Zooarchaeology and Human Diet Reconstruction

Abstract

Animal resources have long played a role in human diet and subsistence. The nature of this relationship can be unlocked through the analysis of animal remains from archaeological sites. Zooarchaeological analyses of diet begin with an evaluation of the adequacy of the study sample and the isolation of those remains that can be securely linked to human dietary decisions. The constituents of past menus, which offer important insights into human lifeways, are reconstructed by listing the type and number of consumed taxa. Understanding the selection of a diet and how it fits into a wider subsistence strategy, however, requires a grasp of the value assigned by humans to particular animal resources. Zooarchaeologists utilize a diverse set of measures to estimate value in order to construct predictive models of resource utilization over space and time. Zooarchaeology thus remains a key tool for reconstructing the diets of past peoples.