Browsing by Author "Haregwin Belete"

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    An Investigation of Archaeo-Faunal Collection from the Early Stone Age Site of Gadeb, South Central Ethiopia
    (Addis Ababa University, 2024-01-01) Haregwin Belete; Alemseged Beldados (PhD)
    Abstract Despite the long history of archaeological research at Gadeb, no faunal studies have been conducted from this site. Thus, its context and the functional associations between the bone remains and Acheulean lithic artifacts is far from being understood. This presentation aims at addressing these critical issues through zooarchaeological methods. We examined taphonomic and taxonomic composition of the faunal assemblages from two excavation localities, i.e., Gadeb 2 and Gadeb 8. Both localities yielded diverse range of taxa including significant presence of water-dependent species such as Hippopotamidae among other ungulates. The overall taxonomic composition, however, suggests the presence of multiple micro-environments within the Gadeb area. Taphonomic results shows that despite the high abrasion of bone surfaces, the Gadeb faunal assemblage showed hominid induced marks indicated by the presence of cut and percussion marks. Furthermore, no carnivore specimen as well as carnivore-modified specimens were identified in the assemblage. Based on these, we conclude that hydraulic sorting and hominid activity as major accumulating agents. The study contributes to our understanding of ecological background, hominid behaviour and site formation of the Gadeb landscape during the Pleo-Pleistocene period.