ABSTRACT
An assemblage of fossil bones represents a sampling of one or more ancient habitats. The fossils may all come from a single animal community, tightly confined in space and time. Alternatively, species from several separate habitats and time periods may be aggregated at one site. The species of animals present in the fossil assemblages at Olduvai reflect the ways that the agents of bone accumulation sampled animal communities in the ancient Olduvai basin. Taphonomic study of the Olduvai sites makes it possible to analyze the paleoecological settings of the early hominids. By understanding the ways bones were aggregated at a site, we gain insight into how bones were transformed from living animals into fossil assemblages and then attempt to reverse the process: infer past communities of animals and their environments from fossil remains.
