Faunal Database Preservation and Collaborative Zooarchaeology by the Eastern Archaic Faunal Working Group

Summary

The newly formed Eastern Archaic Faunal Working Group (EAFWG) has brought zooarchaeologists together with funding from the US National Science Foundation. Our group is seeking to preserve Archaic period faunal databases from the interior portions of the Eastern Woodlands in tDAR (the Digital Archaeological Record), an international digital repository for archaeological databases and records of investigations. Members of the EAFWG have uploaded over 28 separate datasets representing more than 14 archaeological projects into tDAR, and additional relevant faunal databases are being sought for inclusion. Our collaboration first explores the comparability of the existing databases by modifying taphonomic and contextual protocols developed by Southwestern zooarchaeologists in order to make them broadly applicable within the Eastern Woodlands. Ultimately we intend to use the tools available in tDAR to conduct integrative analyses at multiple scales that focus on how to interpret the use of aquatic resources such as fish, freshwater mussels, waterfowl, and aquatic mammals by Archaic hunter-gatherers. Working group meetings held as 2-3 day workshops when participants are free of their normal responsibilities and can focus on shared experiences and issues are fostering our collaboration. Our approach models new ways for zooarchaeologists to address macro scale archaeological questions.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 81st Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL (2016)   •
• New Methods in Zooarchaeology

Keywords

Spatial Coverage