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<p>Understanding the factors that govern bone weathering is essential for interpreting faunal preservation and site formation processes in archaeological contexts. This study presents the first four-years of an actualistic long-term experiment conducted in three contrasting depositional settings of the Dry Chaco ecoregion of Central Argentina: two open-air contexts (Arid Chaco and Mountain Chaco; <i>n</i> = 54, <i>n </i>= 76) and a sheltered context within the Mountain Chaco (<i>n</i> = 44). Annual observations of weathering progression were recorded for camelid skeletal elements and integrated with climatic data to evaluate the influence of environmental and anatomical variables. Using a Bayesian regression model, we assessed the relative contributions of temperature, precipitation, solar radiation, and microenvironmental conditions to weathering trajectories. The model outputs demonstrate pronounced differences across contexts: rockshelter context showed an extremely low probability of transitioning into higher weathering stages, remaining at stage 0 across all years, while open-air settings exhibited faster and more heterogeneous weathering. Element morphology played a major role, with flat and axial bones showing higher susceptibility than long or compact elements. Microenvironmental factors—including shading, substrate, moisture regimes, and vegetation cover—proved more influential than broad regional climate, underscoring the need to interpret weathering within local ecological and geomorphological conditions. To explore ontogenetic effects, we generated exploratory estimates of neonatal weathering stages using adult–newborn differentials from an independent experiment. These suggest reduced survivorship of neonatal elements in open-air settings, highlighting the importance of age in mortality and taphonomic interpretations. Overall, our findings caution against using weathering stages as direct chronological markers and demonstrate the value of Bayesian approaches for modeling taphonomic processes. The methodological framework presented here provides a robust basis for expanding actualistic studies and improving archaeological inference in semiarid environments.</p>

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Bone Weathering Variability in Semiarid Environments: Insights from Taphonomic Experiments in the Dry Chaco, Central Argentina

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年3月17日

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  • María Paula Weihmüller,
  • Andrés Darío Izeta,
  • Gabriela Roxana Cattáneo

摘要

Understanding the factors that govern bone weathering is essential for interpreting faunal preservation and site formation processes in archaeological contexts. This study presents the first four-years of an actualistic long-term experiment conducted in three contrasting depositional settings of the Dry Chaco ecoregion of Central Argentina: two open-air contexts (Arid Chaco and Mountain Chaco; n = 54, n = 76) and a sheltered context within the Mountain Chaco (n = 44). Annual observations of weathering progression were recorded for camelid skeletal elements and integrated with climatic data to evaluate the influence of environmental and anatomical variables. Using a Bayesian regression model, we assessed the relative contributions of temperature, precipitation, solar radiation, and microenvironmental conditions to weathering trajectories. The model outputs demonstrate pronounced differences across contexts: rockshelter context showed an extremely low probability of transitioning into higher weathering stages, remaining at stage 0 across all years, while open-air settings exhibited faster and more heterogeneous weathering. Element morphology played a major role, with flat and axial bones showing higher susceptibility than long or compact elements. Microenvironmental factors—including shading, substrate, moisture regimes, and vegetation cover—proved more influential than broad regional climate, underscoring the need to interpret weathering within local ecological and geomorphological conditions. To explore ontogenetic effects, we generated exploratory estimates of neonatal weathering stages using adult–newborn differentials from an independent experiment. These suggest reduced survivorship of neonatal elements in open-air settings, highlighting the importance of age in mortality and taphonomic interpretations. Overall, our findings caution against using weathering stages as direct chronological markers and demonstrate the value of Bayesian approaches for modeling taphonomic processes. The methodological framework presented here provides a robust basis for expanding actualistic studies and improving archaeological inference in semiarid environments.