Jennifer Taylor and Dr. Joel C Janetski, Anthropology
“The goal of zooarchaeology is to gain a better understanding of the relationship between humans…and other animal populations” (Reitz and Wing 1999:1).
With this in mind, I set out for the Coombs Village archaeological site at Anasazi State Park in Boulder, Utah during the Olympic Break of February 2002. Animal bone, often the only surviving evidence of animals found in the archaeological record, tells a limited story of faunal life in and around areas inhabited by prehistoric humans. Just the species of animal found in an archaeological site offers understanding of the human/animal relationship. Specialized areas of zooarchaeology take further steps to give insight into the use on animals, and their by-products, in a prehistoric context.
I proposed to research the seasonality indicators from the bone assemblage at Coombs Village. Season of animal death demonstrates the time of year that people inhabited a site. In the case of hunters and gatherers and semi-mobile cultures, the season of occupation at sites helps us understand how the people moved across the landscape. My research design was to find whether each season, or a specific season, was represented in the assemblage.
Coombs Village is a significant Anasazi archaeological site. Evidence at the site: existence of permanent structures, multiple occupation levels, etc, indicate that the site was very likely a permanent settlement, occupied year-round. Thus, the animal bones identified at the site should reflect four seasons. The primary way that these seasons are represented in the faunal assemblage is through tooth eruption and antler shed evidence. The time at which teeth erupt and antlers develop and are shed has been documented for the artiodactyl species identified in the assemblage.
I analyzed 1,980 bones, 72 of which were artiodactyl teeth. All teeth still in the mandible (jaw bone) were fully erupted, indicating older age and preventing season-of-death identification. While a small number of antler fragments were identified, none of them were at the articulation (where the antler attaches to the skull) and no skull fragments showed evidence of antlers. These and other factors have resulted in a lack of analyzable seasonality data for the Coombs Village faunal assemblage.
I am now in the process of analyzing the data for new research questions. There are quite a few problems with which I must deal as I try to find a publishable topic for the Coombs Village faunal assemblage. The excavations began in a time when techniques were not as controlled as they are today. Much of the Coombs bone was likely tossed out either because the excavators did not deem it valuable, or because the fragments were too small to be noticed without controlled screening of all excavated dirt.
Past excavations may have favored large bones, causing a bias toward large animals—thus skewing any cross-species comparisons I might attempt. It is impossible to accurately compare different species—especially small animals to large animals. One area of the site was excavated recently, 1990-1, with modern screening techniques and that small assemblage was analyzed by Marian Jacklin. I reanalyzed these bones for seasonality indicators, but again found nothing to indicate season of occupation for the site.
As seasonality determinations are impossible, I have considered researching age estimations and mortality profiles. Work on mortality profiles and other studies that involve only one species may be one of the few analyses possible for this assemblage. A mortality profile for Coombs Village would demonstrate whether the people were selecting a particular age range of animals—specifically mule deer as they are best represented in the assemblage—in their hunting, leaving the oldest and/or youngest deer alive. This information may or may not be possible to determine, but would be interesting and valuable. If the data supports a particular selection pattern, then I may be able to offer some interesting information regarding the residents of Coombs Village.
Despite the setbacks encountered, I will try to finish this research by mid-October. I have learned a great deal by going through this research process. Faunal analysis relies heavily on the experience of the analyst. As I gain more experience in the discipline, I am better able to accurately report the zooarchaeology of a site. As a visiting researcher at Anasazi State Park, I was treated as a scholar rather than an undergraduate student, building my confidence. I am disappointed that I am, so far, unable to repay the kindness of the staff with a useful paper, but hope to do so in the future. In the meantime, I will continue to investigate potential research topics.
Bibliography
- Reitz, E.J. and Elizabeth S. Wing. Zooarchaeology. Cambridge University Press, 1999.