Taphonomy and Paleoichnology of Olduvai Hominid 1 (OH1), Tanzania.

Abstract

This paper presents a case study of the Late Pleistocene skeletal remains of Olduvai Hominid 1 (OH1), which were unearthed in Tanzania. Excavated in 1913, this fossil shows severe damage due to subterranean termites (Insecta: Isoptera). By combining methods to quantify and locate traces on the skeleton with the study of the different taphonomic processes that altered the deposit, we demonstrate a non-arbitrary pattern of termite alteration of the skeletal remains. These results shed new light on the possibility to reconstruct the original position of a skeleton in a deposit and the potential to infer the space of decomposition and past funerary practices.

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