What Faunal Remains from Wolf Scat in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem Can Tell Us about Canid Presence in the past

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The authors analyzed scat collected from gray wolf (Canis lupus) packs in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem from 2019 – 2021. Faunal remains in the scat were identified to element, using comparative collections from the Draper Museum of Natural History, and assessed for surface modification and abrasion. This information was supplemented by species identification provided by guard hairs identified using a compound microscope. The results provide information on the taphonomic signature of wolves which is of use in assessing zooarchaeological assemblages. The feeding behavior of wild wolves, as inferred from faunal remains, can be used to identify canids at human occupation sites where no canid bones are present. Differences found between faunal assemblages from wild wolves and domestic dogs could provide insight into the formation of sites and when canids were present at the site. This in turn can provide insights into the process of domestication. For example, wild wolves are unlikely to have been present at human occupation sites when they were in use. Canids in the process of domestication likely inhabited sites concurrently with humans, but their taphonomic signature would reflect a more diverse diet than domestic dogs, which depend largely on humans for their food.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 37805.0