New Ecological Directions: Isotopes, Genetics, Historical Ecology, Conservation

Abstract

This chapter provides an overview of three areas of research collaboration for zoo- archaeologists. The first is stable isotope analysis, which began as a way to recon- struct ancient climate, evolved into investigating ancient human diet and mobility, and more recently entered zooarchaeology and conservation biology. The second is animal genetics, which has revolutionized the study of plant and animal domestica- tion, and has also been applied to understanding ancient foragers’ relations with wild species. The third is use of zooarchaeology in the conservation and manage- ment of animal species. Both isotopic and genetic materials can be considered to be strong proxies for specific processes in the past. Certainly, isotopic “signatures” are checked for the effects of situationally variable causes of sample contamination. However, such possible chemical influences on isotopic ratios are understood within a systematic causal framework. Likewise, archaeogeneticists’ concern with specimen contami- nation with modern DNA stems from understanding of the biomolecular processes by which the proxy is related to the object of investigation. The next sections outline principles of these methods and offer examples of their applications. 23.1