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Measuring the Selective Utilization of Animal Species by Prehistoric Human Populations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Bruce D. Smith
Bruce D. Smith*
Affiliation:
National Museum of National History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. 20560
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Abstract

To determine the pattern of selective utilization of animal species by prehistoric human populations, it is first necessary to quantify the relative importance of species of animals in the diet of prehistoric human groups through analysis of archaeologically recovered faunal samples. These values are then compared with estimates of the relative availability of different species of animals in the environment. Such estimates of the relative availability of animal species in prehistoric habitat situations, usually quantified in terms of biomass, are obtained by projecting data from modern analog situations into the past. When attempting to reconstruct prehistoric biotic communities in this manner, it is important to be aware of a number of possible sources of bias and to evaluate and apply modern wildlife data according to a set of interrelated principles. Sources of bias and criteria for selecting modern wildlife analog data are discussed.

Type
Reports
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 44 , Issue 1 , January 1979 , pp. 155 - 160
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 1979

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References

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