Sample name: Spirit Cave (Layer 4)

Reference: C. Conrad, C. Higham, M. Eda, and B. Marwick. 2016. Palaeoecology and forager subsistence strategies during the Pleistocene - Holocene transition: A reinvestigation of the zooarchaeological assemblage from Spirit Cave, Mae Hong Son Province, Thailand. Asian Perspectives 55(1):2-27 [ER 3371]

Lithology: limestone

Taphonomic context: cave,human accumulation

Archaeology: ceramics,stone tools

Habitat comments: "An initial survey of the three chambers that comprise the cave complex suggested an intact and rich archaeological deposit in the middle cave section"
"the middle cave proved promising for archaeological excavation, with cord-marked pottery sherds, flakes, and quartzite cores visible on the surface" and this chamber was subsequently excavated "between June and July 1966"
While "Gorman argued that hunter-gatherers used the cave relatively continuously" the high abundance of Hipposiderid bats in this layer "suggests humans did not occupy the site while bat bones accumulated"

Life forms: bats,carnivores,primates,rodents,ungulates,birds,lizards,snakes,turtles,frogs,fishes,crustaceans,clams,snails

Sampling methods: quarry,screenwash,surface

Sample size: 156 specimens

Sampled by: C.F. Gormon

Years: 1966

Sampling comments: "Excavation used 1 m squares following the natural strata" and "fine-grained screening (1 mm mesh)" of the "5 layers at the site"
"After an interval of 48 years [since the original 1966 excavations] and 4 different storage locations at the University of Otago, only part of the original collection has been located"
Therefore, "the Spirit Cave assemblage is a subset of the original collection, it does not represent the complete assemblage"
"...our reanalysis deals with only a minute portion of the original assemblage excavated and recovered by Gorman"

Sample number: 3738

Contributor: Benjamin Carter

Enterer: Benjamin Carter

Created: 2021-05-18 12:58:27

Modified: 2023-04-28 01:02:44