Trends and Traditions in Southeastern Zooarchaeology (original) (raw)
While most works of southeastern archaeology focus on stone artifacts or ceramics, this volume is the first to bring together past and current trends in zooarchaeological studies. Faunal reports are often relegated to appendices and not synthesized with the rest of the archaeological data, but Trends and Traditions in Southeastern Zooarchaeology calls attention to the diversity of information that faunal remains can reveal about rituals, ideologies, socio-economic organization, trade, and past environments. These essays, by leading practitioners in this developing field, highlight the differences between the archaeological focus on animals as the food source of their time and the belief among zooarchaeologists that animals represent a far more complex ecology. With broad methodological and interpretive analysis of sites throughout the region, the essays range in topic from the enduring symbolism of shells for more than 5,000 years to the domesticated dog cemeteries of Spirit Hill in Jackson County, Alabama, and to the subsistence strategies of Confederate soldiers at the Florence Stockade in South Carolina. Ultimately challenging traditional concepts of the roles animals have played in the social and economic development of southeastern cultures, this book is a groundbreaking and seminal archaeological study.
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Recent trends in the archaeology of the southeastern United States
Journal of Archaeological Research, 1994
The archaeological literature pertaining to the southeastern United States is examined for the 5-year period between 1988 and 1992 inclusive. Research traditions identified in an earlier article by Patty Jo Watson (Southeastern Archaeology 9: 43-54, 1990) as characteristic of the Southeast in the previous half-century are considered in light of recent contributions. Topics examined include Mesoamerican connections, trade, pottery typology, historical archaeology, subsistence studies, bioarchaeology, and lithic artifact research.
Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 2017
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The examination of prehistoric faunal assemblages has traditionally focused on dietary patterns, resource exploitation, and ecological reconstruction. Only limited attention has been given to the ritual use of animal remains. In the American Bottom, despite an abundance of archaeological sites and assemblages, few studies have explored this aspect of Native American ritual behavior. This article provides an overview of Late Woodland, Terminal Late Woodland, and Mississippian ritual use of bone and shell in the American Bottom and considers broad patterns of animal part use and changes in use over time. Using approaches formulated within social zooarchaeology, examination of this aspect of ritual behavior provides further insight into human-animal relations during the late prehistoric period.
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Oscar Leonardo Aguila. “Zooarchaeological Analysis of The Northeast Plaza at The Smith Creek Mound Site (22Wk526), Wilkinson County, Mississippi” (under the direction of Drs. Megan C. Kassabaum and Katherine M. Moore) This thesis presents the data and interpretation of a faunal assemblage excavated from a midden in the Northeast Plaza of the Smith Creek site, a Native American mound site in Wilkinson County, Mississippi. Previous analysis of the faunal material from a flank midden on Mound A at the site revealed various taxa present at the site and led to a discussion of whether Smith Creek hosted large-scale feasting or elite provisioning activities. The analysis presented here focuses on comparing the Northeast Plaza and Mound A faunal assemblages in order to gather more information about Smith Creek’s usage of animal resources as a whole. Comparisons between the two contexts focus on characteristics such as taxa abundance, heat-alteration, and element completeness. In addition, t...
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