News From the Field
Taking a New Look at Old Digs: Trampling Animals May Alter Stone Age Sites

September 23, 2010

Stone Age tools discovered embedded in the ground could mislead archaeologists about a prehistoric site's age. A new study on animal trampling found that water buffalo and goats significantly disturbed stone tools scattered on watery ground, says archaeologist Metin I. Eren, Southern Methodist University, Dallas. The animals pushed the tools as much as 21 centimeters deeper than originally positioned--potentially altering a site's interpretation thousands of years. Full Story

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Southern Methodist University

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