Human Behavior and Environment: A Preliminary Zooarchaeological Investigation at the Alm Shelter Wyoming

Summary

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

The Alm Shelter in Wyoming lies in the foothills of the Bighorn Mountains, and its repeated use for 12,000 years provides a snapshot into human life throughout the Holocene. Moisture is a controlling factor in this (semi)arid environment. Mountains provided refuge and increased moisture access for humans, animals, and plants. This aridity also leads to poor bone preservation, adding import to this site through its addition to existing faunal and environmental data for the region. Faunal remains are used to investigate subsistence, mobility, and environmental reconstruction through stable isotope analyses, standard faunal analyses, and proteomics (Zooarchaeology by Mass Spectrometry, ZooMS). δ13C and δ15N data allow for evaluation of faunal bone collagen preservation, while also providing data for vegetative landcover and aridity. The fauna will give insight into subsistence over time and whether hunting was done in the basin or on the mountain. Combined, the data can be used to explore relations between human behavior and the environment across the Holocene.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

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

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 40116.0