The nature and timing of the transition to farming north of the Linearbandkeramik zone in Europe is the subject of much debate, but our understanding of this fundamental shift in lifeways is hampered by the low resolution of available data. This article presents new multi-proxy evidence from Swifterbant (4240–4050 BC), in the Dutch wetlands, for morphologically domestic cattle with two different dietary regimes. The authors argue that the results indicate early animal management, alongside arable farming and the continuance of foraging practices, prompting the reconsideration away from broad statements about the Neolithic north of the Linearbandkeramik zone towards more local trajectories.

En este trabajo se presentan los resultados del análisis de los restos faunísticos de Hangar, un sitio arqueológico ubicado en la región pampeana argentina. Los fechados realizados sobre huesos de guanaco sitúan cronológicamente a las ocupaciones humanas en el Holoceno tardío final, período escasamente representado en el área. Los análisis tafonómicos y estratigráficos indican que el sitio presenta complejos procesos de formación, con una baja integridad, aunque con buena resolución. Los principales procesos que afectaron a los restos fueron la bioturbación y las tareas de laboreo de la tierra. Las evidencias aportadas por Hangar muestran la explotación de distintos taxones, entre los que se destacan el guanaco, el venado de las Pampas, la vizcacha, el peludo y el ñandú. Estos datos constituyen un importante insumo para el creciente avance en el conocimiento de la subsistencia de los cazadores-recolectores que habitaron la región pampeana. En particular, los fechados-taxón obtenidos aportan nuevos datos para la discusión acerca de la retracción del guanaco en momentos tardíos en el área Interserrana bonaerense.

Historically, urban centres are seen as consumers that draw in labour and resources from their rural hinterlands. Zooarchaeological studies of key urban sites in Southwest Asia demonstrate the movement of livestock, but the region-wide application of these findings has not been tested and the logistics of urban provisioning remain poorly understood. Here, the authors analyse zooarchaeological data from 245 sites in the Levant and Mesopotamia to examine patterns of livestock production and consumption over a 5000-year period. They find that although preferences varied over time and space, urban sites consistently relied on rural satellites to overcome local limitations to support their large and diverse populations.

Excavations at Yeghegis-1, a rockshelter in southern Armenia, reveal long-term human habitation from the late fifth to mid-fourth millennia BC. Here, the authors present a preliminary overview of the materials recovered from the site and highlight the potential of ongoing research to shed light on Chalcolithic human lifeways in the region.

Excavations at the vicarage yard (prästgården) at the famous Late Iron Age magnate centre of Gamla Uppsala, Sweden, have yielded six Viking Age (c. ad 750–1100) boat burials, several containing the remains of domestic dogs. The present study is an osteological examination of the remains of three of these dogs, one each from three boat graves, with a primary goal of morphological reconstruction and a secondary focus on identifying sex, age, and pathology. Two dogs were large, slender sight hounds, while the third was somewhat smaller and of indeterminate type. The preference for sight hounds in high-status graves is consistent with previous results from the contemporaneous nearby boat cemeteries of Vendel and Valsgärde, adding weight to the hypothesis of a shared funerary culture between these sites in the Late Iron Age.

In ancient Near Eastern iconography, panthers and lions were frequently used to express social status. The zooarchaeological remains of panthers and lions found in this region, however, are most commonly interpreted only as evidence for the management of dangerous animals. Starting with the faunal material from Iron Age Tel Burna, the authors collate and analyse zooarchaeological evidence for big cats across the Near East, from the Neolithic to the Iron Age (c. 9500–50 BC). The results show a shift in assemblage composition and find contexts starting in the Chalcolithic period, indicating the display of these animals by political leaders. The results also urge caution in the use of archaeological remains for reconstructing the natural ranges of big cats.

Hydraulic mills were introduced in the early colonial period in the Americas to grind wheat into flour. During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the rise of the agro-export model in Latin America shaped the development of a flour industry in which water-powered mills played a central role. Over time, these technologies were used not only to increase production for the export market but also to meet the needs of domestic consumption, both local and regional. In this context, in 2017 we began to investigate the characteristics of a hydraulic mill, currently in disuse, in the town of Payogasta in the province of Salta (Argentina), to determine its chronology and functionality. In addition to surveying the structure, we conducted excavations in the nearby rooms that were part of the site. We found that this mill was in operation between the end of the nineteenth and the end of the twentieth centuries, grinding wheat, corn, carob, and red bell pepper, and that the adjoining rooms were used to house the people who were waiting their turn to grind their raw materials.

Se presentan los primeros resultados del análisis de pieles procesadas recuperadas en el sitio Puerto Tranquilo 1, ubicado en el extremo norte de la Isla Victoria, en el Parque Nacional Nahuel Huapi, Provincia de Neuquén, Argentina. El material estudiado proviene de un nivel tardío, por encima de un fogón fechado en 640 ± 60 años aP (1288–1431 cal dC). El conjunto incluye tanto fragmentos de piel con pelo como depilados, con costuras de tendón y pelo, pintados y con reparaciones. Se aplicó una metodología específica para el análisis de las pieles y las fibras, con una descripción técnico-morfológica detallada a partir del análisis macro- y microscópico (SEM/óptico). Las características de la médula y de la cutícula de las fibras permitieron la identificación de Lama guanicoe y Mustelidae (cf. Galictis). Se aplicaron estrategias analíticas y metodológicas novedosas y se generaron datos acerca de las diferentes dimensiones del uso humano de los recursos faunísticos y de la producción de tecnologías en el área boscoso-lacustre norpatagónica. La comparación con otras evidencias arqueológicas, etnográficas y etnohistóricas permitió reconocer rasgos tecnológicos recurrentes en la preparación de las pieles y en la manufactura de artefactos, como parte del proceso productivo del cuero en Norpatagonia.

Horses and chariots played a crucial social, cultural and military role in the emergence and development of early states in China. Little research, however, has explored the life histories of individual chariot horses or assessed their role as working animals. Here, the authors present a detailed zooarchaeological and palaeopathological study of eight adult male horses, used for pulling chariots, recovered from a single chariot-horse pit at the burial site of Shijia in north-western China. The characterisation of key osteological differences between chariot horses and ridden horses is offered as a contribution to the toolkit available for the archaeological investigation of human-horse interactions around the globe.

Documenting the intentional structuring of space by hunter-gatherers can be challenging, especially in complex cave contexts. One approach is the spatial analysis of discard patterns. Here, the authors consider the spatial distribution of faunal remains from the Lower Magdalenian Level 115 in El Mirón Cave, Cantabria, to assess a possible structuring function for an unusual alignment of rocks. Although it is impossible to determine whether the alignment was intentionally constructed, differences in the distributions of taxa and in specimen sizes on different sides of this feature suggest that it played a role in structuring the living space of the cave's inhabitants.

In Iran, studies of the transition from hunting and gathering to farming and herding have focused on early developments in the Zagros Mountains. Here, the authors present new zooarchaeological data from Hotu Cave, which throw light on sheep/goat management and domestication during the Epipalaeolithic–Neolithic transition on the southern shores of the Caspian Sea. Gazelle dominate the Epipalaeolithic levels, while sheep/goat are most abundant in the Neolithic. Large quantities of perinatal sheep/goat remains from the Early Neolithic indicate that these animals were actively managed in or close to the cave. The results point towards the importance in Iran of local developments beyond the Zagros, adding nuance to the general model of domestication in South-west Asia.

En este trabajo se discuten las estrategias de explotación de ungulados por parte de los grupos cazadores-recolectores que habitaron los sectores ecotonales del Parque Nacional Perito Moreno (Santa Cruz, Argentina). La importancia del guanaco (Lama guanicoe) y el huemul (Hippocamelus bisulcus) en la subsistencia de estos sectores precordilleranos se mantuvo constante desde la transición Pleistoceno/Holoceno. La muestra analizada corresponde a un basural datado en el Holoceno medio (ca. 5500 años aP) perteneciente al sitio Cerro Casa de Piedra 7. La variedad de partes anatómicas, junto con la diversidad y frecuencia de marcas de procesamiento, da cuenta de un aprovechamiento integral e intensivo de ambas especies. La explotación del guanaco se habría centrado, principalmente, en grupos familiares con una marcada selectividad de individuos en edad reproductiva. El incremento demográfico en las poblaciones de guanacos ocurrido durante el Holoceno medio, tal como señalan investigaciones moleculares en Patagonia, habría permitido esta interacción predador-presa sin consecuencias ecológicas negativas. En tanto, el huemul tuvo un rol complementario en la dieta y su obtención se basó en una estrategia de caza oportunista, sin causar una presión predatoria significativa sobre esta presa. Las discrepancias en el aprovechamiento responderían a cuestiones etológicas y demográficas propias de estos ungulados.

Plants and animals play a vital role in the human experience, from providing basic sustenance to creating unique social practices that may govern familial, political, or religious experiences; reconstitute identities; or forge social relationships. In this article, we present analyses on the ethnobotanical and zoological remains recently recovered from the Spring Lake Tract, Cahokia, a neighborhood populated from approximately AD 900 to 1275. The assemblage represents a variety of plants and animals that demonstrate the diverse utility of the biota from the region. We conclude that this assemblage indicates that this neighborhood community participated in an array of practices not easily dichotomized into “ritual” or “domestic.” From the perspectives of “Place-Thought” and locality, we emphasize the agency of these entities (plant/animal/human) in the process of creating and sustaining this Cahokian neighborhood.

A recent study from Central Europe has changed our perception of the cat's domestication history. The authors discuss how this has led to the development of an interdisciplinary project combining palaeogenetics, zooarchaeology and radiocarbon dating, with the aim of providing insight into the domestic cat's expansion beyond the Mediterranean.

Throughout the Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene, humans adapted to significant climate and environmental change. One key region for investigating these adaptive strategies is Island Southeast Asia, where fluctuating sea levels led to dramatic changes in coastlines, vegetation and fauna. The authors present new data from the re-excavation of Pilanduk Cave on Palawan Island, Philippines. The results corroborate the results of earlier excavations that identified Pleistocene occupation of the site. Pilanduk shows evidence for specialised deer hunting and freshwater mollusc consumption during the Last Glacial Maximum. The results add to the evidence for the shifting foraging behaviours of modern humans occupying variable tropical environments across Island Southeast Asia.

The horse played a crucial role in China through the first millennium BC, used both for military advantage and, through incorporation into elite burials, to express social status. Details of how horses were integrated into mortuary contexts during the Qin Empire, however, are poorly understood. Here, the authors present new zooarchaeological data for 24 horses from an accessory pit in Qin Shihuang's mausoleum, indicating that the horses chosen were tall, adult males. These findings provide insights into the selection criteria for animals to be included in the emperor's tomb and invite consideration of questions concerning horse breeds, husbandry practices, and the military and symbolic importance of horses in early imperial China.

This article describes the numerous bone remains discovered in a Roman road station, a mansio, on the Via Nova Traiana. The finds are exceptional and provide valuable insights into the daily life, environment, and economy of a road station. The assemblage is dominated by domestic species, mainly sheep/goat, followed, to a lesser extent, by chicken, cattle, and pigs. Beasts of burden (donkey, camel), hunted game (gazelle, hare), fish, and seashells complete the bone assemblage. Together, the zooarchaeological information allows us to discuss the procurement and role of meat in the diet of the residents and visitors to this station.