Sample selection, schlepp effects and scavenging: the implications of partial recovery for interpretations of the terrestrial mammal assemblage from Klasies River Mouth

Abstract

Previous interpretations of the terrestrial mammalian assemblage from Klasies River Mouth, Cape Province, South Africa, are examined in the light of evidence for incomplete recovery of vertebrate remains from the site. Klein's "schlepp effect" interpretation for the body-part frequencies seen in large bovids is shown to be open to serious question, since both the Klasies assemblage and the Suberde sample for which the "schlepp effect" was first proposed are now seen to have had their compositions affected by post-excavation treatment. Binford's reinterpretation of the assemblage as one produced in large part by hominid scavenging is shown to be less affected by the recovery biases, but his conclusions about the development of fully modern behaviour patterns have their emphasis altered. © 1989.