1,721,114 research outputs found
A Glossary of Zooarchaeological Methods
No full textThis methodological glossary presents brief explanations of the main analytical methods employed by zooarchaeologists and makes reference to those chapters in the Handbook that provide examples of their applications. The aim is to provide non-expert readers with a basic understanding of how the evidence presented in this volume has been obtained. The limitations and biases of each type of analysis are also briefly outlined, as their acknowledgement represents an essential prerequisite to research on archaeological materials. The definitions always refer to zooarchaeological applications of the term, although many of them may be employed in other disciplines with similar or different meanings. Each term makes reference to the chapters where it is mentioned, with the exception of approaches that are invariably adopted (e.g. taxonomic identification, quantification)
Zooarchaeology in the twenty- first century: where we come from, where we are now, and where we are going
Get PDFAfter more than a century of growth, zooarchaeology has started fulfilling its full potential. The recognition of the centrality of zooarchaeological investigations in archaeology represents the most important, and hopefully enduring, development. Zooarchaeology remains, however, ultimately inter-disciplinary and cannot be pigeonholed within either Science or Humanities. Zooarchaeologists use a multitude of approaches, and contribute to all aspects of investigations of past human life, ranging from social structure, to economy, diet, ecology, ideology, and religion. The discipline has developed a set of well-established methods, whose widespread use enhances data comparability. It is, however, important that the research strategies and approaches of zooarchaeologists remain dynamic and open to constant scrutiny. Zooarchaeology is today highly international, enjoying a healthy level of open communication. There is, however, the need to reach out to areas where the discipline is still underdeveloped, as those will generate new stimuli as well as research opportunities
Widening the market. Strontium isotope analysis on cattle teeth from Owslebury (Hampshire, UK) highlights changes in livestock supply between the Iron Age and the Roman period
No full textStrontium Isotope Analysis applied on changes in livestock supply in Britannia between the Iron Age and the Roman perio
Current views on Sus phylogeography and pig domestication as seen through modern mtDNA studies
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The role of chicken in the medieval food system: evidence from Central Italy
Get PDFOver the last decade the study of chicken in the archaeological context has received increased attention. Most published studies have focused on a number of core subjects: the identification of the chicken’s wild ancestor,1 its spread from Asia to Europe,2 the earliest introductions of it into Europe3 and the first evidence of intense economic exploitation.4 It is commonly accepted that the domestic chicken originated from the red jungle fowl (Gallus gallus), which was first domesticated in eastern Asia, perhaps through multiple, independent domestication events.5 The timing of the initial domestication, as well as its spread to the Middle East and Europe, is still unclear. In Italy, chicken remains are mentioned in contexts as early as the ninth century BC, although these require verification.6 By the sixth century BC, however, the occurrence of chicken in Italy is clearly attested.7 In the Classical period, domestic fowl (Gallus domesticus) is often associated with funerary and ritual contexts. The gradual increase of its archaeological representation from the fourth century BC to the sixth century AD,8 indicates that chickens only became widespread in the Roman period, when they began to be exploited as a valuable meat source. This increase is also expressed in a number of well-known literary sources. Roman authors, such as Columella and Pliny the Elder (first century AD), mention the occurrence of a diversity of chicken breeds and management practices. Although chicken was exploited as a source of food in the Middle Ages, there are no medieval written sources detailing the husbandry practices adopted at that time in Italy. Shifts in size throughout the Middle Ages, likely linked to differential management strategies, have been identified in Rome.9 This could indicate the occurrence of changes in human-chicken interactions from the Early to the Late Middle Ages in Italy. This paper aims to investigate husbandry practices adopted at rural and urban sites in Central Italy and the importance of chicken in the Central Italian medieval food economy
3.4.7 Faunal remains from Woodhenge tree-throw pit 058 and buried soil; 5.8 Faunal remains from West Amesbury; 7.2.9 Faunal remains from Neolithic context around Cuckoo Stone
No full textThe papers is devoted to the presentation of the results from the faunal analysis in sites located in the landscape that pre-dated Stonehenge on Salisbury Plain (UK)
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