Shelters and bones: Site-specific archaeofaunal taphonomy for identifying formation processes in Saharan Holocene rock shelters

A study of the Takarkori rock shelter in Libya's Tadrart Acacus massif reveals that natural processes such as weathering, salt encrustation, and gnawing have created varied preservation conditions for mammal bones across different stratigraphic and chronological layers. This variability challenges assumptions about uniform taphonomic processes in arid environments, emphasizing the need for fine-scale analysis to distinguish between natural and anthropogenic influences on faunal remains. The research employs macroscopic, microscopic, and SEM-EDX analyses to systematically document bone surface modifications, providing a framework to improve interpretations of archaeological contexts in hyper-arid regions.

Di Matteo, M., & Rotunno, R. (2025). Shelters and bones: Site-specific archaeofaunal taphonomy for identifying formation processes in Saharan Holocene rock shelters. Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, 17(12). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-025-02329-w