Making Fauna Matter in Archaic Period Research: Exploring Adaptation, Population Growth, and Cultural Practice through the Digital Integration of Eastern Archaic Faunal Datasets
Part of: Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)
Although recovery and identification of animal remains from Eastern Archaic sites has been standard procedure for decades, zooarchaeologists usually have not been at the forefront of archaeological debate about Archaic period variability and change. Even though they are commonly examined at the site and local level, faunal data have been critically evaluated in macro assessments of what happened during the Archaic in only a few instances. Fortunately the development of digital repositories such as the Digital Archaeological Record (tDAR) means that it is now possible to incorporate faunal evidence into archaeological research more directly. Preservation and integration of more than 50 significant faunal databases in tDAR by the Eastern Archaic Faunal Working Group (EAFWG) has facilitated the exploration of possible causes for variability and change in the use of aquatic resources by Archaic peoples within and across the sub-regions of the interior North American Eastern Woodlands. The methodological approaches of the EAFWG and the integrative tools available in tDAR have made it possible to closely examine faunal data at multiple scales. Ultimately the work of the EAFWG is leading to new perspectives on the roles of ecological, demographic, and cultural factors in the choices of Archaic period populations.
Other Keywords
Archaic period •
Faunal Analysis •
demography •
Shell Middens •
Zooarchaeology •
Data Comparability •
Archaeozoology •
Aquatic resources •
tDAR •
Digital databases
Geographic Keywords
United States of America (Country) •
North America (Continent) •
USA (Country) •
Missouri (State / Territory) •
Kentucky (State / Territory) •
Illinois (State / Territory) •
Wisconsin (State / Territory) •
Indiana (State / Territory) •
Michigan (State / Territory) •
Nebraska (State / Territory)
Resources Inside This Collection (Viewing 1-5 of 5)
- Documents (5)
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Archaic Fishing in the Eastern Woodlands: An Examination of Social Causes and Environmental Variation (2017)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
The Eastern Archaic Faunal Working Group brings together researchers and nearly sixty faunal datasets representing twenty-one sites from four major sub-regions of the Eastern Woodlands. In this paper, we focus on resource availability and the potential causal relationship to cultural choice. The Archaic Period archaeological sites in our study are located in the Mid-South and Ohio River Valley regions, and are well known for their composition of shell in the form of middens or mounds. In a...
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The EAFWG and Multi-scale Analyses of the Use of Fauna During the Archaic Period in the Interior Eastern Woodlands (2017)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
The formation of the Eastern Archaic Faunal Working Group (EAFWG) has brought together zooarchaeologists responsible for the analysis and interpretation of a large number of significant faunal assemblages from Archaic period sites. Our collaboration has led to the preservation of nearly 60 significant faunal datasets from 21 archaeological sites in several areas of the U.S. interior Eastern Woodlands in the Digital Archaeological Record (tDAR). This collection of datasets has been integrated...
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Exploring Comparability of Archaic Period Faunal Datasets for the Interior Eastern United States (2017)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
The Eastern Archaic Faunal Working Group uploaded nearly 60 faunal datasets for 21 archaeological sites in the interior Eastern United States into the Digital Archaeological Record (tDAR) to address hypotheses about changing human reliance on aquatic resources during the Archaic Period. As an important prerequisite for our integrative study, we examined comparability of data. To ensure comparability of datasets developed by different researchers, we addressed variable structure and mapped key...
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Exploring the Effects of Stabilizing Riverine and Lacustrine Environments on Archaic Faunal Exploitation in the Great Lakes and Prairie Peninsula (2017)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
The interplay among changing environmental forces affected the configuration of lake and river drainage systems after 6,000 BP and the abundance, composition, and productivity of aquatic animal communities available to Early, Middle, and Late Archaic groups of the interior Eastern Woodlands. These environmental changes have long been suggested as powerful influences on selection strategies of animal resources during the Archaic period. Using the integrative applications of the Digital...
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Second Line Resources? Evaluating the Relationship Between Human Demography and Aquatic Resource Use During the Eastern Archaic (2017)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
As part of its investigations the Eastern Archaic Faunal Working Group (EAFWG) has been examining multiple explanatory models for Archaic variability and change in aquatic resource use. One traditional model argues that the intensified use of aquatic animals can be attributed to population growth and aggregation. In order to test this model the EAFWG explored possible methods for reconstructing Archaic population demographics. Until recently broad-scale Archaic population reconstruction has...