Archaeological Animal Remains

Abstract

Shifting to non-artifactual evidence, this chapter introduces zooarchaeology, beginning with the range of animal remains and the effects of taphonomy — the post-depositional effects that alter and differentially destroy remains. It then reviews the terminology used to describe skeletal and other hard remains of mammals, birds, bony fish, and molluscs, before outlining the main aspects of zooarchaeological identification and zooarchaeological reference collections. It briefly returns to the topic of quantification in zooarchaeological interpretation, building on Chap. 7, with emphasis on utility measures. It reviews some of the major research foci of zooarchaeology, including paleoecology and climate change, seasonality, food practices, archaeogenetics and other molecular methods, and research on “secondary products” (the non-meat resources that animals provide). It concludes with a case study on the reliability of faunal identifications and measurements.