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P. ANDREWS AND Y. FERNANDEZ-JALVO 



Fig. 24 Four views of human calvaria. A, lateral view of child's skull 

 M54141 showing cut-marks and one percussion mark causing extensive 

 cracking of the skull. B, frontal view showing cut-marks inside the 

 orbits. C, lateral view of skull 460a, showing percusssion marks 

 superimposed on cut-marks along the temporal muscle insertion. D, 

 back view of the same skull showing extensive cut-marks in the broken 

 occipital region. 



Fig. 25 A, Frontal view of the GC87 calotte showing cut-marks low 

 down on the frontal bone. B, detail of the parietal (left) and occipital 

 bones of the same calotte showing the cut-marks in this region. A, x 0.6; 

 B,x 1.1. 



child calvaria was fragmented by post-depositional damage, due to 

 the greater fragility of its bones. This is in contrast to traits observed 

 at the site of Atapuerca (TD6-Aurora Stratum, Spain) where mandi- 

 bles and skulls of both humans and non-humans were highly broken, 

 and cuts appeared on areas related to dismembering rather than 

 skinning. In the light of taphonomic analyses of the Atapuerca TD6- 

 Aurora Stratum fossil assemblage, the cause of cannibalism was 

 considered to be purely nutritional, and probably gastronomic 

 (Fernandez-Jalvo, et al., 1999). 



Southwest Native Amerindian sites (White, 1992; Turner and 

 Turner, 1999) have many skull fragments found mixed with com- 

 plete skulls. These skulls, however, have evidence of heating which 

 would make the face and head muscle attachments easier to remove. 

 The use of fire has also been identified at the human sample of the 

 Navatu Fijian assemblage (Degusta, 1999), and burning is focused 

 on the head (41%) compared to post-cranial elements (16%). More 



significantly, the effects of fire are seen more commonly on human 

 remains than on other taxa. In this case, however, Navatu skulls 

 appear highly broken. 



The Neolithic site at Fontbregoua (France) has human skulls that 

 are more complete than non-human skulls (with the exception of 

 bovids). This contrasts with the Native American and Fijian sites. In 

 addition, burning has not been detected on the fossil bones, and this 

 has been interpreted as a case of ritual treatment of skulls and 

 exocannibalism (Villa etal., 1986b). Completeness of human skulls 

 at Gough's cave is quite peculiar due to the fact that they are highly 

 damaged by percussion marks. These contradictory results (strong 

 damage and completeness) may suggest that the skulls were care- 

 fully treated to preserve them complete, in contrast to the rest of the 

 skeleton and other animals at the site. 



Ribs of both human and large mammals are extensively affected 

 by human induced damage. Cut-marks, percussion marks and peeling 



