Identifying the accumulating agent(s) of small animal assemblages at archaeological sites is challenging given the range of behaviors, skeletal plans, and body sizes of prey species as well as the range of potential predators. Although mammalian carnivores, raptors, and humans are considered typical predators of small game, there are many contexts—especially in island ecosystems—where humans and raptors are the primary agents for small animal assemblages in the absence of mammalian carnivores. Moreover, smaller animals tend to range in body sizes in these geographically restricted ecosystems. This study aims to broadly explore: 1) how small animal body size affects the taphonomic signature(s) of human and avian predation; and 2) how human and avian-generated small game assemblages compare with one another. To investigate these questions, this study compared the resulting taphonomic patterns of small animal predation by raptors and humans using data collected during a controlled-feeding experiment and an observational study, respectively. In the controlled-feeding experiment, deceased laboratory rats (Rattus norvegicus domestica) (50–500 g) were fed to two Milky Eagle Owls (Ketupa lacteus), one King Vulture (Sarcoramphus papa), and two Lappet-Faced Vultures (Torgos tracheliotos). In the observational study, we explored how humans processed various species of small prey ranging in body mass (80–5000 g) by analyzing anthropogenic modifications (i.e., cutmarks, tooth marks, burning). The resulting small animal assemblages were analyzed post-consumption for skeletal element representation, fragmentation and breakage patterns, and bone surface modifications. Results show that small prey body size significantly affects pre-depositional patterning in terms of skeletal element survival, butchering intensities, and cutmark frequencies. Furthermore, our experimentally generated assemblages show that breakage, fragmentation, and element relative abundance patterns can be used to distinguish between human and avian-accumulated assemblages in the archaeological record.

考虑到猎物物种的行为范围、骨骼结构和体型以及潜在捕食者的范围，识别考古遗址小动物群落的积累因子具有挑战性。尽管哺乳动物食肉动物、猛禽和人类被认为是小型动物的典型捕食者，但在许多情况下，特别是在岛屿生态系统中，在没有哺乳动物食肉动物的情况下，人类和猛禽是小动物群落的主要媒介。此外，在这些地理受限的生态系统中，较小的动物往往体型大小不一。本研究旨在广泛探索：1）小动物体型如何影响人类和鸟类捕食的埋藏学特征；2）人类和鸟类生成的小型游戏组合如何相互比较。为了研究这些问题，本研究分别使用控制喂养实验和观察研究期间收集的数据，比较了猛禽和人类捕食小动物的埋藏模式。在控制喂养实验中，将死去的实验室大鼠（Rattusnorvegicus Domestica）（50-500克）喂给两只乳雕猫头鹰（Ketupalacteus）、一只王秃鹫（Sarcoramphuspapa）和两只秃鹫（Torgostracheliotos ） ）。在观察性研究中，我们通过分析人为修饰（即割痕、牙痕、烧伤），探讨了人类如何处理体重（80-5000 克）的各种小型猎物。由此产生的小动物组合在消费后进行了骨骼元素表征、碎片和破损模式以及骨表面修饰的分析。结果表明，较小的猎物体型显着影响骨骼元素存活、屠宰强度和切割频率方面的沉积前模式。此外，我们通过实验生成的组合表明，破损、碎片和元素相对丰度模式可用于区分考古记录中人类和鸟类积累的组合。