Animal Resources in Experimental Archaeology

This collection contains the abstracts of the papers presented in the session entitled "Animal Resources in Experimental Archaeology" at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Experimental archaeological research using animal raw material resources (e.g., bone, teeth, skin, tendons, feathers, marine- and eggshell) is useful for developing an understanding of past human-animal relationships including subsistence strategies, tool manufacture and use, and artwork, as well as for understanding taphonomy, site formation processes, and population movements. Given their organic nature, biologically derived animal resources are highly variable and degrade over time, complicating the use of modern experiments as analogues for ancient processes. This session aims to present a diverse set of archaeological experiments, focused on incorporating and/or controlling for the inherent, anthropogenically modified, postmortem, or postdepositional variability of animal tissues. Exploring experimentation through a range of themes, potential contributions may include raw material properties analyses, the influence of animal material states, sample preparation, curation and storage, taphonomic alterations, blind-tests, and methodological development and standardization (e.g., dating, isotopes, microscopy, use-wear, 3D modeling, FTIR). While experiments utilizing animal remains are an important analytical tool for archaeologists, we are particularly interested in contributions discussing the ethics of using animals in archaeological research. This broadly focused session will incorporate diverse perspectives and methodological approaches for evaluating past human activities including animal interactions.