Zooarchaeology (Other Keyword)
976-1,000 (1,173 Records)
The Area Sacra di Sant’Omobono in Rome, situated on the banks of the Tiber River at the base of Capitoline Hill, contains evidence of Rome’s people from the earliest inhabitants to modern day. This research utilizes zooarchaeological analysis to investigate how the space was used in three time periods: Archaic, late Roman, and Medieval. The diachronic analysis of the faunal remains reflects the range of uses at the site during its occupation and highlights the integration of quotidian...
Temporal Patterns in Marine Shellfish-Species Use Along the Atlantic Coast In the Southeastern United States (1987)
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Ten Right-Sided Sheep Femora and Other Peculiarities: What To Make of the Arch Street Faunal Assemblage (2019)
This is an abstract from the "Bones and Burials in Philadelphia: The Arch Street Project’s Multidisciplinary Research" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. In 1860, a concerned party claimed that neighboring tenement dwellers used the cemetery of the First Baptist Church of Philadelphia as their personal dumping ground, leaving behind ‘refuse of their domestic economy’ in the form of material culture and food waste. In 2017, salvage archaeology...
Terminal Classic Practices Reflected in Diet and Geolocation: The B-4 Peri-abandonment Deposit at Xunantunich, Belize (2021)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2021: General Sessions" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. This study applies isotopic analyses of carbon (ẟ13Ccoll) and nitrogen (ẟ15Ncoll) from bone collagen, with carbon (ẟ13Cap), oxygen (ẟ18O), and strontium (87Sr/86Sr) to faunal remains excavated from a peri-abandonment deposit at the ancient Maya site of Xunantunich during the Terminal Classic period. Peri-abandonment deposits represent a distinct phenomenon in...
Terminal Pleistocene and Early Holocene Exploitation of Greater Sage-Grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) in the Bonneville Basin (2023)
This is an abstract from the "Behavioral Ecology and Archaeology" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Despite extensive study of prehistoric human foraging behavior in the Bonneville basin, little is known about human exploitation of birds, as many of these analyses focus on the hunting of mammalian prey and present models of diet breadth that are limited to artiodactyls and lagomorphs. This study uses the prey choice model of foraging theory to...
Testing for Mass Processing in Archaeological Ungulate Remains (2017)
Archaeological applications of ethnographic models require that variables derived from the activities of living people be translated into archaeological terms. Enloe suggested that processing caribou (Rangifer tarandus) carcasses for food storage should be recognizable in patterns of bone fragmentation. He predicted that relatively uniform and large-sized bone fragments would result from mass processing for marrow as part of logistic collector subsistence strategies, compared with smaller and...
Testing the effectiveness of 2D morphometric data for identifying species in Galliformes (2017)
Galliformes, or game birds, are one group of birds commonly utilized by prehistoric people that are particularly difficult to classify beyond family. In addition, bird bone assemblages are often fragmentary and poorly preserved, making avifauna notoriously difficult to identify to species, even by trained specialists. Non-identified bones lead to a decrease in information available about taxa present at the site, hunting preferences of the site inhabitants, environmental conditions, and other...
Testing the Efficacy of Methodologies for the Estimation of Body Size of California Mussel Based on Shell Fragments (2019)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Over the past decades, archaeologists have developed regression formulae to estimate animal body size based on shell fragments. In this study, we tested the efficacy of five different methods by measuring over 1200 mussel (Mytilus californianus) shells excavated from an archaeological site (CA-VEN-395) in the Santa Monica Mountains, located about 9 km from the...
Testing the robustness of NISP and MNE: Results of a blind test (2017)
Archaeozoologists generally consider that counts are replicable data accurately representing the initial abundances of elements, individuals or taxa. However, few studies have examined these assumptions with control data. To test the robustness of NISP (Number of Identified SPecimens) and MNE (Minimum Number of Element) counts, we conducted a blind test that involved the analysis of two large experimental samples composed of known red deer (Cervus elaphus) and cattle (Bos taurus) elements. The...
Testing the Stratigraphic Integrity of Shallow Deposits through Zooarchaeology at Lamanai, Belize (2018)
Identifying formation processes of shallow archaeological sites can be difficult. At Lamanai, Belize, the main problem consists of distinguishing between pre- and post-Spanish contact deposits buried at a depth of 10 to 60 cm. Evidence of interaction with the Spanish includes a few European objects and two Christian churches. However, identifying pre-contact deposits is more challenging. Maya archaeologists typically rely on ceramic typology to establish chronology, but the main pottery type in...
Testing the use and reliability of 3D Scanning Technology in the construction of a Digital Comparative Faunal Bone Collection (2017)
This poster presents methodologies for testing the use of 3D scanning in its ability to capture quality 3D images of faunal bones for comparative purposes. An investigation of prior studies confirms that 3D scanning has successfully been used in aspects of archaeological research. Yet, the full potential for the use of 3D scanning in zooarchaeology is still unclear. At present, zooarchaeologists often have to resort to loaning physical bone specimens from other institutions when comparative...
Testing Theoretical Approaches for Inferring Hominin Behavior at Liang Bua (Flores, Indonesia) (2019)
This is an abstract from the "The Extended Evolutionary Synthesis and Human Origins: Archaeological Perspectives" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Recent debates in anthropology surround the utility of human behavioral ecological (HBE) approaches for inferring archaeological phenomena. Criticisms of popular HBE approaches, including optimal foraging theory (OFT), challenge the assumption that humans will always maximize their behavior. Thus, these...
Tethered, Ad Hoc, Resilient, or Structured? An Isotopic Investigation of Pastoral Strategies in Montane Ecosystems of Central Asia (2016)
This paper focuses on tracking the mobility and diets of domesticated animals using isotopic analysis. We present two archaeological contexts from mountain regions of Central Asia: 1) A 9th-10th century (medieval) iron smelting town located at 2000 masl in the Zaamin Mtns. of Uzbekistan and 2) a series of Bronze Age (2500-1200 BCE) pastoral settlements located between 900 and 1500 masl in the Dzhungar Mtns. of eastern Kazakhstan. We are curious about pastoral productivity as it relates to social...
Theoretically informed isotope analysis: human-animal relationships at Fishbourne Roman Palace (2017)
Stable isotope studies have become common-place in archaeological investigations of human diet and mobility, often underpinned by small comparative studies of associated animal remains which are generally utilised as baseline data. However, the value of moving beyond such anthropocentric studies and of analysing animals in their own right is becoming increasingly recognised. Detailed research on animal diet and mobility is enhancing our understanding of animal management and patterns of...
Thermal Processes on Tropical Archaeological Shell: An Experimental Study (2018)
Tropical archaeological shell middens throughout Australasia provide valuable information about subsistence practices, environmental changes, and human occupation. One of the major anthropic processes that can occur in any midden site is burning or heating of the shell, either from cooking or heat-treating shell for working. Thermal influences on marine shell are poorly understood across all disciplines, including archaeology. Burning or heating may not always show any visual signs and rather...
Thieves, Stowaways, Hitchhikers, and Hangers-On: The Commensal Niche in the Prehistoric Caribbean (2018)
Prehistoric commensal animal relationships are understudied for the Caribbean, with little explicit consideration for the defining attributes of the insular commensal niche or what taxa may be rightly considered commensal. Here, I address these issues by clarifying the nature of Caribbean commensalism with respect to synanthropy, domestication, animal management, and phoresy. I consider which vertebrate and invertebrate taxa most likely enjoyed commensal relationships with humans in the...
Thinking Through Zooarchaeological Approaches to Empire and Environment (2017)
In this paper, I explore the intersection of empire and environment in imperial and post-imperial contexts using the collapse of the Hittite empire and its aftermath in central Turkey around 1200 BC as a case study. More specifically, I mobilize zooarchaeological evidence from the Hittite capital of Hattuşa and from Çadır Höyük, a rural town, in order to discuss how we might distinguish between political, economic, and climatic factors in our interpretations of the relationships between empire...
Thylacines, Dingoes, and People (2019)
This is an abstract from the "Human Interactions with Extinct Fauna" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The peopling of Greater Australia at about 65,000 years ago preceded that of Eurasia and differed in several key aspects. First, there were no other hominins in Australia, though modern humans moving into Eurasia encountered Neanderthals, Denisovans, and possibly relict populations of other hominins. Second, the predatory guild in Australia was less...
To Eat, Discard, or Venerate: Faunal Remains as Proxy for Human Behaviors in Lowland Maya Terminal or Problematic Deposits (2018)
Deciphering middens, feasting, ritual, or terminal deposits in the Maya world requires an evaluation of faunal remains. Maya archaeologists have been and continue to evaluate other artifacts classes, but often simply offer NISP values for skeletal elements recovered from these deposits. To further understand their archaeological significance, we analyzed faunal materials from deposits at the sites of Baking Pot and Xunantunich in the Upper Belize River Valley. We identified the species, bone...
Todd’s Taphonomy: Addressing Questions Too Often Left Unasked (2023)
This is an abstract from the "A Tribute to the Contributions of Lawrence C. Todd to World Prehistory" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Larry Todd has played a central role in applying taphonomy to studies of prehistoric human behavior. He developed standardized and, most importantly, reproducible methods of observational quantification. We here present studies of Trinil (Java) and Hadar (Ethiopia), both of which figure prominently in...
Tool manufacture and bone breakage patterns at a Haudenosaunee site in New York (2016)
The Myers Farm site is located on a hill ten miles east of Cayuga Lake, central New York. It is a small mid-15th century Cayuga farmstead and feasting ground identified by a midden approximately ten meters in diameter. A large roasting pit, hearth features, and storage pits contained animal bone, including worked tools and food debris. This paper describes a preliminary faunal analysis of selected features. Recovered fauna include a generous range of local species, including mammals, birds,...
TOOL PRODUCTION, SUBSISTENCE, OR PRACTICE: AN INVESTIGATION OF HUMAN MODIFIED BISON PHALANGES PRESENT AT THE BULL CREEK AND CLARY RANCH SITES (2015)
The Clary Ranch site in Southwestern Nebraska and the Bull Creek site in Northwestern Oklahoma are Late-Paleoindian camps that were used for processing the meat and bones from bison hunts. This is an experimental archaeological investigation involving Clary Ranch and Bull Creek, both of which contain evidence of spiral fracturing on bison phalanges resulting from the butchering and preparation process. This archaeological experiment investigates possible motives Paleoindian hunters would have...
Toward a Holistic Understanding of Marine Ecosystems in the South Central Andes: An Interdisciplinary Marine Invertebrate Biodiversity/Zooarchaeological Survey (2023)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Maritime adaptations play an essential role in the central Andean past as far back as the region’s earliest occupation. While economically useful molluscan species are well known by archaeologists, other invertebrates are inadequately understood due to poor preservation and/or lack of interest. This poster presents the preliminary results of a biodiversity...
Toward Developing an Economic Model of Fish Rank for Late Nineteenth-Century Pacific Northwest Households (2017)
Considerable research has been conducted on archaeofaunal food remains as a proxy for consumer practices in Euro-American historical archaeology. Such research often incorporates price-driven meat rankings, in which the historical cost of a meat cut determines its rank. Archaeological fish remains also present an opportunity to examine how historical communities engaged with fish that could be acquired through subsistence practices, leisure activities, or market purchases. However, the...
Town and Gown: Foodways in Antebellum Chapel Hill, NC (2016)
Chartered in 1789 and enrolling students in 1795, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is one of three schools that claims the title of oldest public university in the United States. Despite this storied history, relatively little is known about the lives of antebellum university and Chapel Hill residents, particularly archaeologically. In October 2011, contractors excavated a trench around the Battle, Vance, and Pettigrew buildings at UNC. In the process, they exposed archaeological...