Evidence of Faunal Butchery
In excavations 3 and 5, a total of 1176 bones were found in situ with the NY-1 layer [2] . Of bones discovered in excavation 3, 57.1% are hippopotamids and 19.2% are bovids, and of bones discovered in excavation 5, 61.9% are hippopotamids and 22.2% are bovids [2] .
In excavation 3, at least two hippopotamid individuals were recovered. The skeleton of the more complete individual contained 241 bone fragments including a rib fragment exhibiting a deep cutmark with clear evidence of internal striations. Additionally, 42 stone tools were found closely associated with the skeleton, several in contact with hippopotamid bones [2] .
In excavation 5, 39 bones from presumably one hippopotamid individual were discovered spatially associated with 14 artifacts including a flake and split cobble with percussion damage. The anterior tuberosity of the individual's tibia displays four short, parallel cutmarks [2] . A second bone cluster two meters away contains a broken humerus, a flake, a rib fragment, and a manuport. The non-anatomical arrangement of the skeleton in addition to evidence of hominin damage and presence of associated artifacts suggests these bones may have been moved by hominins during a butchering process [2] .
Additionally, a size three bovid scapular spine fragment displaying cut marks was found eroding at approximately the same level as the excavation 5 hippopotamid [2] . Furthermore, additional bones discovered in the NY-1 layer display evidence of cut marks or percussion damage, indicating hominins were consuming both meat and marrow at this site. This finding is further supported by use-wear analysis [2] .
Evidence of Plant Tissue Processing
Further use-wear analysis on 30 stone tools from the NY-1 layer support hominin professing of faunal remains and plant tissue on site. 17 flaked pieces display macro- and microtraces evident of pounding activities likely used to process soft (tubers, vegetables, fruits) and hard (fibrous tubers, woody parts) pant tissues [2] . Also, macro- and microtraces evident of cutting and scraping are found on six flakes show materials were being cut and pounded on site [2] .
A study employing quantitative and qualitative analysis of 50 artifacts, 26 showing wear traces, as well as reproductive techniques supports use of percussive stone tools (PSTs) in the processing of plant matter. In this study, Caricola et al. created stone tool replicas similar to those found at Nyayanga and used them to process food items with varying physical characteristics, including soft and juicy, pulpy and fibrous, and woody and fibrous [1] . In experimentation, replicas used to process cassava and yams (roots) yielded smooth and flat polish with irregular pits and striations, replicas used to process hazel wood park produced rough and domed polish with short, parallel, and tapering striations, and replicas used to process bone yielded a distinctive polish with deep crystals leveling and furrow striae polished associated [1] . These results were then compared with microscopic use-wear analysis of the 26 Nyayanga artifacts, revealing that the artifacts were used intensively to crush both plant and animal tissue. Specifically, five artifacts showed rough/domed pitted polish, indicating use related to woody plant processing; six artifacts showed smooth/domed and cratered/pitted polish, indicating use in processing pulpy vegetable material and possibly some tubers of white flesh and high starch content; four artifacts showed smooth and flat polish accompanied by deep furrow striae, indicating use in bone processing.
Additionally, three artifacts with highly developed traces indicative of intense use likely were used to process multiple different types of plant consistencies [1] . Generally, there were higher counts of striae in reproductive experiments, possibly due to differences in percussion bases of reproduced and archaeological materials as it is unknown exactly what percussion bases ancient hominins were using at Nyayanga (anvil, ground, etc.) [1] . Quantitative analysis of the same artifacts examining six parameters (root mean square (RMS) roughness, max peak height, max valley depth, max height, average max valley depth, average max peak height) indicate most of the studied artifacts were likely used to process softer materials - pulpy plants/underground storage organs - with a few outliers presumably used to process faunal material [1] .
