1,721,029 research outputs found
Rethinking established methodology in micromammal taphonomy: archaeological case studies from Orkney, UK (4th millennium BC – 15th century AD)
Get PDFMicromammals (e.g. rodents, shrews), characterised by their small size, short lifespan and high reproduction rate, are known for rapid adaptability to changing conditions, inhabiting all environments besides the most frigid. They form a variety of relationships with other animals as well as humans, from being prey up to mutualism, commensalism and even taming and domestication. Changes occurring short or long-term within micromammal populations can be a useful proxy for natural as well as human-induced changes. However, their remains from archaeological contexts have seldom been investigated, with a scarcity of methodological studies and incomparability of published data often discouraging research.
Human impact on the environment is especially noticeable in the case of insular environments where humans are responsible for the majority of species introductions. This thesis examines a series of case studies from the Orkney islands off north-east Scotland to develop a micromammal zooarchaeological methodology and investigate the micromammal relationships with predators and human activity in this context. Specifically it has two main aims: 1) perform methodological research on obtained data to investigate established methods as well as to suggest new approaches to data analysis given what data are retrievable from studied assemblages; 2) apply the revised methodology to investigate a range of Orcadian sites, covering two main time periods of intensification of maritime contacts: Neolithic (4000 – 2000 BC) and Norse/mediaeval (600 – 1500 AD) ages. Analysis standardisation and reproducibility through coding in R is also introduced to deal with the large breath of obtained data.
The study provides conclusive results, broadening the understanding of micromammal taphonomy and a range of different assemblages and deposition patterns present within and around anthropic contexts. The breath of utilizable data retrievable from micromammal assemblages is comparable with typical zooarchaeological research on the remains of bigger species, for example including information on age of death or non-predatory taphonomic factors. Spatial and contextual data, particularly, proves to be crucial for understanding the impact of dispersal and burial processes on micromammal accumulations. Moreover, the necessity for consistent sieving is confirmed, lower effort sampling or sieving regimes failing to provide representative and comparable samples. The obtained data can be effectively analysed through statistical methods, including classifying algorithms, bypassing problems encountered in the case of multiple comparisons and deposition patterns. However, the results also show that actualistic research may not be directly comparable with archaeological material without considering non-predatory taphonomic factors and their impact on data representativeness.
Assemblages identified within the studied sites seem to be formed by a variety of factors. Identifiable predatory depositions could be attributed to both owls and diurnal raptors, taxa expected to be found considering modern Orkney fauna and dominant micromammal predators. Cases of non-predatory depositions included deaths of commensal species living and/or nesting within the anthropic environment, self-entrapment in anthropic features such as trenches or pits of single individuals and secondary accumulation in similar features due to dispersal. In general, each site shows multiple different patterns being present, with certain areas or context types (e.g. open/enclosed, natural/usage period/abandonment) exhibiting a predominance of a specific deposition. Intrusiveness is surprisingly rare and, where identified, is characterised by multiple intrusive species within the contexts, with singular species intrusiveness rarely being noted. Some evidence for human interaction with micromammals, direct or indirect, can be noted through additional taphonomic marks such as burning. However, a definitive interpretation of these marks, as of now, cannot be achieved
Investigating economic models and cultural exchange through a zooarchaeological perspective: analysis of the faunal assemblage from the Iron Age port settlement and Roman villa at East Wear Bay, Kent, England
Get PDFThis thesis investigates the applicability of globalization theory to zooarchaeology to better understand cultural exchange. Additionally, this thesis seeks to utilize globalization theory to approach cultural exchange to advance our knowledge of the impacts of trade with the Roman world on animal husbandry practices before the Roman conquest of Britain. Another one of the goals of this research was to evaluate and further develop the economic models operating in Southeastern Britain during the Iron Age and Roman periods through a zooarchaeological lens, and to understand how animal husbandry may have operated within different economic models.
This research focused on the analysis of faunal remains from the archaeological site of East Wear Bay, Kent, England, an Early/Middle Iron Age settlement that develops into a Late Iron Age port settlement, and ultimately into a Roman villa site. The well-dated and large zooarchaeological assemblage from East Wear Bay offers an unparalleled opportunity to explore animal husbandry at a port site and to examine the impact of globalizing processes on animal management across the Iron Age and Romano-British transition. To have greater knowledge of animal husbandry at port sites, faunal data from Iron Age coastal port sites (Mount Batten, Poole Harbour, and Hengistbury Head) in Southern Britain are synthesized into a single narrative.
The results of the analysis of the East Wear Bay faunal assemblage provide a detailed comprehension of how animal husbandry practices evolved across the development of an Iron Age port site into a Roman villa complex. The changes in animal husbandry strategies during the Iron Age, including the increase in the importance of pig husbandry and high cattle pattern, coincided with the development of the port site during the Late Iron Age. The increase in pig importance may reflect possible uptake of Gallic dietary preference and supports cultural exchange causing shifts in animal husbandry before the Roman invasion. Furthermore, these data provide indications of a redistribution economic model operating in Southeastern England, which further developed our understanding of the Iron Age and Roman economy in this region. The faunal evidence from ports sites (Mount Batten and East Wear Bay) showed integration of Southern Britain into globalized trade networks prompted complex transformations of animal husbandry practices. This expands our current knowledge of cultural exchange before the Roman conquest and of how trade networks with the Roman world impacted animal husbandry practices.
On a broader scale, this research has shown that globalization theory can be applied to zooarchaeology as a means of analyzing cultural exchange and the mechanisms behind it. Within Roman and Iron Age studies, approaching faunal data with globalization theory allows for interpretations that dismantle the long-held narrative of Romanization and broadens the discussion to include local perceptions, providing a more developed understanding of the underlying mechanism behind cultural shifts
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Care in the community? Interpretations of a fractured goat bone from Neolithic Jarmo, Iraq
Get PDFA case study of a goat metatarsal exhibiting a complex diaphyseal fracture from Pottery Neolithic Jarmo in the Central Zagros region of the eastern Fertile Crescent is here described and analysed. The Central Zagros is one of the areas with the earliest evidence for goat domestication. The significance of the pathology may be viewed within the context of domestic goat ecology in the landscape of Jarmo, potentially impacting browsing behaviour (goats raise themselves on their hind limbs to browse) and movement with the herd in the landscape (the terrain around Jarmo is very steep in places, which would be difficult for an animal to navigate on three legs). In the light of this, possible levels of care that the Neolithic human community may have afforded this animal are discussed – from a situation where therapeutic intervention may have occurred, to one of stall confinement of the animal to allow the pathology to heal, to a position of simple awareness of the condition – and how this impacts on our understanding of changes in attitudes towards animals through the process of domestication
Zoonotic brucellosis from the long view:Can the past contribute to the present?
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Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
How can deep time perspectives contribute to tackling contemporary One Health challenges, improving understanding, and disease mitigation?
Get PDFInternational audienceThe One Health concept explicitly acknowledges that the well-being of humans, animals and environments are linked. These relationships are complex and dynamic, evolving through time. Temporal perspectives also frame biological evolution and contextualise changes in our knowledge base and disease mitigation measures
Variations on the Author
Get PDF“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
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Some like it hot: environmental determinism and the pastoral economies of the later prehistoric Eurasian steppe
Get PDFBackground: Pastoral systems may be envisaged as a product of a number of interacting variables: the characteristics of the animals, the environment, and of the human culture. Animal physiological and behavioural characteristics affect their suitability to different climatic, topographical and ecological environments. This paper attempts to advance our understanding of the environmental factors constraining animal husbandry on the prehistoric Eurasian steppe, an area that exhibits a broad range of environmental conditions, through comparisons of data on archaeological animal bone assemblages and historic and modern herd compositions (specifically the proportions of cattle, sheep/goats and horse). Results: There are strong biases towards different taxa dependent on region. The consistencies between the later prehistoric animal bone data and the modern and historic livestock herd compositions indicate the constraining role of the environment on the pastoral economies practiced across the Eurasian steppe, in that pastoral strategies appear to be focussing on species best adapted to regional environments. Other patterns may be indicative of socioeconomic trends, such as the relatively low proportions of horse herded in modern times. Conclusions: The results indicate variability in herd compositions across the study area being influenced in part by regional climatic, topographical and ecological conditions. Thus, it is suggested, that part of the variability seen in herd compositions is environmentally determined, with herders making decisions based on the animals' biological and behavioural characteristics. Better understanding of the environmental constraints on pastoral economies will enable us to address a range of questions relating to past pastoralists, and allow us to better assess the cultural factors at play.</p
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