a natural grassland fire in the Pampas region (Argentina). A total of 917 bone remains were recovered, including a variety of different body size taxa. Results suggest that natural grassland fires affect bone remains in a more severe way than previously documented. In general, a high proportion of bones with thermal alteration (70%) were recorded for the different body size categories, with calcined bones dominating the sample. Some differences in the burning damage in relation to the size classes were found, specifically a higher frequency of thermal alteration in small sized vertebrates. For this particular size class, the homogeneous distribution of the burning damage in long bones and mandibles could indicate anatural grassland fire, unlike the heterogeneous distribution produced by cooking.