Zooarchaeological Perspective Research Articles

Competing forces: Subsistence strategies and human-carnivore interactions during the middle to Upper Palaeolithic transition in Northern Iberia

The comparative assessment of dietary choices as part of landscape use strategies deployed by Neanderthal and Anatomically Modern Human populations in Eurasia constitutes a fundamental avenue of Palaeolithic research. The increasing number of taphonomic assessments enables a better understanding of what remains were brought to sites by human hunters versus mammalian carnivores or raptors. A zooarchaeological approach can further elucidate the spatio-temporal dynamics of interaction between carnivores and human populations in terms of landscape use and prey choice during this transitional period. To achieve this objective, we conducted an examination of zooarchaeological and taphonomic data, carnivore indices, and other relevant variables across 36 Middle and Early Upper Palaeolithic sites in northern Iberia. These sites encompass 126 archaeological layers dating from 50,000 to 30,000 years ago. Our comprehensive bibliographic meta-analysis reveals that human occupations by both groups at sites across the region were punctuated by episodes influenced by carnivores. This observation implies that human occupations in northern Iberia during Marine Isotope Stage 3 were generally characterised by instability and limited to short periods, often seasonal in nature. From a zooarchaeological perspective, the combined assessment of taxonomic data, species richness and assemblage diversity highlights that the range and proportion of species acquired by these different human groups are similar, although Anatomically Modern Humans engaged in a sustained trend towards increasing dietary diversification even at sites with assemblages heavily dominated by one taxon.

Zooarchaeological perspectives in the framework of the Anthropocene: Contributions to ecological, environmental and conservation studies from South America

This special volume considers major recent changes in southern South American animal communities. Eleven papers consider megafauna, pinnipeds, marine mammals, small terrestrial mammals and birds and are grouped under four sub-headings: (1) Isotopic insights into guanaco populations; (2) Historical sources and marine ecosystem change; (3) Changes in small mammal communities and human impacts; and (4) megafaunal extinction, domestication, avifauna and recent interactions with humans. Although some of these contributions include changes that occurred earlier in the Holocene, many highlight a current decrease in the taxonomic diversity of communities and ecosystems in different environments, which are likely to have been caused by modern human activities. The Anthropocene concept is seen as providing a useful framework for understanding and mitigation of such adverse human impacts.

The dik-diks of Guli Waabayo: Late Pleistocene net-hunting and forager sociality in eastern Africa

Net-hunting is closely linked to organized labor and hunter-gatherer cooperation in many world regions. At the Rifle Range Site (RRS) in southern Somalia, scholars have argued that Later Stone Age (LSA) foragers developed specialized dwarf antelope hunting strategies—possibly using communal net-drives—to facilitate developing concepts of territoriality around resource-rich inselberg environments during a wet period in the early and middle Holocene. Unfortunately, a lack of radiocarbon dates and faunal data limited detailed zooarchaeological perspectives on changing hunting patterns at the site. The large and well-dated dwarf antelope bone assemblage (1263 specimens) from nearby Guli Waabayo (GW) rock shelter, on the other hand, provides an opportunity to explore proposed relationships between net-hunting and LSA social and economic reorganization in southern Somalia ~ 26–6 thousand years ago (ka). Consistently high dik-dik frequencies (55.2–71.9%) and mortality profiles comprised of individuals from all age groups throughout the sequence do not support previous arguments associating specialized dwarf antelope hunting with territoriality and Holocene climatic amelioration at RRS. Instead, they suggest that LSA foraging groups regularly hunted dik-dik (genus Madoqua) using nets over a ~ 20,000-year period beginning as far back as the arid Marine Isotope Stage 2, 29–14.5 ka. Findings from this study complement recent arguments for greater economic variability in Late Pleistocene eastern Africa and push discussions of forager social change further back in time than previously considered.

The ‘Lamb of God’ in the early Middle Ages: a zooarchaeological perspective

ABSTRACT Medieval ecclesiastical estates have long been linked to vast flocks of wool-producing sheep that underpinned the wealth of the nation well into the sixteenth century. Recent surveys of English medieval animal remains have found evidence for an exceptionally high quantity of sheep at some of the earliest monastic communities established in England from the seventh century AD. The association between religious ideology and sheep is integral to teachings from the Bible, but sheep were also of economic value, and these ideas are considered alongside the changing meaning and value of flocks, and the increase in wool production in medieval England.

A zooarchaeological perspective on testudine bones from Hoabinhian hunter-gatherer archaeological assemblages in Southeast Asia

A zooarchaeological perspective on testudine bones from Hoabinhian hunter-gatherer archaeological assemblages in Southeast Asia

Economies in Transformation: A Zooarchaeological Perspective from Early Iron Age Arslantepe (Southeastern Türkiye)

Geç Tunç Çağı’ndan Demir Çağı’na geçiş, tüm Doğu Akdeniz Havzasında büyük kargaşa ve köklü değişimlerin olduğu bir dönem olarak kabul edilir. Büyük siyasi ve kültürel dönüşümler, insan gruplarının yoğun hareketliliği ve aralarındaki ilişkilerle doğrulanmaktadır, ancak bunların ilgili toplumların geçim ekonomisini nasıl etkilediği literatürde henüz tam olarak tartışılmamış bir konudur. Arslantepe Höyüğü’nde yapılan son kazılar, bu soruya ışık tutabilecek ilginç yeni veriler ortaya çıkardı. Bu makale, Arslantepe’de ortaya çıkarılan Erken Demir Çağı zooarkeolojik kalıntılarının temel özelliklerini ortaya koymaktadır. Böylelikle, Geç Tunç Çağı materyalinin diakronik analizi, diğer alanlar ve bölgelerle yapılan karşılaştırmalar, MÖ 2. binyılın son yüzyıllarında gerçekleşen tarım ve hayvancılık biçimleri ve ilişkili zanaat üretimlerinde daha geniş potansiyel dönüşümleri anlamaya yardımcı olacaktır. Ayrıca, Erken Hitit etki alanının sınırında ve daha sonra etkin, bağımsız Demir Çağı krallıklarından birinin başkenti olan bir yerleşimin, tarımsal üretim kalıplarında meydana gelen değişiklikleri anlamamıza katkı sağlayacaktır.

The Late Migration Period Cemetery at Drnholec (Břeclav District, Czech Republic) / Pohřebiště z konce doby stěhování národů z Drnholce (okres Břeclav, ČR)

The authors present part of a burial ground of the Late Migration Period in Drnholec - Pod sýpkou (Břeclav district, Czech Republic), where seven graves were discovered in 2016 and 2017. The grave goods were identified, by typological analysis, as Langobardian/Lombardian. The authors argue that even a small part of a cemetery with a limited number of graves can bring important new data and open strategic questions, challenging traditional interpretations. The paper aims to present the results of excavation in the light of archaeological, anthropological and zooarchaeological perspectives. Archaeological part is focused on presenting the grave units and the cemetery as a contextual unit. Stylistic and typological analysis of grave goods, radiocarbon dates and probability modeling were used to establish the chronology of the cemetery. Anthropological and palaeopathological examinations were accompanied with buccal dental microwear analysis and tooth cementum annulation (TCA) which provide information about diet and age-at-death estimation. Zooarchaeological analysis was mainly driven by the find of a mule skeleton. In addition to skeletal expertise, Nitrogen and Carbon stable isotopes analyses were also applied. The authors set out their thoughts, based on material and bibliographical study, on the problem of classifying and understanding the cultural and ethnic identity of the Migration Period populations.

The Late Bronze Age pastoralist settlement at Halehaxite in the Tianshan Mountains, Xinjiang, China, a zooarchaeological perspective

Northwestern China is a key region for the exchange of population, commodity, technology, custom and culture between the east and west part of the Old World since prehistoric times. However, we lack zooarchaeological evidence from settlement sites in Xinjiang province, which makes it difficult to understand the pastoral economies and livestock herding activities of the Late Bronze Age in this area. Here, we present a study of the earliest and meanwhile the first systematic zooarchaeological analysis from the Late Bronze Age settlement, the Halehaxite site in northwestern Xinjiang. Our findings pointed out that the herd of Halehaxite comprises four domestic animals: cattle, sheep, goats and horses. The herd is dominated by cattle, different from other contemporaneous sites in the Central and East Tianshan Mountains. Mortality patterns of the domesticates were linked to sophisticated milk exploitation and not many individuals were kept for long-term secondary production.

New zooarchaeological perspectives on the early Upper Paleolithic Rostamian sequence of Ghar-e Boof (southern Zagros Mountains, Iran)

Ghar-e Boof is a Paleolithic cave site in Iran, known for being the type locality for the early Upper Paleolithic (UP) Rostamian lithic industries. Defining the Rostamian cultural group has significant archaeological implications for the Zagros Mountains. First, it highlights the cultural diversity of the UP in the Zagros. Second, it evinces a more complex scenario for the spread of anatomically modern humans (AMHs) across Southwest Asia. Despite this, little is known about human subsistence strategies during the Rostamian. In this paper, we present the results of a zooarchaeological analysis that allows us to reconstruct prey choice, transport decisions, and carcass processing at Ghar-e Boof. Wild sheep/goat was the main prey at the site, but other taxa such as partridges, tortoises, and gazelles represented important dietary supplements. Mortality data indicate that Rostamian hunters primarily targeted prime-aged adult ungulates. Anatomical representation also shows that there was no selective transport of animal carcasses to the site, so hunting activities most likely took place nearby. Although many specimens in the assemblage were covered by thick concretions, the presence of cut marks demonstrates defleshing, filleting, dismemberment, and even the removal of internal organs of prey. Percussion impacts and cone fractures also suggest the processing of bones for marrow. Chronologically, moving from the oldest to the youngest layers, there is a decrease in large game in parallel with a progressive increase in small, fast-moving animals. Following the prey choice model of optimal foraging theory, this diachronic variation might track regional resource stress or an increase in hunting pressure. Our results, along with the analysis of lithic artifacts and changes in the rates of sedimentation during the Rostamian sequence, indicate an increase in occupation intensity through time. Thus, the archaeological record of Ghar-e Boof and the ubiquity of UP sites across the Dasht-e Rostam region most probably reflect population growth within a few millennia after the arrival of AMHs.

An Early Hispanic-Indigenous Contact Event at the Los Viscos Archaeological Site in the South-Central Andes: A Zooarchaeological Perspective

An Early Hispanic-Indigenous Contact Event at the Los Viscos Archaeological Site in the South-Central Andes: A Zooarchaeological Perspective

Investigating Middle Palaeolithic subsistence: zooarchaeological perspectives on the potential character of hominin climate refugia in Greece

ABSTRACTIt has long been proposed that during Pleistocene climatic perturbations the Balkan peninsula sustained refugial areas for fauna, flora, and potentially, hominins. In this study, we explore Middle Palaeolithic subsistence at the peninsula's southern end, Greece, and discuss how the evidence contributes to our understanding of the region's character as a refugium. We present new data from the recent reanalysis of the fauna from Asprochaliko rockshelter and the ongoing zooarchaeological investigations at Lakonis Cave 1 and compare them with published analyses from Klissoura Cave 1. We employ taxonomic abundance and diversity indices, as well as mortality profiles, to investigate hominin prey choice. Additional taphonomic observations provide further information on carcass exploitation. We examine changes in the faunal composition of the three sites in an attempt to identify the extent to which climate might have influenced resource availability and diversity in the region, stimulating resource intensification or diversification processes. Our results suggest that Middle Palaeolithic hominins consistently acquired high‐ranked prey through time. However, interregional differences in resource exploitation indicate that local topography and microclimate mediated prey choice and availability.

Animal husbandry in Classical and Hellenistic Thessaly (Central Greece): A zooarchaeological perspective from Almiros

Scholars have been arguing about the nature and scale of Greco-Roman economy in mainland Greece for over fifty years. In this study we investigate the faunal assemblages of Magoula Plataniotiki and New Halos, two neighbouring Classical and Hellenistic towns in Almiros (Thessaly, Greece) to scrutinize how the animal economy functioned in central Greece between fourth and third century BCE, using traditional zooarchaeology. The results indicate an apparently stable subsistence economy, primarily based on caprine production, in addition to cattle, pig, and equid breeding. The establishment of New Halos brought about minor changes to the traditional herding and provisioning system; husbandry strategies remained apparently stable, whereas the contribution of game to the diet increased. The intensification of environmental exploitation, due to demographic nucleation in the plain, might have triggered such changes. The surprising underrepresentation of pig in New Halos suggests pork consumption on a non-household level. Zooarchaeological studies from various contemporary sites in Greece show similar patterns suggestive of small-scale subsistence economy. Geopolitical and environmental factors and tradition might have halted the integration of the Almiros markets into the larger market of the Hellenistic world. This study proposes an economic model where small-scale animal and plant husbandry practiced side by side that fits the agro-pastoral model of the ancient Greek economy suggested by Halstead and Hodkinson among others.

The Emergence and Transmission of Metallurgical Technology for Subsistence Activities in Daily Life in Northern Europe: A Microscopic Zooarchaeological Perspective

ABSTRACT The origin of metallurgy is usually monitored via the appearance and frequency of various types of metal items. Quantifying the distribution of metal versus stone tool types over time and space can provide insight into the processes underlying the introduction and diffusion of a functional metallurgical technology for subsistence activities, but is a very limited approach. By quantifying the relative frequency of metal versus stone tool slicing cut marks in butchered animal bone assemblages, it becomes possible to identify and map the introduction and spread of metallurgy into and across a region. Prehistoric data from central Poland (from the Early Neolithic, ca. 5400 b.c., through the Early Iron Age, ca. 450 b.c.) are used to calculate the frequency of use and relative importance of stone and metal implements over time. The results clearly demonstrate that metal tools are adopted slowly throughout the entire length of the Bronze Age and that the advent of the Bronze Age did not entail the wholesale disappearance of lithics for butchering animals.

Local animal economies during the nineteenth-century caravan trade along the Lower Pangani, northeastern Tanzania: a zooarchaeological perspective

ABSTRACT The expansion of the caravan trade in eastern Africa during the nineteenth century is considered to have had significant ecological, economic and social consequences. While available historical documentary and oral sources provide valuable evidence concerning the scale, timing and spatial extent of these, as well as information about some of the key actors and agents, there remain significant gaps that have the potential to be filled by targeted archaeological research. This paper presents one such study, which aims to establish how influential the expansion of the caravan trade was on local animal economies, with particular reference to a sample of known caravan halts on the northern route on the Pangani River, Tanzania. The results of zooarchaeological analysis of faunal assemblages recovered from four sites suggest that the impacts may have been less than has often been argued by some historians. The study also provides fresh insight on the continuing importance of wild resources, especially rodents, in local diets in the late nineteenth century and on local herd management strategies.

The Bronze Age birds in Greece. A zooarchaeological perspective

Bird bones are rare finds in Bronze Age excavations in Greece, though, the presence of bird representations in art of the same period is remarkable. This paper examines this paradox from a zooarchaeological perspective. It records and presents the osteological evidence for bird exploitation by Bronze Age communities in Greece and examines the characteristics of the bird bone assemblages, emphasizing the need for nuance and methodological rigor in interpreting these data. This evidence is then viewed against the contemporary birds’ representations record from the same area. From such a comparative approach, a number of similarities and differences emerge regarding the intensity of human-bird interactions, the preferred bird types or the significance of particular types of birds across the study area. Further study of these discrepancies may offer a better understanding of the role of birds in Bronze Age Aegean.

There and back again: A zooarchaeological perspective on Early and Middle Bronze Age urbanism in the southern Levant

Multiple arguments for or against the presence of ‘urban’ settlements in the Early Bronze Age of the southern Levant have identified the need to compare these settlements against their rural hinterlands through multiple lines of evidence. This meta-analysis of zooarchaeological data from the region compares and identifies patterns of animal production, provisioning and consumption between the supposed “urban” and rural sites of the southern Levant from the Early Bronze (EB) against the (more widely recognised urban) Middle Bronze (MB) Ages. It also identifies distinct and regionally specific patterns in animal production and consumption that can be detected between urban and rural sites of the southern Levant. The taxonomic and age profiles from EB Ia and Ib sites do not demonstrate any urban versus rural differentiation patterning, even though fortifications appear in the EB Ib. Beginning in the EB II and clearly visible in the EB III, there is differentiation between rural and urban sites in the taxonomic and age proportions. Differentiation is repeated in the MB II. The clear differentiation between “urban” and rural zooarchaeological assemblages from the EB II-III and MB suggest that rural sites are provisioning the larger fortified settlements. This pattern indicates that these sites are indeed urban in nature, and these societies are organized at the state-level. From the EB II onwards, there is a clear bias in the large centres towards the consumption of cattle and of subadult sheep and goats with a corresponding bias in smaller rural sites towards the consumption of adult sheep and goats and a reduced presence of cattle. After the emergence of this differential pattern, it disappears with the decline in social complexity at the end of the Early Bronze Age, only to come ‘back again’ with the re-emergence of urban settlement systems in the Middle Bronze Age.

Neanderthal logistic mobility during MIS3: Zooarchaeological perspective of Abric Romaní level P (Spain)

Mobility strategies of Neanderthal groups are studied through the characterization and analysis of archaeological sites and traditionally compared to the types of settlements present-day hunter-gatherer groups, based on their mobility strategies. The faunal record of level P of Abric Romaní is a unique source of information for analysing the foraging behaviour developed by Neanderthals during MIS3. The assemblage is divided into two separate and well-defined sublevels: Pa and Pb. Through the taphonomic study of the remains and their spatial distribution, it was possible to define the characteristics of these human occupations. The analyses indicate that the assemblage was the result of at least two different types of occupations: 1) A transitory residential camp during short halts, focusing on the exploitation of red deer; 2) A hunting camp/intermediate butchering site for the specialized capture of horses. The presence of occupations focusing on the supply of specific resources is typical of collector groups. The results of the zooarchaeological study of level P characterize the Neanderthals of Abric Romaní as groups involved in a logistic mobility system, who moved throughout the territory depending on the availability of large ungulates.

Resource intensification and zooarchaeological record in the southern margins of pre-Hispanic Andean agriculture

Central Western Argentina is an area archeologically defined as one of the southernmost limits of farming in the pre-Hispanic Americas. Optimal foraging models help to predict important changes in faunal use prior to the adoption of agriculture related to resource depression and environmental changes. This paper evaluates changes in pre-Hispanic human subsistence from a zooarchaeological perspective and explores archeological record trends from the northern area of Central Western Argentina. Using zooarchaeological information in Northern Mendoza (Central Western Argentina), trends related to the human exploitation of faunal resources were explored in connection with time and space. Two high-ranked resource indexes were calculated: the artiodactyl index and a high-ranked resources index. The results show a decrease in the dependence on high-ranked resources by human groups after ca. 2000 bp and an increase in richness, indicating a diet breath expansion. Long-term trends in the density of radiocarbon dates suggest a considerable population growth after ca. 2000 bp. These trends are consistent with the contemporary changes reported by other archaeological proxies in Northern Mendoza. The results of the zooarchaeological analysis confirm changes in human organization around 2000 years bp that reflect an intensification process.

Intensive exploitation of animal resources during Deglacial times in North China: a case study from the Yujiagou site

Archeological evidence of intensive human foraging behavior during the Deglacial period (ca. 16,000–8000 cal. BP) from the perspectives of artifact manufacturing technologies and the use of plant resources has been widely reported in China. However, the zooarchaeological perspective has contributed less, especially with respect to animal remains from open-air sites in North China. In this paper, we present taphonomic and zooarchaeological data from layers 3 and 4 at the Yujiagou site regarding the formation processes of faunal assemblages as well as the hunting, processing, and consumption behaviors of the site’s occupants. These data enable the reconstruction of how animal resources were obtained, illuminating the lifestyles of hunter-gatherers who used a micro-blade technology in North China. Results indicate that the Yujiagou hunters preferred juvenile gazelles and horses, and that bone marrow was a significant source of energy for humans. Taking into account climate changes that occurred during the Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene, we hypothesize that exploitation of animal resources intensified at this time. This pattern differs from that of the broad-spectrum diet exploitation widely reported in Europe and Southwest Asia.

The early use of fire among Neanderthals from a zooarchaeological perspective

Fire represented a real revolution in human lifestyles, transforming the way food was processed and leading to a new way of organising settlements and interacting socially. Yet, it is one of the most debated and controversial issues in the field of Palaeolithic archaeology. The scientific community generally proposes that the regular and controlled use of fire occurred from 400 to 300 ka onward, and that the archaeological signal became well established in sites younger than 100 ka. Thus, the chronological range between 400 and 300 ka is crucial to exploring how this phenomenon and the associated behavioural changes occurred. Here, we examine the zooarchaeological signature this process left on the faunal record, including procurement techniques and animal processing (e.g., roasting). The data are compared to information from sites without fire that are framed within the same chronological period. Our objective is to collect zooarchaeological data on the process of dependence on fire as a central element in the new human mode of adaptation.