Dialogues in Cuban Archaeology

170 / La Rosa Corzo
9.4. Distribution of MNI by species for each of the studied sites
bones of the larger mammals usually fracture more often than those of smaller
size (Morales Muñiz 1989:389), a tendency that is present to a certain degree
in the studied sample. However, the degree of fracture and the regularity of
the sizes, cutting marks, and types of fractures seem to indicate that the reduction
of large bones was related more to food preparation techniques. The
relationship of this index between the ¤ve sites is illustrated in Figure 9.5.
The degree of completeness of the bone remains can provide additional
information about the food preparation habits of the cimarrones. Of the 840
identi¤ed bones, 629 (75 percent) were broken into fragments, and 211 (25 percent)
were complete elements. However, included in this last category were
bones of various small species such as hutía, chicken, duck, dog, majá, and
juvenile pig. Figure 9.6 illustrates the fact that, in general, fragments or smallsized
bones prevailed in the sites.
Since the presence of charred bones could be indicative of the habits of
meat consumption, all of the identi¤ed remains were subjected to a detailed
examination. The results indicated that of the 840 identi¤ed remains, 47
(6 percent) presented light indications of burning and 53 (6 percent) were
highly burnt (Figure 9.7). The total number of remains with indications of