archaeology and animal behavior

Archaeology and Animal Behavior

This cute little guy is an Ord's kangaroo rat (Dipodomys ordii). We

caught this little fellow (and several more like him) during the

recent Zooarchaeology Conference field trip to northwest Nevada. I

particularly like kangaroo rats because they are so docile and will

allow you to handle them as long as you're gentle (pocket mice, on the

other hand, are vicious little creatures and will take a nasty chunk

out of you if you're not careful!). You might be wondering why a bunch

of archaeologists would be interested in setting trap lines for

rodents in the middle of the hot Nevada desert, but it's rather easy

to explain. As archaeologists interested in the use of faunal remains

to indicate past human behavior (zooarchaeologists), most of us

further recognize the need to go beyond the bones and study animal

behavior and distribution as well. Our biologist colleagues always

attend the conference and field trip with us and the cross-discipline

exchanges have benefitted both sides. [On a side note, I hate to brag,

but it was the archaeologist "team" who "out-trapped" the biologist

team on this particular trip. However, although we successfully

trapped more animals, the species diversity was identical between the

teams].

It's one thing to just identify the bones to species or genus level;

but understanding the animal's behavior is crucial to understanding

its relationship to past human societies: as prey, as an indicator of

environment, as an exchange item, as a source of raw material, etc.

All aspects of animal behavior affect the technology, organization and

resource acquisition behavior of humans. It is not sufficient to

simply indicate that you have bighorn sheep or zebra in the faunal

remains from your site. Those remains also imply particular things

about human prey selection, transport, hunting method, economic

return, seasonality, abundance and distribution. Understanding the

behavior of a species is just as important as being able to identify

its left distal tibia.

Of course, apart from providing a context for interpreting

zooarchaeological remains, viewing and learning about wildlife is fun

in and of itself. On our trip through northeastern California and

northwestern Nevada we also encountered pronghorn antelope and mule

deer, and in the High Rock Canyon in Nevada we were fortunate to come

across this group of bighorn sheep. It was a magnificent sight as

these animals are generally elusive. Besides the larger game animals

and rodents, we also encountered a huge variety of bird species as

well. My wife and I have found the fun in bird watching and have

started our own list of identified species. It's a bit short now, but

that will certainly change in time.