Impacts of Behavioral Contexts on Intrasite Zooarchaeological Sampling

Summary

Intrasite spatial analysis is nothing new, however, its application to zooarchaeological remains continues to be relatively rare. A critical aspect of any archaeological analysis is an understanding of where our samples come from in terms of human behavioral contexts. Animal remains end up in many places – where daily meals are prepared and eaten, where trash is dumped, where tools and ornaments are made and used, where special events bring people together, where sacrifices and offerings are placed. How often, when the site is the desired analytic unit, are various constituent behavioral contexts collapsed? How does this merging of contexts impact interpretation? Two case studies are evaluated. In the process some of the common assumptions about critical variables of “trash rules” are reviewed.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 81st Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL (2016)   •
• Trash Rules: Intrasite Zooarchaeology

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