Virtual three dimensions reconstruction and isoline analysis of human marks on the surface of animal fossils

Animal fossils in archaeological sites are closely related to human activities. The environment and human activities, such as hunting-selection, cook process, traditional culture and habits can be partly inferred from the variety of fauna, fragmentation of the bones, and the human marks on bones’ surfaces. So far, researches about marks on fossils are few in China, and are mainly observed directly by eyes. Light Microscopes and Scanning Electron Microscopes are also applied to the observation abroad. These methods could provide us a lot of information, but are mainly confined to 2 dimensions. In this paper, we analyze human marks on the surface of animal fossils through three dimensions reconstruction and isoline analysis, which enable us observe and measure in 3 dimensions. This method gives us a lot of information as follows: the formation of the marks, the tools that produced the marks, the cutting edge, movement and micro-abrasion of the tools. Through study of human marks on the surface of animal fossils unearthed from Bailongdong Cave in Yunxi, Hubei Province, we have got the characteristics of the marks, and further deepen cognition of the cutting edge, cutting orientation, cutting sequence, as well as micro-abrasion of tools during the formation of these marks. This is the first to use virtual three dimensions reconstruction in studying the human marks on the surface of animal fossils in China.