Excavations at the Boisman 2 Early Neolithic Site on Boisman Bay near Slavianka, Primorie, in the Russian Far East, over the period from around 1990 to 2005 have provided a large faunal sample for reconstructing subsistence patterns for the period from ~6,500 to ~5,000 C14 yr BP. These faunal remains were preserved as a result of the deposition of oysters from a nearby shell-bed during brackish water conditions associated with the Jomon Transgression. Fish and shellfish remains indicate the exploitation of a wide variety of taxa. Bird remains include waterfowl, near-shore seabirds, and open ocean forms, including the short-tailed albatross. Mammal remains are dominated by terrestrial forms, including a number of cervid taxa (moose, red deer, sika deer, Japanese deer) and suids. Sea mammal remains are not in high frequency, but they represent the earliest evidence of sea mammal exploitation in the Russian Far East. Harbor seal, largha seal, and Steller sea lion are all represented, along with cetacean remains. The latter probably represent scavenged, rather than actively hunted, species. The evidence for sea mammal hunting correlates with the harpoon data from the site, including some of the earliest examples of toggling harpoons from the northern circum-Pacific region.

Recent archaeofaunal data from a series of late Pleistocene/Holocene sites in Beringia (interior Alaska/Yukon Territory) are beginning to demonstrate variability in subsistence and settlement patterns. An overall west-to-east patterning in faunal indicators of more mesic climatic patterns (greater precipitation, warmer winter temperatures) seems to be suggested, with sites like Broken Mammoth in interior Alaska demonstrating large numbers of waterfowl, some aquatic mammals, moose, and wapiti, while sites like Little John in the Alaska/Yukon borderlands demonstrate fewer examples of these taxa, and larger frequencies of caribou and hare. All sites, however, tend to be dominated by bison remains. This is especially true after the advent of the Younger Dryas interval, when conditions appear to be generally more arid throughout Beringia. These trends eventually culminate in the abandonment of this region after ~8,000 C14 yr BP, with the southward movement of human populations, and the beginnings of maritime adaptations occurring shortly thereafter. In general, Beringian sites differ greatly in diversity of faunal samples, with some sites (Broken Mammoth, Little John) appearing to be long-term occupations, and others (e.g., Gerstle Quarry) appearing to be short-term seasonal camps.

The Natufians of el-Wad (Mount Carmel, Israel, ca. 15-11.5 ka BP) inhabited a major base-camp known for its richness of finds, numerous graves and architectural features, all surrounded and filled with very large quantities of well-preserved animal remains. In this study we aim to integrate spatial/contextual, startigraphic and zooarchaeological data from the renewed excavation of the site with the results of multivariate taphonomic analysis of the animal bone assemblage. This enables us to gain insights into the faunal discard behavior at the site and the spatial arrangement of tasks performed, to understand the function of some of the architectural remains, and to discern the spatial organization of this multi-phased Natufian hamlet through time. Multiple taphonomic data relating to the accumulation agents of the animal bones are used to determine whether the bones are in primary deposition and if so, what their depositional history can tell us about the specific task of their respective features, isolating discrete activity-specific patterns. We present results of this contextual taphonomic analysis, under the approach that it is extremely useful in reconstructing intra-site spatial patterns, shedding light on site-formation processes and past human behavior.

Rantis Cave, located in west-central Israel, was recently found to contain a faunal assemblage composed of ungulates (primarily Mesopotamian fallow deer, Dama mesopotamica) and some carnivores, along with very meager evidence of human occupation. Taphonomic and geological data indicate that the cave acted as a natural pitfall trap for the ungulates. The assemblage was attributed to the later half of the Middle Paleolithic (MP). Several important cave and open-air sites are known from this period in the Southern Levant, all yielding predominantly anthropogenic faunas. Since Rantis Cave reflects the ungulate composition through different, non-anthropogenic accumulation processes, the animal species selected for procurement in the archaeological sites (usually by systematic hunting) may be compared to the relative frequency of species at Rantis Cave to elucidate hominin subsistence, in particular the choice of certain animals over others by MP hunters. Thus, Rantis Cave may serve as a ‘natural reference’ to the archaeological faunas of the same region and period, being unbiased by hominin predation. Comparison between Rantis and other MP sites suggests that mountain gazelles (Gazella gazella) were preferred over fallow deer during the late Levantine MP – a pattern that seemingly does not settle with environmental landscape settings of sites and technological (hunting gear) explanations. This pattern continues well into the Upper Paleolithic and Epipaleolithic of the region.

Ancient DNA research has advanced steadily over the past two decades in both its technical efficiencies and its applications. Bioarchaeology is the discipline that has benefited most from ancient DNA analyses: 1) most biological remains from archaeological sites are within the time depth limits of ancient DNA recovery; 2) many archaeological investigations had been hindered by a lack of the precision and accuracy in the identifications of ancient remains; 3) many new archaeological questions can be addressed with insights from ancient DNA analysis of archaeological human, animal and plant remains. Ancient DNA analysis has been successfully applied to numerous archaeological questions in many parts of the world, demonstrating that it has passed its “testing” stage, becoming an integral part of bioarchaoelogical research. Through case studies, this paper will demonstrate that ancient DNA, once integrated with other lines of archaeological evidence, can provide a much more complete picture of the dynamic human-ecological interactions of the past.

The presentation will examine the relationship between long-term climatic change in the highlands of the Southern Andes, and the changing strategies of hunter-gatherers. These strategies involved a specialization in the use of wild camelids. Several paleonvironmental proxies were employed and the archaeofaunal data-base involved the analysis of more than 20 sites which dates between 10,600 and 3500 years BP. The Early Holocene shows more stable conditions than the Mid-Holocene. Wetlands (the main locus for human occupation) seem to have been widespread during the Early Holocene, but in the Mid-Holocene they were less stable and restricted to higher altitudes (above 4000 masl). Occasionally they were associated to permanent river flows or wetlands in lower altitudes. The climatic change to drier conditions took place as of 8400 BP to 7000 BP. Human response to this new climatic condition was a growing use of camelids, which increase from 48% in the regional average to 84% after that date; meanwhile other resources diminished. In the Early Holocene only 30% of the sites had camelid dominance, but this increase to 80% in the Middle Holocene. Also, there is a reduction of the variability between localities, which resulted in more regular patterns. This process is explained as a change in the strategies of hunter-gatherers from an opportunistic use of camelids favored by the wetter and stable conditions to a specialized utilization in restricted places in which these resources were packed.

The recording of tooth wear is vital to the exploration of age in zooarchaeological assemblages; however, most tooth wear systems currently only apply to mandibular teeth, meaning that information from maxillary teeth and jaws is not being used. For pig, the most commonly used system for mandibular teeth is that of Grant (1982). Bull and Payne (1982), however, laid out a different system which applied to both the upper and lower teeth. A modified version of this system was used to record teeth from the Durrington Walls 1966-67 excavations during the 1990s, but was not ever fully published. In 2004 the establishment of the Stonehenge Riverside Project meant that new material was available, and the high number of maxillary teeth being uncovered clarified the need to use this data.

In this poster a modified and expanded version of the recording system used in the 1990s has been described and used to explore the topics of age at death and seasonality at Durrington Walls. The results provide an insight into seasonal killing at the site, as well as aspects of differential deposition of cranial elements which would not have been exposed through conventional studies of mandibular tooth wear. The authors therefore encourage the use of the new system for recording the remainder of the Durrington assemblage and for the recording of other assemblages either to boost mandibular data, or to gain information based on maxillae where mandibles are sparse or badly damaged.

The advent of dairy products as a food source during the Neolithic made available a new source of calcium for humans that, in comparison to other foods, was and remains the greatest natural supplier of this key element. In addition to dairy foods providing significant quantities of calcium they also have an isotopic behaviour related to trophic level change. Calcium isotope ratios become altered as calcium moves through the ‘food chain’ and in biological systems heavier calcium isotopes are discriminated against resulting in isotopic fractionation. This especially holds true with incorporation of calcium isotopes into human and animal milk and bone, so that milk and bone have lower d44/42Ca than the dietary input. As a result dairy consuming humans should have a bone d44/42Ca signature that is distinguishable from non-dairy consuming humans in the archaeological record.

Experimental research has shown however that it is not that simple to determine dairy consumption by humans in the archaeological record. In an effort to better understand human and animal calcium metabolism, this work focuses on calcium isotopes of modern human and animal samples (diet, hair/wool, milk, and dental tissue) to look at questions of weaning age and pattern, the difference between fauna and humans and to address the difficulties of detecting dairy consuming and non-dairy consuming humans. This work is a necessary foundation for studying dairying and dairy consumption in the archaeological record.

Animals have been burnt as part of crematory rituals in all pre-modern periods of cremation burial in Britain, as evidenced in the archaeological record. Of all archaeological deposits, funerary contexts are some of the most likely to have been influenced by ritual behaviour. They therefore pose an interesting challenge for archaeozoology; a discipline more familiar with questions of palaeoeconomy and ecology. The complex taphonomic histories of crematory deposits pose additional challenges to analysis and interpretation.

This paper is based on a study of the use of faunal pyre goods over a millennium starting from the reintroduction of cremation as a funerary tradition in the last centuries BC through to the latest medieval cremation burials of the late ninth century AD (Worley 2008). It will summarise our current knowledge of faunal pyre goods during this period and the characteristics of assemblages from different cultural traditions, before critically evaluating the limitations and potential of the dataset, including a consideration of how we can begin to address their meaning.

Worley, F. (2008) Taken to the Grave: An archaeozoological approach assessing the role of animals as crematory offerings in first millennium AD Britain. Unpublished PhD thesis: University of Bradford.

Red deer antlers were a crucial raw material in the Neolithic period. They were used to construct Neolithic monuments such as the long barrows, causewayed enclosures, flint mines and henges which were sited on the chalk and limestone soils of southern Britain. The description of the antler implements often falls between the remit of the zooarchaeologist and the archaeological finds specialist and between the two, important information can be overlooked. Here we will show how close analysis of the antler implements reveals how it was carefully selected and worked in a standard fashion, a chaîne opératoire more complex than people usually give credit for.

In the case of Silbury Hill, the largest artificial prehistoric mound in Europe, the antlers from the recent excavations, together with imprints in a block of chalk, provide evidence for how antler tools were used in the Mound’s construction. The quantity of antlers required and their procurement also provide insights into Neolithic society. We learn how people and deer interacted, and gain clues to the size of the deer population, while the use and final deposition of antler implements informs about beliefs and rituals in the Neolithic period.