This dissertation is an ethnoarchaeological analysis of small prey (< 25 kg) bones produced by contemporary Bofi and Aka foragers of the Central African Republic. The interpretive benefits of understanding small prey use in prehistory are increasingly recognized, but specific data on processing and taphonomic patterning among small fauna are still relatively limited. This study contributes to the literature by descriptively detailing the taphonomic characteristics of culturally-produced damage (burning, cut marks, chop marks, and fracture patterns) for all prey species identified in the assemblage. It then explores these bone collections in a global context, comparing them to a range of other ethnographic, experimental, and archaeological studies, with an emphasis on the role of prey size in determining taphonomic damage patterns. Results suggest that the behavioral interpretation of small fauna requires a thorough re-evaluation of assumptions, primarily because conventional wisdom and theoretical expectations have so often been developed from studies of larger animals.

In addition to description and comparison, this study examines the ways that taphonomic expectations derived from foraging theory and tested on large prey apply to analyses of smaller fauna. Foragers, past and present, have had to make decisions about how to best extract energy from their environment, and from acquired resources. Among animal prey, contextual specifics such as carcass size and anatomy, prey availability, butchery technology, and cooking methods all impact the processing strategies employed by particular butchers. One compelling prediction of foraging theory is that butchers and consumers alter their investment in extracting resources (e.g., meat, marrow, and grease) from animal carcasses in relation to their abundance; as the availability of high-ranking prey species decreases, acquired carcasses of these species are expected to be processed more intensively. Ethnoarchaeological data from forest forager-produced bone assemblages are used here to evaluate commonly proposed zooarchaeological measures of processing intensity and their applicability to small prey. Results indicate that bone fragmentation has greater potential than cut or chop marks to link processing decisions and resulting taphonomic patterning in this context.