ANT 304 Archaeozoology and Archaeobotany - week 7

Identify which of the following techniques are used by archaeobotanists, and which are used by archaeozoologists.

archaeobotanists: examining rachis, flotation archaeozoologists: sexing a specimen, determining minimum number of individuals

____ is the study of animal remains from archaeological sites, while ____ is the study of plant remains from archaeological sites

archaeozoology, archaeobotany

Benefits of analyzing microbotanical remains over macrobotanical remains

benefit: microbotanical remains are naturally occurring on sites, microbotanical remains are better environmental indicators. not a benefit: microbotanical remains offer better information on ancient human diet, microbotanical remains are more numerous

Isotopic analysis is used in both archaeozoology and archaeobotany. Topics that can be studied using isotopic analysis.

can: past human and animal diets, past climate change cannot: past human cognition, past animal domestication

situations and items that archaeobotany can reconstruct

can: past human diets, past environments cannot: past material cultures, past human evolution

What kind of information can archaeologists gather when examining cutmarks on animal bones?

can: what animals people ate, whether an animal was hunted by humans or scavenged cannot: whether an animal was domesticated, when a bone was deposited

How can isotopic analysis can help archaeologists learn more about past human dietary behavior

carbon isotopes can indicate which types of plants (marine or land) humans ate

____ is the main cause of preservation in macrobotanical remains on most habitation sites worldwide. ____ is the term for burnt wood

carbonization, charcoal

Which type of edible plants has much of the archaeological research into plant domestication focused on?

cereals

information about human diet

charred seeds, animal bones with cutmarks

faunal remains that are more commonly found at archaeological sites

common: bones, teeth, antlers uncommon: fur

microbotanical remains

diatoms, phytoliths, pollen

T/F: Larger botanical and faunal remains provide more insight into past environments and climate change than smaller remains

false

Archaeozoologists study animal, or ____, remains to reconstruct past human ____ as well as their environment

faunal, diet

pollen

male reproductive bodies of flowering plants, natural and cultural archaeological contexts, most types of sediment

What important event happened 10,000 years ago that significantly decreased the percentage of species in existence

megafauna mass extinction event

phytolith

minute particles of silica in plant cells, most types of sediment, natural and cultural archaeological contexts

Isotope analysis can tell us the

mobility of animals and the season that an animal was born

To answer the question, "what season were animals born?", Dr. Chazin used the _____ isotope

oxygen

Anatomical feature that is often used to determine sex in large fauna (including humans)

pelvis

Palynology is the study of ____ which helps archaeologists reconstruct past environments

pollen

information about climate change

pollen

indications of domestication

rachis; indicates wild cereals, as this anatomical feature facilitates the dispersal of seeds by natural agents

Season of death is a crucial factor when analyzing faunal remains. Factors that archaeologists use to determine seasonality from animal remains

seasonal indicator: presence of antlers, identification of species, fetal remains or bones of juvenile animals not seasonal indicator: presence of human activity on animal remains

What does the development of plant domestication often indicate?

settlement into villages

diatom

single-cell algae, lake and marine sediments only

Wheat underwent significant changes during its domestication. What characteristics did it evolve during domestication?

the wheat holds onto it's seeds and does not easily shed them when knocked

Isotope analysis of _______ can tell us what an animal or human experienced during early life

tooth enamel

The typical samples that can be used to conduct isotopic analysis include

tooth enamel, wool, hair

Pieces of evidence either used or not used to determine animal domestication in the past

used: animal deformities and disease, changes in animals' physical characteristics, remains of non-indigenous animals at a site, presence of certain tools in past material culture not used: mass extinctions

What might be analyzed by archaeologists to study climate change in the past

used: pollen, diatoms not used: material culture, bone cutmarks

Physical characteristics that archaeozoologists might analyze to determine sex of faunal remains

used: sex-specific parts, sexual dimorphism not used: sutures of skull, teeth eruption

What can be used to estimate age at death in animal remains

used: teeth patterns, limb bones not used: pelvic structure

macrobotanical remains

wood, seeds, plant residue