Publishing Archaeological Experiments: a quick guide for the uninitiated

Reproduced with permission of the publisher. © 2005 SEA Hradec Králové and EXARC. Full details of the journal EuroREA are available at: http://www.eurorea.net/issues.htm

Applied Models and Indices vs. High-Resolution, Observed Data: Detailed Fracture and Fragmentation Analyses for the Investigation of Skeletal Part Abundance Patterns

Reproduced with permission of the publisher. Copyright © 2004 Prometheus Press/Palaeontological Network Foundation.This is the published version of an article published in the Journal of Taphonomy 2(3), pp.167-184The history and development of skeletal part abundance studies is briefly discussed. Two principal strands of this sub-discipline are the application of indices of food utility and bone mineral density to the interpretation of skeletal part abundance patterns. Both food utility and bone mineral density indices are derived from modern observations, underwritten by uniformitarian assumptions, and are used to model behavioural and taphonomic patterns in the selection and survival of bone elements. The application of such models is critiqued. It is argued that, whilst such models remain extremely valuable, they will always suffer from equifinality with regard to end interpretations. The solution to this problem does not lie in improving these models, or the data they derive from, though this may be desirable, but in the more time-consuming option of improving the resolution of archaeologically observed data. Several ways of doing this are briefly discussed. One of these options, fracture and fragmentation analysis, is outlined in detail. Sample applications of such an approach are presented and discussed. These include the use of fracture and fragmentation analysis to identify specific practices that can severely skew skeletal part abundances, such as bone grease rendering, and the identification of levels of pre-depositional and post-depositional fracturing within the taphonomic history of bone assemblages

Ochre roasting: the enigma of an unusual lime kiln alteration at the Cheddleton Flint Mills, near Leek, North Staffordshire

© World copyright - The Society for Post-Medieval Archaeology. Post-Medieval Archaeology is a biannual journal devoted to the study of the material evidence of European society wherever it is found in the world. Post-Medieval Archaeology is now published on behalf of the SPMA by Maney Publishing. Details of the original publication, Post-Medieval Archaeology, are available on the SPMA website www.spma.org.u

Identifying dietary stress in marginal environments: bone fats, optimal foraging theory and the seasonal round

Reproduced with permission of the publisher. Copyright © Oxbow Books and the individual authors, 2004The importance of fat in the diet is outlined and the importance of bones as a reliable source of fat is explained. Different patterns of bone marrow and grease exploitation are discussed with particular reference to marginal environments and how levels of exploitation will be related to levels of dietary stress. The possible role of Optimal Foraging Theory in addressing this issue is outlined and adaptations of Marginal Value Theorem and Diet Breadth specific to bone fat exploitation are put forward and described. The methodologies for studying patterns of bone fat exploitation within archaeological assemblages are outlined and four example applications relating to Norse and Pale-Eskimo Greenland, Norse Iceland and Middle Neolithic Gotland are used to illustrate what these methods can show. These case studies are discussed with specific reference to identifying dietary stress in marginal environments and the role of seasonality to this issue

Large mammal bones and bird bones

Reproduced with permission of the publisher. Copyright © 2004 The Society for Medieval Archaeology and authors

Comparing levels of subsistence stress amongst Norse settlers in Iceland and Greenland using levels of bone fat exploitation as an indicator

Reproduced with permission of the publisher. Copyright © Oxbow Books and the Association for Environmental Archaeology 2003.The background to the Icelandic and Greenlandic sites under investigation is outlined and prior work on the Norse economies of the two islands is discussed. The importance of fat in the diet and the use of levels of bone marrow and grease exploitation as an indicator of subsistence stress are explained. The methodology for establishing levels of bone fat exploitation is outlined. This methodology involves the detailed study of fragmentation levels of different types of bone, study of bone fracture types and many other taphonomic indicators. The results of the study are described and discussed. On Greenland, the Norse inhabitants exploited almost all available fat from land mammal bones, leaving only the ribs. lt is argued that this indicates a severe level of subsistence stress amongst the Greenlanders that is most likely related to a seasonal dearth in resources. On lceland, whilst a certain amount of bone marrow is almost certainly exploited, the settlers appear to almost totally ignore the potential to exploit bone grease. This is likely to be indicative of a much more healthy subsistence economy than on Greenland. These results are discussed in relation to differing climate, availability of good soil, fishing practices and seasonal rounds

Fragmentation: the zonation method applied to fragmented human remains from archaeological and forensic contexts

Reproduced with permission of the publisher. Copyright © Oxbow Books and the Association for Environmental Archaeology 2004.Scattered and commingled human and animal remains are commonly encountered on archaeological sites, and this contextual relationship begs the question of whether human and animals were treated in a similar manner before burial. The recording system presented here provides a means by which to confront problems of equifinality - that is, when taphonomic alterations create apparently similar patterns and, therefore, confuse behavioural inferences drawn from them. This method hinges on a standardised representation of the zones on human skeletal elements that allow comparison with those described by Dobney and Rielly (1988) for animal remains. It is anticipated that the anatomical descriptions in combination with the zone drawings presented will aid others to apply the method generally across skeletal assemblages of any date. This system could also be used to aid the curation of museum collections and as a complement to forensic recovery

Horses for the dead: funerary foodways in Bronze Age Kazakhstan

© 2011 Antiquity PublicationsThe authors examine the role of horses as expressed in assemblages from settlement sites and cemeteries between the Eneolithic and the Bronze Age in Kazakhstan. In this land, known for its rich association with horses, the skeletal evidence appears to indicate a fading of ritual interest. But that's not the whole story, and once again micro-archaeology reveals the true balance. The horses are present at the funeral, but now as meat for the pot, detected in bone fragments and lipids in the pot walls.Natural Environment Research Council (grant NE/B504506) and the British Academy (grants SG-35540 and SG-42656)