The contribution of Raymond Dart to the development of cave taphonomy
Date
1997
Authors
Brain
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Bernard Price Institute for Palaeontological Research
Abstract
The basic principles of African cave taphonomy were formulated in 1976, but twenty years earlier,
Raymond Dart embarked on a pioneering taphonomic investigation into a hominid-bearing fossil
assemblage from the Makapansgat Limeworks cave. He asked the questions that are typically
addressed in contemporary cave-taphonomic studies, such as: how did the bones find their way into
the cave? From what animals were the bones derived? What parts of the skeleton are represented and
what damage have the bones suffered? What can be said about the behaviour of the hominids and other
animals whose remains are preserved in the cave?
Dart concluded that hominids had been responsible for collecting the very large number of bones
preserved in the Member 3 grey breccia unit. He set up a theory ofthe "osteodontokeratic" culture
of Australopithecus and drew some remarkable conclusions about the nature and behaviour of early
hominids. These conclusions, presented in powerful prose, provoked a good deal of subsequent
research that set the discipline of cave taphonomy on its course.
Description
Main article
Keywords
Taphonomy, Cave-taphonomy, Raymond Dart, Makapansgat.
Citation
None