The Oxford handbook of zooarchaeology /

Animals have played a fundamental role in shaping human history, and the study of their remains from archaeological sites - zooarchaeology - has gradually been emerging as a powerful discipline and crucible for forging an understanding of our past. The Oxford Handbook of Zooarchaeology offers a cutting-edge compendium of zooarchaeology the world over that transcends environmental, economic, and social approaches, seeking instead to provide a holistic view of the roles played by animals in past human cultures. Incisive chapters written by leading scholars in the field incorporate case studies from across five continents, from Iceland to New Zealand and from Japan to Egypt and Ecuador, providing a sense of the dynamism of the discipline, the many approaches and methods adopted by different schools and traditions, and an idea of the huge range of interactions that have occurred between people and animals throughout the world and its history. Adaptations of human-animal relationships in environments as varied as the Arctic, temperate forests, deserts, the tropics, and the sea are discussed, while studies of hunter-gatherers, farmers, herders, fishermen, and even traders and urban dwellers highlight the importance that animals have had in all forms of human societies. With an introduction that clearly contextualizes the current practice of zooarchaeology in relation to both its history and the challenges and opportunities that can be expected for the future, and a methodological glossary illuminating the way in which zooarchaeologists approach the study of their material, this Handbook will be invaluable not only for specialists in the field, but for anybody who has an interest in our past and the role that animals have played in forging it.Includes bibliographical references and index.Animals have played a fundamental role in shaping human history, and the study of their remains from archaeological sites - zooarchaeology - has gradually been emerging as a powerful discipline and crucible for forging an understanding of our past. The Oxford Handbook of Zooarchaeology offers a cutting-edge compendium of zooarchaeology the world over that transcends environmental, economic, and social approaches, seeking instead to provide a holistic view of the roles played by animals in past human cultures. Incisive chapters written by leading scholars in the field incorporate case studies from across five continents, from Iceland to New Zealand and from Japan to Egypt and Ecuador, providing a sense of the dynamism of the discipline, the many approaches and methods adopted by different schools and traditions, and an idea of the huge range of interactions that have occurred between people and animals throughout the world and its history. Adaptations of human-animal relationships in environments as varied as the Arctic, temperate forests, deserts, the tropics, and the sea are discussed, while studies of hunter-gatherers, farmers, herders, fishermen, and even traders and urban dwellers highlight the importance that animals have had in all forms of human societies. With an introduction that clearly contextualizes the current practice of zooarchaeology in relation to both its history and the challenges and opportunities that can be expected for the future, and a methodological glossary illuminating the way in which zooarchaeologists approach the study of their material, this Handbook will be invaluable not only for specialists in the field, but for anybody who has an interest in our past and the role that animals have played in forging it.Zooarchaeology in the twenty-first century : where we come from, where we are now, and where we are going / Umberto Albarella -- Humans and mammals in the Upper Palaeolithic of Russia / Mietje Germonpré and Mikhail V. Sablin -- The zooarchaeology of complexity and specialization during the Upper Palaeolithic in Western Europe : changing diversity and evenness / Katherine Boyle -- Mesolithic hunting and fishing in the coastal and terrestrial environments of the eastern Baltic / Lembi Lõugas -- Archaeozoological techniques and protocols for elaborating scenarios of early colonization and Neolithization of Cyprus / Jean-Denis Vigne -- Zooarchaeological results from Neolithic and Bronze Age wetland and dryland sites in the Central Alpine Foreland : economic, ecologic, and taphonomic relevance / Jörg Schibler -- Zooarchaeology in the Carpathian Basin and adjacent areas / László Bartosiewicz --^13,000 years of communal bison hunting in western North America / John D. Speth -- Advances in hunter-gatherer research in Mexico : archaeozoological contributions / Joaquín Arroyo-Cabrales and Eduardo Corona-M. -- The exploitation of aquatic environments by the Olmec and Epi-Olmec / Tanya M. Peres -- Tracking the trade in animal pelts in early historic eastern North America / Heather A. Lapham -- Animal use at early colonies on the southeastern coast of the United States / Elizabeth J. Reitz -- Zooarchaeology of the Maya / Kitty F. Emery -- Zooarchaeological approaches to pre-Columbian archaeology in the neotropics of northwestern South America / Peter W. Stahl -- Zooarchaeology of Brazilian shell-mounds / Daniela Klokler -- Camelid hunting and herding in Inca times : a view from the south of the empire / Guillermo L. Mengoni Goñalons -- Forests, steppes, and coastlines : zooarchaeology and the prehistoric exploitation of Patagonian habitats / Luis A. Borrero --^From bovid to beaver : mammal exploitation in medieval northwest Russia / Mark Maltby -- The emergence of livestock husbandry in early Neolithic Anatolia / Joris Peters, Nadja Pöllath, and Benjamin S. Arbuckle -- Patterns of animal exploitation in western Turkey : from Palaeolithic molluscs to Byzantine elephants / Canan Çakirlar and Levent Atici -- South Asian contributions to animal domestication and pastoralism : bones, genes, and archaeology / Ajita K. Patel and Richard H. Meadow -- The zooarchaeology of Neolithic China / Li Liu and Xiaolin Ma -- Subsistence economy, animal domestication, and herd management in prehistoric Central Asia (Neolithic-Iron Age) / Norbert Benecke -- Introduction of domestic animals to the Japanese archipelago / Hitomi Hongo -- Farming, social change, and state formation in Southeast Asia / Charles F.W. Higham -- The zooarchaeology of early historic periods in the southern Levant / Justin E. Lev-Tov and Sarah Whitcher Kansa --^Middle and later Stone Age hunters and their prey in southern Africa / Ina Plug -- Pastoralism in sub-Saharan Africa : emergence and ramifications / Diane Gifford-Gonzalez -- Cattle, a major component of the Kerma culture (Sudan) / Louis Chaix -- The zooarchaeology of Iron Age farmers from southern Africa / Shaw Badenhorst -- The exploitation of aquatic resources in Holocene West Africa / Veerle Linseele -- Animals in ancient Egyptian religion : belief, identity, power, and economy / Salima Ikram -- Animals, acculturation, and colonization in ancient and Islamic North Africa / Michael MacKinnon -- Historical zooarchaeology of colonialism, mercantilism, and indigenous dispossession : the Dutch East India Company's meat industry at the Cape of Good Hope, South Africa / Adam R. Heinrich -- Zooarchaeology of the pre-Contact Northwest Coast of North America / Gregory G. Monks -- Fauna and the emergence of intensive agricultural economies in the United States Southwest / Rebecca M. Dean --^Sheep, sacrifices, and symbols : animals in later Bronze Age Greece / Paul Halstead and Valasia Isaakidou -- Changes in lifestyle in ancient Rome (Italy) across the Iron Age/Roman transition : the evidence from animal remains / Jacopo De Grossi Mazzorin and Claudia Minniti -- Zooarchaeology of the Scandinavian settlements in Iceland and Greenland : diverging pathways / Konrad Smiarowski, Ramona Harrison, Seth Brewington, Megan Hicks, Frank J. Feeley, Céline Dupont-Hébert, Brenda Prehal, George Hambrecht, James Woollett, and Thomas H. McGovern -- Fishing, wildfowling, and marine mammal exploitation in northern Scotland from prehistory to early modern times / Dale Serjeantson -- Zooarchaeological evidence for Muslim improvement of sheep (Ovis aries) in Portugal / Simon J.M. Davis -- The zooarchaeology of medieval Ireland / Finbar McCormick and Emily Murray -- Animals in urban life in medieval to early modern England / Terry O'Connor --^Themes in the zooarchaeology of Pleistocene Melanesia / Matthew Leavesley -- Behavioural inferences from late Pleistocene Aboriginal Australia : seasonality, butchery, and nutrition in southwest Tasmania / Richard Cosgrove and Jillian Garvey -- Regional and chronological variations in energy harvests from prehistoric fauna in New Zealand / Ian W.G. Smith -- Spatial variability and human eco-dynamics in central East Polynesian fisheries / Melinda S. Allen -- A glossary of zooarchaeological methods / Mauro Rizzetto and Umberto Albarella