scholarly journals Biodiversity of Early Holocene large mammals from the territory of Bulgaria according to remains from archaeological sites

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nadezhda Karastoyanova
Keyword(s):  
Early Holocene ◽  
General Idea ◽  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Large Mammals ◽  
General Picture ◽  
Wild Mammals ◽  
Animal Remains ◽  
Good Sample ◽  
Major Factors

Animal remains from archeological sites give a rather good sample of data, showing habitats and biodiversity during the early Holocene . In multiple settlements in the Eastern Balkans, there are numerous remains of wild mammals that were hunted by humans through the prehistory (7200-5800 BP). This gives a general idea of the habitats around and near the settlements. Such deposits of animal remains are the main source of data on fauna during this period and give us information on the processes leading to the extinction of some species. This paper analyzes more than 26000 animal remains (bones, horns, antlers and teeth) from large mammals from orders: Аrtiodactyla, Perissodactyla and Carnivora from 4 still unpublished deposits from Bulgaria. I summarize data from already published remains from 33 sites in East Balkans. These analyses provide a general picture of both habitats and biodiversity and some of the major factors that caused extinction of some large mammals in Bulgaria during the early Holocene.

Early Holocene plant and animal remains from North-east Greenland

1999 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 667-677 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ole Bennike ◽  
Svante Bjorck ◽  
Jens Bocher ◽  
Louise Hansen ◽  
Jan Heinemeier ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Early Holocene ◽  
East Greenland ◽  
North East ◽  
Animal Remains

Bone Remains from Archaeological Sites in the Podravina Area with Traces of Metallurgical Activity

2021 ◽  
pp. 227-232
Author(s):  
Snježana Kužir ◽  
Lucija Bastiančić ◽  
Nikolina Škvorc
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
Late Antiquity ◽  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Primary Analysis ◽  
Species Determination ◽  
Early Middle Ages ◽  
Animal Remains ◽  
Bone Remains

The studied material includes animal remains from the four archaeological sites in the Podravina region of Croatia. The animal remains originate from sites with traces of metallurgical activity as well as from some settlement features which were also investigated. According to C14 analysis, and comparison with archaeological finds excavated in the vicinity of Torčec, the majority of the finds date from the period of Late Antiquity and the early Middle Ages. At all four sites, the animal remains were damaged, sporadic findings, which made a complete archaeozoological analysis impossible. A descriptive primary analysis (element representation and taxonomic interpretation) was carried out. At all sites the remains were mainly from domestic mammals. One fragment of a bird bone was also found, but species determination was not possible. Particular attention was paid to the taphonomic effects on the bones.

Archaeozoology: Methods

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Veerle Linseele
Keyword(s):  
Human Life ◽  
Rapid Development ◽  
Mesh Size ◽  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Complete Understanding ◽  
The Past ◽  
Animal Remains ◽  
Efficient Communication ◽  
Additional Loss ◽  
Taphonomic Processes

Archaeozoology is the study of animal remains, mainly bones and other hard parts, from archaeological sites. It contributes to a more complete understanding of various aspects of human life in the past. Ideally, archaeozoologists, like other specialists, should be involved in the entire process of an archaeological research project, from its design, to fieldwork and data collecting, to final reporting and publication. For efficient communication and fruitful collaboration, the archaeologists involved in this process need to understand the basics of archaeozoological methodology and the range of questions that the discipline can answer. Methods vary among archaeozoologists—not least with regard to quantification—and it is important to be aware of these differences and their possible impact on results when comparing data for different sites. While the actual analysis of animal remains is done by the archaeozoologists, preferably in circumstances where they have access to a comparative collection of recent animal skeletons, the excavation and collection of remains is often the responsibility of the archaeologists. Animal remains are affected by a host of taphonomic processes of loss that are beyond our control. To avoid additional loss of information at the fieldwork stage, appropriate methods are particularly important. The use of sieves with a mesh size no greater than 2 mm is essential in order not to miss the smaller, but no less informative, animal remains. Project leaders play an important role in providing good storage facilities for archaeozoological remains after excavation and after study. With the rapid development in analytical methods, it can be extremely interesting to return to previously studied remains and sample them.

On the Methodology of Faunal Analysis

1973 ◽  
Vol 38 (4) ◽  
pp. 432-439 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald K. Grayson
Keyword(s):  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Faunal Analysis ◽  
Reliable Analysis ◽  
Animal Remains ◽  
Minimum Number ◽  
Minimum Number Of Individuals ◽  
Minimum Numbers ◽  
Faunal Studies ◽  
Number Of Individuals ◽  
Proper Unit

AbstractAlthough faunal analysis has a long history in archaeological studies, little emphasis has been placed upon the development of methodologies which would allow the valid and reliable analysis of animal remains from archaeological sites. The most crucial decision which a faunal analyst must make as regards the statistical manipulation of his data concerns the proper unit to use in that manipulation. The 2 units which seem to have gained most popularity in faunal studies are discussed, as are the generally non-comparable results which stem from the various ways in which 1 of these units—the minimum number of individuals—has been applied. Finally, suggestions for the standardization of the use of minimum numbers in faunal analysis are made.

The Relative Value of Fragmentary Mammalian Remains

1961 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 538-540 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. J. Olsen
Keyword(s):  
Diagnostic Value ◽  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Limb Bones ◽  
Foot Bones ◽  
Animal Remains ◽  
Relative Value

AbstractThe diagnostic value of animal remains from archaeological sites is discussed in the following order of importance of the various osteological elements which can be used for interpreting the fauna they represent: teeth, skull fragments, articular ends of limb bones, foot bones, portions of the pectoral and pelvic girdles, and vertebrae.

Flotation Techniques for the Recovery of Small-Scale Archaeological Remains

1968 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 353-362 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stuart Struever
Keyword(s):  
Small Animal ◽  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Water Separation ◽  
Small Plant ◽  
Animal Remains ◽  
Animal Bone ◽  
Animal Bones ◽  
Plant Remains ◽  
Flotation Technique

AbstractThis paper outlines the procedures and equipment necessary for applying a simple flotation technique to recover animal bone, seeds, and other small cultural remains lost in the normal screening of soils from archaeological sites. Soil is initially processed in the field by a water-separation technique. The resulting concentrate is later treated, in the laboratory, by chemical flotation, to separate faunal from plant remains.This simple, inexpensive technique enables processing of soil in quantity, thereby allowing recovery of small plant and animal remains from midden or feature fills where they occur in very low densities.It is argued that, without use of such a flotation procedure, inferences about prehistoric subsistence patterns from faunal and floral remains are sharply biased in favor of larger animals and in favor of hunting, over natural plant food collecting, since conventional screens are not adequate for recovery of most plant remains or small animal bones.

scholarly journals Climate warming and humans played different roles in triggering Late Quaternary extinctions in east and west Eurasia

2017 ◽  
Vol 284 (1851) ◽  
pp. 20162438 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xinru Wan ◽  
Zhibin Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Late Pleistocene ◽  
Climate Warming ◽  
Human Impacts ◽  
Late Quaternary ◽  
Extinction Risk ◽  
Early Holocene ◽  
Large Mammals ◽  
Predominant Factor ◽  
Late Pleistocene To Holocene

Climate change and humans are proposed as the two key drivers of total extinction of many large mammals in the Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene, but disentangling their relative roles remains challenging owing to a lack of quantitative evaluation of human impact and climate-driven distribution changes on the extinctions of these large mammals in a continuous temporal–spatial dimension. Here, our analyses showed that temperature change had significant effects on mammoth (genus Mammuthus ), rhinoceros (Rhinocerotidae), horse (Equidae) and deer (Cervidae). Rapid global warming was the predominant factor driving the total extinction of mammoths and rhinos in frigid zones from the Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene. Humans showed significant, negative effects on extirpations of the four mammalian taxa, and were the predominant factor causing the extinction or major extirpations of rhinos and horses. Deer survived both rapid climate warming and extensive human impacts. Our study indicates that both the current rates of warming and range shifts of species are much faster than those from the Late Pleistocene to Holocene. Our results provide new insight into the extinction of Late Quaternary megafauna by demonstrating taxon-, period- and region-specific differences in extinction drivers of climate change and human disturbances, and some implications about the extinction risk of animals by recent and ongoing climate warming.

scholarly journals OSL Chronology of the Siling Co Paleolithic Site in Central Tibetan Plateau

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lan Luo ◽  
Zhongping Lai ◽  
Wenhao Zheng ◽  
Yantian Xu ◽  
Lupeng Yu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Ground Surface ◽  
Early Holocene ◽  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Stratigraphic Correlation ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Paleolithic Site ◽  
Humid Climate ◽  
Climate Conditions ◽  
Central Tibetan Plateau

When and how was the Tibetan Plateau (TP), one of the least habitable regions on Earth, occupied by humans are important questions in the research of human evolution. Among tens of Paleolithic archaeological sites discovered over the past decades, only five are considered coeval with or older than the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM, ∼27–19 ka). As one of them, the Siling Co site in the central TP was previously announced to be ∼40–30 ka based on radiocarbon dating and stratigraphic correlation. Given the loose chronological constraint in previous studies, we here re-examined the chronology of the Siling Co site with the optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating technique. Four sections from the paleo-shoreline at an elevation of ∼4,600 m in southeastern Siling Co were investigated, with stone artifacts found from the ground surface. Dating results of nine samples delineated the age of ∼4,600 m paleo-shoreline to be ∼10–7 ka (∼8.54 ± 0.21 ka in average). This age indicates that the Siling Co site is not earlier than the early Holocene, much younger than the former age. The revised age of the Siling Co site is consistent with the wet and humid climate conditions on the TP during the early Holocene.

scholarly journals ON SOME RESULTS OF THE ZOOARCHEOLOGICAL STUDIES BASED ON THE EXCAVATIONS OF THE XVII – XVIII CENTURY KUZNETSK

2017 ◽  
pp. 67-77
Author(s):  
S. S. Onischenko ◽  
Y. V. Shirin
Keyword(s):  
Economic Structure ◽  
Wild Birds ◽  
Cattle Breeding ◽  
Wild Mammals ◽  
Xviii Century ◽  
Leading Role ◽  
Animal Remains ◽  
Cultural Layers ◽  
Similarities And Differences

The article presents the analysis of faunal collections obtained during the excavation of the Kuznetsk in 2012 and dated to the XVII – XVIII centuries. There were studied 1534 remains of domestic and wild mammals, birds and fish. The result shows the similarities and differences in the structure of asynchronous zooarchaeological assemblage, synchronous of household buildings and cultural layers outside, peculiarities of formation of bone-bearing sediments at different sites and zoogenic impact on these processes. As for animal remains, cows and pigs prevailed; as for fish, the leading role belonged to the sturgeon. It is assumed that the main elements of the economic structure of the settlers were house cattle breeding, fishing and occasionally hunting for moose, bear, fox, hare, and wild birds. The settlers also had dogs, cats, sheep, horses, chicken. The analysis results are discussed  in  the  context  of  distinctions  of  life  of  separate  microsocieties,  vertical and horizontal relocation of bone residues and their transformation. 

A Comment on Nomenclature in Faunal Studies

1981 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 192-194 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandra L. Olsen ◽  
John W. Olsen
Keyword(s):  
Broad Spectrum ◽  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Faunal Remains ◽  
Animal Remains ◽  
Current Usage ◽  
Faunal Studies

The study of faunal remains from archaeological sites has been described using a variety of terms including: zooarchaeology, archaeozoology, osteoarchaeology, and ethnozoology. With such a broad spectrum of terms in current usage, we feel that the contradictions and errors inherent in some of this nomenclature need to be corrected. We prefer the term zooarchaeology, as a contraction of the word zoologico-archaeology proposed by Lubbock in 1865, to define the study of animal remains from archaeological sites and their relationship to humans.

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