Spirit Cave (Layer 3)
Basic information
Sample name: Spirit Cave (Layer 3)
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]
Geography
Country: Thailand
State: Mae Hong Son
Coordinate: 19° 34' N, 98° 16' E
Time interval: Late Pleistocene
Ma: 0.01135
Age basis: radiocarbon (uncalibrated)
Geography comments: "Spirit Cave is located in the karstic upland region of Mae Hong Son Province, northwest Thailand"
Coordinates are not given in the text, they were instead taken from the Wikipedia article for the site
Dates for the site were obtained from nine "samples of bamboo charcoal" and published by Gormon (1970)
Dates obtained for Layers 3/4 range from 15200-11315 cal. B.P.
Coordinates are not given in the text, they were instead taken from the Wikipedia article for the site
Dates for the site were obtained from nine "samples of bamboo charcoal" and published by Gormon (1970)
Dates obtained for Layers 3/4 range from 15200-11315 cal. B.P.
Environment
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"
"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"
Methods
Life forms: bats,carnivores,primates,rodents,ungulates,birds,turtles,snails
Sampling methods: quarry,screenwash,surface
Sample size: 20 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"
"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"
Metadata
Sample number: 3737
Contributor: Benjamin Carter
Enterer: Benjamin Carter
Created: 2021-05-18 11:35:20
Modified: 2023-04-28 01:02:26
Abundance distribution
15 species
10 singletons
total count 20
geometric series index: 90.0
Fisher's α: 27.263
geometric series k: 0.9517
Hurlbert's PIE: 0.9211
Shannon's H: 2.6492
Good's u: 0.5250
Each square represents a species. Square sizes are proportional to counts.
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Register
| Chiroptera indet. | 1 | |
| Sus sp. | 2 | |
| Muntiacus sp. | 1 | |
| Muridae indet. | 1 | |
| also 2 Rodentia indet. | ||
| Hystricidae indet. | 1 | |
| Lutra sp. | 2 | |
| Arctictis binturong | 1 | 10 kg frugivore |
| Canidae indet. | 2 | |
| also 4 Carnivora indet. | ||
| Hylobates lar | 1 | 5.4 kg frugivore |
| Macaca sp. | 2 | |
| Nycticebus sp. | 2 | |
| also 10 Mammalia indet. | ||
| Passeriformes indet. | 1 | |
| Geoemydidae indet. | 1 | |
| Testudinidae indet. | 1 | |
| also 1 Reptilia indet. | ||
| Cyclophorus sp. | 1 | |