Archeologie laat de dieren spreken = [Archaeology makes the animals talk]

It is clear that Human-Animal Studies have to take into account changes over time. Our attitude towards e.g. domestic animals cannot be studied without understanding how this aspect of human behaviour evolved through time, or how domestication started in prehistoric times. As a consequence, historical sources alone are insufficient to accomplish this task. Archaeology, and more precisely the study of animal remains from archaeological sites, is extremely important, especially since the data it supplies has not been recorded by humans (as is always the case with historical sources). This information is thus unbiased and allows us to approach the former human-animal relationship from the point of view of the latter. Traces on animal skeletons showing trauma or pathology, characteristics allowing reconstruction of growth rates and ages at death, chemical signals revealing dietary patterns and pollution: all such data document the individual animal’s life. These observations can (with some caution) be translated into statements about former animals’ well-being. In this way, animals finally get an independent voice in the Human-Animal debate

The Holocene occurrence of the European catfish (<i>Silurus glanis</i>) in Belgium: the archaeozoological evidence

An overview is given of the skeletal remains of the European catfish Silurus glanis found thus far in Belgian archaeological sites. These finds demonstrate that the species is autochthonous and allow documenting its occurrence and disappearance during the Holocene in the Scheldt and Meuse basins. Possible causes for the local extinction of this catfish are discussed

To fish or not to fish? Evidence for the possible avoidance of fish consumption during the Iron Age around the North Sea

Accounts of the Late Iron Age economy of the areas around the southern part of the North Sea typically do not refer to fishing as an important contribution to subsistence (e.g. Bloemers and Van Dorp 1991; Green 1992; Van Heeringen 1992; Cunliffe 1995; Champion and Collis 1996). In the case of freshwater fishing, most texts seem to assume implicitly (by referring to older periods and common sense) that some food procurement did occur in inland waters, but how important this activity was remains unclear. The evaluation of marine resource exploitation is even more problematic for the Late Iron Age. We do not really know to what extent people were fishing in the sea, and, when they did, whether this fishing was practised in the estuaries, along the coast, or in open waters. In any case, the evidence is very scarce, but whether this is proof for a lack of interest in marine and freshwater resources needs to be more fully evaluated. If some Late Iron Age peoples in north-west Europe did not incorporate aquatic resources as a significant part of their subsistence strategies, it remains unclear why this would have been the case. Was this because of ecological conditions, different economic options, a lack of economic specialisation, a lack of technology, or other reasons? The following paper reviews the Iron Age zooarchaeological record for three countries bordering the North Sea (England, Belgium, and the Netherlands) in order to evaluate more fully the possible nature and extent of fish exploitation

De archeologie van de pladijs

status: publishe

Commensal Rats and Humans: : Integrating Rodent Phylogeography and Zooarchaeology to Highlight Connections between Human Societies

Phylogeography and zooarchaeology are largely separate disciplines, yet each interrogates relationships between humans and commensal species. Knowledge gained about human history from studies of four commensal rats (Rattus rattus, R. tanezumi, R. exulans, and R. norvegicus) is outlined, and open questions about their spread alongside humans are identified. Limitations of phylogeographic and zooarchaeological studies are highlighted, then how integration would increase understanding of species’ demographic histories and resultant inferences about human societies is discussed. How rat expansions have informed the understanding of human migration, urban settlements, trade networks, and intra- and interspecific competition is reviewed. Since each rat species is associated with different human societies, they identify unique ecological and historical/cultural conditions that influenced their expansion. Finally, priority research areas including nuclear genome based phylogeographies are identified using archaeological evidence to understand R. norvegicus expansion across China, multi-wave colonization of R. rattus across Europe, and competition between R. rattus and R. norvegicus