Zooarchaeological Analysis at Mudaybic

Edward Maher

Instructor Helps

Suggested Reading List

This section is composed of different headings: General Interest, Fish, Birds, Terrestrial Mammals, Archaeoentomology, Quantification, and Recovery Methods.

A.        General Zooarchaology

• Baker, J. and D. Brothwell 1980. Animal Diseases in Archaeology. Academic Press, London.
• Baker, B. W., B. S. Shaffer and D. G. Steele. 1997. Basic approaches in archaeological faunal analysis. In Field methods in archaeology (7th edition), edited by T. R. Hester, H. J. Shafer and K. L. Feder, pp. 298-318. Mayfield Publishing Company, Mountain View, California.
• Binford, L. R.             1981. Bones: Ancient Men and Modern Myths. Academic Press, New York. 
• Bonnichsen, R., and D. Sanger. 1977. Integrating faunal analysis. Canadian Journal of Archaeology 1:109-133.
• Crabtree, P.J. 1985. Historic Zooarchaeology: Some Methodological Considerations. Historical Archaeology 19(1):76-78.
• Crabtree, P. J. 1990. Zooarchaeology and Complex Societies: Some uses of Faunal Analysis for the Study of Trade, Social Status, and Ethnicity. In Archaeology Method and Theory, edited by M. B. Schiffer, pp. 155-206. vol. 2. University of Arizona Press, Tucson.
• Cornwall, I. W. 1956. Bones for the archaeologist. Phoenix House, London, U.K.
• Daly, P.  1969.  Approaches to faunal analysis in archaeology. American Antiquity 34:146-153.
• Davis, S. J. M. 1987. The archaeology of animals. Yale University Press, New Haven.
• von den Driesch, A. 1976. A guide to the measurement of animal bones from archaeological sites. Peabody Museum Bulletin 1.
• Ervynck, A, W. Van Neer, H. Huster-Plogmann, and J. Schibler 2003. Beyond affluence: the zooarchaeology of luxury. World Archaeology 34 (3), 428-441.
• Grayson, D.K. 1973. On the Methodology of Faunal Analysis. American Antquity 38(4):432-38.
• Gummerman, G. G. 1997. Food and Complex Societies. Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory 4:105-139.
• Hesse, B., and P. Wapnish. 1985. Animal bone archaeology. Taraxacum Inc., Washington, D.C.
• Hesse, B. 1995. Husbandry, Dietary Taboos and the Bones of the Ancient Near East: Zooarchaeology in the Post-Processual World. In Methods in the Mediterranean - Historical and Archaeological Views on Texts and Archaeology, edited by D. B. Small, pp. 197-232. E. J. Brill, Leiden.
• Holt, J. Z. 1996. Beyond Optimization: Alternative Ways of Examining Animal Exploitation. World Archaeology 28:89-109.
• Huelsbeck, D.R. 1991. Faunal Remains and Consumer Behavior: What Is Being Measured? Historical Archaeology 25(2):62-76.
• Klein, R. G. and K. Cruz-Uribe. 1984. The analysis of animal bones from archaeological sites. Prehistoric Archaeology and Ecology Series. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
•  Meadow, R. H. 1978.            Effects of Context on the Interpretation of Faunal Remains: A Case Study. In Approaches to Faunal Analysis of the Middle East, edited by R. H. Meadow and M. A. Zeder, pp. 15-21. Peabody Museum, Bulletin 2. Harvard University, Cambridge.
• Meadow, R.H. 1980. Animal Bones: Problems for the Archaeologist Together with Some Possible Solutions. Paléorient 6:65-77.
• O’Conner, T.P (1996). A critical overview of archaeological animal bone studies. World Archaeology 28(1):5-19.
• Olsen, S. J. 1971. Zooarchaeology:  Animal bones in archaeology and their interpretation. Addison-Wesley Module in Anthropology 2.
• Rackham, D. James. 1994. Animal Bones (Interpreting the Past). University of California Press.
• Reitz, E. J. and E. S. Wing, 1999. Zooarchaeology. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
• Schmidt, E. 1972. Atlas of animal bones for prehistorians, archaeologists and quaternary geologists. Elsevier Publishing, Amsterdam.
• Thomas, D. H. 1971.  On distinguishing natural from cultural bone in archaeological sites. American Antiquity 36:366-371.
• Wapnish, P. 1995. Towards Establishing a Conceptual Basis for Animal Categories in Archaeozoology. In Methods in the Mediterranean: Historical and Archaeological Views on Texts and Archaeology, edited by D. B. Small, pp. 233-274. E. J. Brill, Leiden.
• Wilson, B., C. Grigson and S. Payne (editors). 1982. Ageing and sexing animal bones from archaeological sites. BAR British Series 109, Oxford, U.K.
• Zeder, M. A. 1988. Understanding Urban Process through the Study of Specialized Subsistence Economy in the Near East. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 7:1-55.
• Zeder, M.A. 1991. Feeding Cities: Specialized Animal Economy in the Ancient Near East. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington D. C.

B.        Fish

• Brewer, D., and R. Friedman 1989. Fish and Fishing in Ancient Egypt. Aris and Phillips Ltd., Warminster.
• Cannon, D. Y. 1987, Marine fish osteology: a manual for archaeologists. Department of Archaeology, Simon Fraser University, Pubication No. 18:1-133.
• Casteel, Richard W. 1974. On the remains of fish scales from archaeological sites. American Antiquity 39(4):557-581.
• Casteel, R. W. 1976. Fish remains in archaeology and paleo-environmental studies. Academic Press, London, U.K.
• Colley, S.M. 1990 The Analysis and Interpretation of Archaeological Fish Remains, in: M.B. Schiffer, ed., Archaeological Method and Theory: Volume 2. pp: 207-254, The University of Arizona Press, Tucson.
• Lernau, H. 1986/87. Subfossil Remains of Nile Perch (Lates cf. niloticus); First Evidence from Ancient Israel. Israel Journal of Zoology 34: 225-236.
• Lernau, O. 1996. Identification of Fish - How certain is it? Archaeofauna 5: 49-53.
• Lernau, O., H. Cotton, Y. Goren, 1996. Salted fish and fish sauces from Masada. A preliminary report. Archaeofauna 5: 35-41.
• Lubinski, P.M. (1996). Fish heads, fish heads: An experiment on differential bone preservation in a Salmonid Fish. Journal of Archaeological Science 23:175-181.
• Ryder, M. L. 1969. Remains of fish and other aquatic animals. In Science in archaeology, edited by D. Brothwell and E. Higgs, pp. 376-394. Thames and Hudson, London, U.K.
• Studer, J. 1994. Roman fish sauce in Petra, Jordan, in: W. Van Neer, ed., Fish Exploitation in the past:Proceedings of the 7th Meeting of the ICAZ Fish Remains Working Group. Annales du Musee Royal de l'Afrique Centrale, Sciences Zoologiques n° 274, Tervuren.
• Wheeler, A. 1978. Problems of identification and interpretation of archaeological fish remains. In Research problems in zooarchaeology, edited by D. R. Brothwell, K. D. Thomas, and J. Clutton-Brock, pp. 69-75. University of London, Institute of Archaeology, Occassional Publication 3, London, U.K.
• Wheeler, A., and A. K. G. Jones. 1989. Fishes. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, U.K.

C.        Birds

• Baumel, J. J., A. S. King, J. E. Breazile, H. E. Evans and J. C. Vanden Berge, Eds. 1993. Handbook of avian anatomy: nomina anatomica avium, second edition. The Nuttall Ornithological Club: Cambridge, Massachusetts.
• Cohen, A. D. Serjeanston. 1996. A manual for the identification of bird bones from archaeological sites, Revised edition. Archetype Publications Ltd., London, U.K.
• Corke, E. S. Davis S. Payne. 1998. The Organization of a Zoo-archaeological Reference Collection of Bird Bones. Environmental Archaeology 2.
• Dawson, E. 1969. Bird remains in archaeology. In Science in archaeology, edited by D. Brothwell and E. Higgs, pp. 359-375. Thames and Hudson, London, U.K.
• Gilbert, B. M., L. D. Martin and H. Savage. 1981. Avian osteology. B. Miles Gilbert, Laramie, Wyoming.
• Hargrave, L. L. and S. D. Emslie. 1979. Osteological identification of sandhill crane versus turkey. American Antiquity 44, 295-299.
• Livingston, S.D. 1989. The taphonomic interpretation of Avian skeletal part frequencies. Journal of Archaeological Science 16:537-547.
• McLelland, J. 1990. A color atlas of avian anatomy. Wolfe Publishing Ltd.: London, England, U.K.
• Pannella, G.  1971.  Fish otoliths:  Daily growth layers and periodic patterns.  Science 173:1124-1127.
• Proctor, N. S. and P. J. Lynch. 1993. Manual of ornithology: avian structure and function. Yale University Press, New Haven, Connecticut.
• Sidell, E. J. 1993. A methodology for the identification of archaeological eggshells. MASCA Research Papers in Science and Archaeology 10, supplement.
• Solecki, R. L. 1977. Predatory Bird Rituals at Zawi Chemi Shanidar. Sumer 33: 42-47.

D. Terrestrial Mammals

• Balkwill, D. M. and S.L. Cumbaa. 1992. A Guide to the Identification of Postcranial Bones of Bos taurus and Bison bison. Canadian Museum of Nature, Syllogeus No. 71. Ottawa.
• Boessneck, J. 1969. Osteological differences between sheep (Ovis aries Linne) and goats (Capra hiscus Linne). In Science in archaeology, edited by D. Brothwell and E. Higgs, pp. 331-358. Thames and Hudson, London, U.K.
• Brown, C. L., and C. E. Gustafson. 1979.  A key to postcranial skeletal remains of cattle/bison, elk, and horse. Laboratory of Anthropology, Washington State University Reports of Investigations 57.
• Brown W.A.,, Chapman N.G. 1991. Age assessment of red deer (Cervus elaphus): froma scoring scheme baesed on radiographs of developing permanent molarifonm teeth. Journal of Zoology 225:85 - 97.
• Brown W.A.,, Chapman N.G. 1991. The dentition of red deer (Cervus elaphus): a scoring scheme to assess age from wear of the permanent molariform teeth.. Journal of Zoology 224:519 - 536.
• Driver, J.C. 1982. Medullary bone as an indicator of sex in bird remains from archaeological sites. In B.Wilson, C.Grigson and S.Payne. Ageing and Sexing Animal Bones from Archaeological Sites. BAR British Series 109:251-254.
• Flower, W. H. 1966. An introduction to the osteology of the mammalia. A. Asher, Amsterdam.
• Gehr, K. D. 1995. Bones: A field and laboratory guide for the identification of the postcranial bones of the mammalian skeleton. Bare Bones Publications, Auburn, Washington.
• Gilbert, B. M. 1980. Mammalian osteology. B. Miles Gilbert, Laramie, Wyoming.
• Grigson C. 1983. Size and sex: evidence for the domestication of cattle in the Near East. In: The beginnings of Agriculture B.A.R. Int.Ser., 496:77-109. Oxford.
• Hesse, B. 1990. Pig Lovers and Pig Haters: Patterns of Palestinian Pork Production. Journal of Ethnobiology 10:195-225.
• Hesse, B., and W. Wapnish 1998. Pig Use and Abuse in the Ancient Levant: Ethno-religious Boundary-building with Swine. MASCA Research Papers in Science and Archaeology 15:123-135.
• Hillson, S.W. 1990. Teeth. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, U. K.
• Hillson, S.W. 1992. Mammal bones and teeth: an introductory guide to methods of identification. Institute of Archaeology, University College London, London, U.K.
• Horwitz, L.K., 1999. The Contribution of Archaeozoology to the Identification of Ritual Sites. In The Practical Impact of Science on Near Eastern and Aegean Archaeology, edited by S. Pike and S. Gitin, pp. 63-69. Wiener Laboratory Publication Number 3. Archetype Publications, London.
• Legge, A.J. and Rowley-Conwy, P. 1987 Gazelle killing in stone age Syria. Scientific American 257: 88 - 95.
• Lieberman, D.E. 1993 The rise and fall of seasonal mobility among hunter-gatherers: the case of the Southern Levant. Current Anthropology 34(5): 599 - 631.
• Lieberman, D.E. 1994 The biological basis for seasonal increments in dental cementum and their application to archaeological research. Journal of Archaeological Science 21: 525 - 39.
• Lister, A. M. 1996. The morphological distinction between bones and teeth of fallow deer (Dama dama) and red deer (Cervus elaphus). International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 6:119-143.
• Mayer, J. J. and I. L. Brisbin Jr. 1988. Sex identification of Sus scrofa based on canine morphology. Journal of Mammalogy 69: 408-412.
• Morlan, Richard E. 1991. Bison carpal and tarsal measurements: bulls versus cows and calves. Plains Anthropologist 36: 215-227.
• Munson, P.J. 1984 Teeth of juvenile woodchucks as seasonal indicators on archaeological sites. Journal of Archaeological Science 11: 395-403.
• Olsen, Stanley J. 1964. Mammal remains from archaeological sites. Papers of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology 56(1).
• Olsen, S. J. 1979. Osteology for the archaeologist: the American mastodon and the woolly mammoth. Papers of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology 56:1-196.
• Payne, S. 1985. Morphological distinctions between the mandibular teeth of young sheep, Ovis, and goats, Capra. Journal of Archaeological Science 12: 139-147.
• Rolett, B. V. and Min-yung Chiu. 1994. Age estimation of prehistoric pigs (Sus scrofa) by molar eruption and attrition. Journal of Archaeological Science 21: 377-386.
• Stein, G.J. 1986. Herding Strategies at Neolithic Gritille. Expedition 28: 35-42.
• Zeder, M.A. 1978. Differentiation between the bones of caprines from different ecosystems in Iran by the analysis of osteological microstructure and chemical composition. In Approaches to faunal analysis in the Middle East. R.H. Meadow and M.A. Zeder, eds. Pp. 69-84, Vol. Peabody Museum Bulletin 2. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology.
• Zeder, M.A., 1996. The Role of Pigs in Near Eastern Subsistence: A View from the Southern Levant. In Retrieving the Past: Essays on Archaeological Research and Methodology in Honour of Gus W. Van Beek, edited by J. D. Seger, pp. 297-312. Eisenbrauns, Winona Lake.
• Zeder, M. A. and B. Hesse 2000. The Initial Domestication of Goats (Capra hircus) in the Zagros Mountains 10,000 Years Ago. Science 287:2254-2257.
•  Zeuner, F. E.  1963.  A history of domesticated animals.  Hutchinson, London.

E.        Recovery Techniques

• Cifelli, R. L., S.K. Madsen, and E.M. Larson. 1996. Screenwashing and associated techniques for the recovery of microvertebrate fossils. Oklahoma Geological Survey, Special Publication 96-4:1-24.
• Gordon, E.A. 1993. Screen size and differential faunal recovery: A Hawaiian example. Journal of Field Archaeology 20:453-460.
• James, S.R. 1997. Methodological issues concerning screen size recovery rates and their effects on archaeofaunal interpretations. Journal of Archaeological Science 24:385-398.
• Jones, A.K.G. 1982. Bulk-sieving and the recovery of fish remains from urban archaeological sites. Council for British Archaeology Research Report 43:79-85.
• Shaffer, B.S. 1992. Quarter-inch screening: Understanding biases in recovery of vertebrate faunal remains. American Antiquity 57(1):129-135.
• Shaffer, B.S. & Sanchez, J.L.J. 1994. Comparison of 1/8” and ¼” mesh recovery of controlled samples of small-to-medium-sized mammals. American Antiquity 59:525-530.
• Stewart, F.L. 1991. Floating for fauna: Some methodological considerations using the Keffer Site (AkGv-14) midden 57 faunal sample. Canadian Journal of Archaeology 15: 97-115.
• Payne, S. 1975. Partial Recovery and Sample Bias. In Archaeozoological Studies, edited by A. T. Clason, pp. 7-17. North Holland Publishing Company, Amsterdam.

F.   Quantification

• Grayson, Donald K. 1978 Minimum Numbers and Sample Size in Vertebrate Faunal         Analysis. American Antiquity 43: 53-65.
• Grayson, D. K. 1981.  The Effects of Sample Size on Some Derived Measures in Vertebrate Faunal Analysis. Journal of Archaeological Science 8: 77-88.
• Grayson, D. K. 1984. Quantitative zooarchaeology: Topics in the analysis of archaeological faunas. Studies in Archaeological Science. Academic Press, Inc., Orlando.
• Marshall, F. & Pilgram, T. 1993. NISP vs. MNI in quantification of body-part representation. American Antiquity 58: 261-269.
• Nichol, R.K., & Wild, C.J. 1984. Numbers of individuals in faunal analysis: the decay of fish bone in archaeological sites. Journal of Archaeological Science 11:35-51.
• Schmitt, D.N. & Lupo, K.D. 1995. On mammalian taphonomy, taxonomic diversity, and measuring subsistence data in zooarchaeology. American Antiquity 60: 496-514.
• Winder, N.P. 1991. How many bones make five? The art and science of guesstimation in archaeozoology. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology. 1:111-126.
• Winder, N.P. 1992. The removal estimator: a probable numbers statistic that requires no matching. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 2:15-18.

G.        Archaeoentomology

Ashworth, A.C. and J.K. Willenbring. 1998. Fossil beetles and climate change at the Sixmile Creek site, Ithaca, New York. American Paleontologist 6: 2-3.

Schwert, D.P., H.J. Torpen-Kreft, and E.R. Hajic. 1997. Characterization of the late-Wisconsinan tundra/forest transition in midcontinental North America using assemblages of beetle fossils. Quaternary Proceedings 5: 237-243.

Cong, S. and A.C. Ashworth. 1997. A potential application of correspondence analysis of fossil beetle assemblages in palaeenvironmental interpretation: the Titusville example. In (A.C. Ashworth, P. Buckland, J. Sadler, eds.) Studies in Quaternary Entomology, Quaternary Proceedings No. 5, pp. 79-82, John Wiley & Sons, Chichester, UK.

Cong, S. and A.C. Ashworth. 1996. Palaeoenvironmental interpretation of middle and late Wisconsinan fossil coleopteran assemblages from western Olympic Peninsula, Washington. Journal of Quaternary Science 11:345-356.

Cong, S., A.C. Ashworth, and D.P. Schwert. 1996. Fossil beetle evidence for a short warm interval near 40,000 yr B.P. at Titusville, Pennsylvania. Quaternary Research 45: 216-225.

Schwert, D.P. 1996. Effect of Euro-American settlement on an insect fauna: a paleontological analysis of the recent chitin record of beetles (Coleoptera) from northeastern Iowa. Annals of the Entomological Society of America 89: 53-63.

Garry, C.E., Schwert, D.P., Baker, R.W., and Meyer, G.N. 1994. Analysis of an insect fossil assemblage from organic-rich silts located below till of the Grantsburg Sublobe, Chisago County, Minnesota. pp. F-12-F15 in American Quaternary Association 13th Biennial Meeting Combined Field Guide, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.

Ashworth, A.C. and J.W. Hoganson. 1993. The magnitude and rapidity of climatic change marking the end of the Pleistocene in the mid-latitudes of South America. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 101: 263-270.

Baker, R.G., D.P. Schwert, E.A. Bettis, III, and C.A. Chumbley. 1993. Impact of Euroamerican settlement on a riparian landscape in northeast Iowa, midwestern USA: an integrated approach based on historical evidence, floodplain sediments, fossil pollen, plant macrofossils, and insects. The Holocene 3: 314-323.

Schwert, D.P. 1992. Faunal transitions in response to an ice age: the late Wisconsinan record of Coleoptera in the north-central United States. Coleopterists Bulletin 46: 68-94.

Ashworth, A.C., V. Markgraf, and C. Villagran. 1991. Late Quaternary climatic history of the Chilean Channels based on fossil pollen and beetle analyses, with an analysis of the modern vegetation and pollen rain. Journal of Quaternary Science 6: 279-291.

Hoganson, J.W., and A.C. Ashworth. 1991. Fossil beetle evidence for climatic change 18,000-10,000 yr B.P. in south-central Chile. Quaternary Research 37: 101-116.

Help Questions for Instructors

The answer to these questions can be found in the faunal report I wrote on the animal remains from KRP.

1. What is zooarchaeology? What are some its research goals?
    
2. What is the most effective method of identifying faunal remains?
    
3. Why is it difficult to date animal bones? How are they dated?
    
4. Why do some bones of the mammalian skeleton preserve better in archaeological deposits than others?
    
5. Considering the zooarchaeological evidence, what evidence is there of trade at Mudaybi?
    
6. What is NISP? What is the NISP value for ovicaprines, sheep, goat, and cattle from Mudaybi? What are some advantages and disadvantages to the method?
    
7. What is MNI? How is this value calculated? What is the MNI value ovicaprines, sheep, goat, and cattle from Mudaybi ? What are some disadvantages to the method?
    
8. Discuss three methods of determining the age at which an animal died.
    
9. What is the significance of the pattern noticed for body part distribution for sheep and goats from Mudaybi?