ZooarchaeologyA Brief Overview

Catherine BohnerSession 4, 2010

What is zooarchaeology?It is a multidisciplinary field based on the analysis of animal

remains from archaeology sites. This relatively young discipline seeks to understand how and in what ways

humans and animals have interacted in the past, and how these interactions have affected human culture and the

environmental context in which it exists.

Why Zooarchaeology?

To answer questions about animals and the relationship with people:

How did people use animals in the past?Did they consider any animals special?

What was the environment like in the past?How has the environment changed?

Where do we find animal bones?

3 Main Types of Deposit:

- Home or village refuse deposit- Refuse from specialized location: kill site or location of processing- Intentional Deposition

What kind of information?

Primary Data

Element Taxonomic ID Specimen Count Pathology Measurements Age and Sex Modifications

Information Continued

Secondary Data Relative frequency of taxa: MNI, NISP Skeletal frequency Estimate of Body dimensions Estimate of dietary contribution Construction of age and sex classes,

mortality profiles (like demography) Utility indices Niche breadth and biodiversity

What can animal bones tell us?

We can learn about...

- Subsistence patterns- Diet and cuisine- Seasonality- Environment- Meaning attached to animals

Subsistence Patterns

- Frequency of wild, domestic taxa- Diet contribution estimates- Primary and Secondary Products- Demography and mortality profiles- Stress markers

Diet and Cuisine

Differential AccessSpecialized Use

Butchery Patterns

Special Use of Animals

OrnamentationRitual burials of/with animals

Trade and ExchangeSymbolism

Is it all about bones?

Supplemented by:Stable isotope analyses of human boneResidue analyses on ceramic remains

Paleoenvironmental studiesImagery of animals

Written sourcesRelated artifacts and features

In Sanisera...

What were the residents of Sanisera eating?How did this compare with Roman cuisine?

Does this relationship suggest anything about class or status? What kind of variation is

there?Were shells used as decoration or food?

What is the significance of the bull horns?

For more reading...Articles:Ask me! I still have links/pdfs

Books:Reitz and Wing. Zooarchaeology. Cambridge:

Cambridge University Press, 2008.

O'Connor. Archaeology of Animal Bones. College Station: Texas A&M Press, 2000.