史前人类对动物骨骼油脂的开发和利用

Exploitation of animal bone fat by prehistoric human DAI Jingwen,ZHANG Shuangquan,ZHANG Yue

动物骨骼油脂的开发和利用是史前人类生存活动的重要组成部分。西方学者的研究表明,这一过程可能包含了敲骨取髓和骨脂提取两种不同的人类行为。相较于敲骨取髓,骨脂提取更为复杂,不仅要将骨骼砸碎成较小尺寸,还要加水煮沸骨骼碎片,过程中不断添冷水使水保持温和沸腾的状态,才能获得浮于水面的骨脂。目前,国内学者在此领域的研究多关注于前一行为而对后者鲜有论述。本文通过对相关科学文献的全面梳理,系统介绍了史前人类骨脂提取行为的鉴定分析手段和方法,进而探讨了这一行为在古人类资源利用程度、流动性、用火方式和烹饪技术等方面的指示意义与价值。

The exploitation of bone fat plays an important role in prehistoric human subsistence and it has been suggested that this process may involve two different human behaviors:bone marrow extraction and bone grease processing.Bone grease processing is a labor-intensitive activity which takes a lot of time and energy.The process of rendering the grease begins with smashing animal bones into small pieces.The spongy bone fragments are then placed into a container with water and bring to a simmer.The grease will rise to the surface as the bone fragments simmering and can be skimmed off with a dipper.However,compared to their western counterparts,archaeologists in China have hardly ever addressed the latter.In this paper,based on a thorough review of published papers in this field,we present the ways employed by scholars to identify the presence of this behavior and further discuss its archaeological implications in prehistoric themes,e.g.,the intensity of human resource exploitation,mobility pattern and cooking technology.