The methodological and theoretical considerations that must be addressed when excavating the traditional longhouses of the First Nation peoples who lived in the Pacific Northwest region are the foci of this thesis. The large amount of faunal data contained within the remains of houses require the use of explicit, justifiable sampling strategies; however, the methods used to sample these dwellings are not generally a central research focus. A sampling simulation of faunal data recovered from the excavation of numerous houses from the village site of Ozette is the empirical basis of this research. Specifically, the effects of sample size and sample method on richness, relative abundance and the interpretation of status using faunal data are investigated. The results are of heuristic value for future household archaeology on the Northwest Coast and suggest alternative sampling methods which attempt to cope with the labour-intensive research generally required for shell-midden archaeology.

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The impact of human activity on ecosystems is an issue at the forefront of global concern. Marine ecosystems are a particular concern, given their importance for human sustenance. Through the removal of species that are highly susceptible to the effects of overfishing, global fisheries have been driven to near collapse in recent decades. The long-term effects of such practices has resulted in declines in mean trophic level of aggregate fish catches over time, as well as decreasing diversity of species available for regular harvest (Jackson et al. 2001; Pauly et al. 1998). These supposedly “modern” problems have been recently identified in archaeological contexts, and attest to the extent of anthropogenic ecosystem alteration that has occurred since humans first began intensively exploiting marine ecosystems (Erlandson and Rick 2010; Quitmyer and Reitz 2006; Reitz 2004; Wing and Wing 2001). Here, I evaluate the degree of change in mean trophic level, diversity, and equitability of midden deposits at Crystal River and Roberts Island, two roughly contemporaneous Middle-to-Late Woodland Period (AD 1to 1000) mound complexes located on the west-central Florida Gulf Coast. This research identifies the extent to which humans altered the characteristics of the estuarine ecosystem surrounding the two sites, promotes alternative theoretical perspectives on past human-environment interactions, and provides modern ecosystems management agencies with a temporally-expansive data set to aid in future ecosystem conservation efforts.

This essay has analyzed and compared measurements of at least 41 dogs from seven different locations on Gotland ranging periods from Stone Age to Iron Age. This essay’s focus was on studying what kind of different types of dogs there are in the different time periods on Gotland, but also what their usage may have been. Type is not to be confused with breed as it is a modern concept and would give a faulty image, type indicate usage such as primed for i.e. hunting. The thesis also explores if the result differs from the mainland or preference of dogs compared to the island. Earlier studies have stated that during the Stone- and Bronze Age there are spitz type dogs, which usually varies between 30-60 cm. While during the Iron age more variety of different type of dogs were found such a greyhound type. Even larger dogs appear in the material with a height of 60-70 cm.   The Gotlandic dogs that were examined came from the locations Simunde, Lilla Vikers, Stora Källstäde, Hemmor, Gullrum, Ire, Vallhagar and Broa in Halla. Their sizes differed between 25-73 cm in height. The types of dogs that have been read out in the material are spitz, terrier, molosser types. The spitz and the terrier types indicate a usage as a farm dog raging to hunting, herding, guarding and as a companion. The molosser type and the other long-legged dogs in Broa in Halla show more specified hunting, high status and even hunting with horse. Nothing shows a different preference of type or size between the mainland and Gotland with the exception that the Gotlandic Stone age dogs were a little on the larger side than normal. The dogs were important in Gotland society and lived a good life with man as well as having the same diet which was proven by carbon-13 value analyzes from Ajvide. The dogs showed very few injuries and those that did showed instead that they had been taken care of in form of food and shelter so that those injuries fully have healed properly. Which shows that man has taken care of the dogs and wanted them well in health, that the dog is indeed important to humans and is our best friend.

Horse-depositions were examined to explore the development of human-horse relationships in early Britain using a multidisciplinary approach (osteological, archaeological, historical and ethnographical) to interpret these relationships as part of Horseman identities in the Iron Age, Roman and medieval periods. Medieval Horseman-burials are an established phenomenon and considered an Anglo-Saxon import in Britain which expressed a general elite-warrior male status. However, Horseman-burials form an exclusive minority which suggest not a general warrior elite but specific subgroups and/or traditions potentially rooted in earlier practices. Husbandry, transportation-use and ritual practices were also investigated. Horses and horse-use were evaluated via stature and correlations with sex. The results indicated sexual dimorphism should be considered when interpreting horse stature. It is hypothesised that generally females were pastured breeding-stock while males were transportation-stock which received supplemental nutrition and care. Males were/are generally larger than females, and size disparity was probably heightened by such gendered horse-use practices. Overall, it appears females were 1.3m or less, and horses over 1.3m were males. Horse-depositional patterns in human, particularly funerary, spaces were analysed. Horse deposition often had ritual components and practices changed over time reflecting changing Horseman identities, particularly during the Roman period. Roman-British interactions, the destruction of native-elite chariot-warfare identities and the development of native-auxiliary groups refocused Horseman identities on mounted-warfare. This change from driver to rider, a more intimate relationship, appears reflected by the development of human-horse burials and Horseman identities linked to auxiliary-native cultural groups which incorporated Roman equites ideals with native-auxiliary and imported Eurasian Horseman traditions. / Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC). Financial support also came from the project partners, particularly author Bernard Cornwell, the Sutton Hoo Society. Additional financial support for equine osteological research was supplied by SYNTHESYS. / The appendices which accompany the thesis are not available online.

No / The Covesea Caves, located on the coast of the Moray Firth in northeastern Scotland, are a series of archaeological cave sites that are hypothesized to be part of a larger mortuary complex used during the Late Prehistoric period. Although much attention has been given to the unusual assemblage of human remains recovered from these sites, there has been less analysis undertaken on the vast amount of archaeofauna from the caves. This is in the process of being rectified through the recent work of the Covesea Cave Project, under direction of Ian Armit and Lindsey Büster and currently being undertaken at the University of Bradford. This report details attempts to confirm species identifications for several faunal bones of interest through various methodologies; unfortunately, not all of the attempts were successful. However, identifications are confirmed for two avian bones using comparative osteological analysis at the Avian Anatomical Collection at the Natural History Museum at Tring, United Kingdom. These species are placed in context through consideration of previous excavations at the Covesea Caves, as well as recent literature on ornithological analyses of ritual and funerary sites in Later Prehistoric Britain.

The Covesea Caves are a series of later prehistoric sites that form a complex mortuary landscape. Previous excavations of the caves have provided evidence for the decapitation, disarticulation, and intentional deposition of human remains. Although there has been substantial analysis of the human remains, there has been little consideration of the significant number of faunal remains recovered during numerous excavations. This research represents the first focused examination of the extensive zooarchaeological record from the Covesea Caves, with an emphasis on investigating characteristics of the faunal bone related to taphonomy and processing in order to provide a proxy for the complex funerary treatments to which the human remains were subject. Analysis of Covesea Cave 2 revealed a narrative of ritual and funerary activities, from the Neolithic to the Post-Medieval Period. Zooarchaeological analysis has illustrated how certain species were significant in ritual activity, and thus utilised specifically in funerary rites. The results from this research shed more light on past cosmologies and the importance of non-human species to humans in both life and death. / Funding for fieldwork was provided by Historic Environment Scotland and Aberdeenshire Council. Lab work and species confirmation was funded by a generous grant from the British Cave Research Association. Funding for this [comparative] analysis was provided by the following organisations: The Prehistoric Society, The Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, The Natural History Society of Glasgow

The study of human palaeopathology has developed considerably in the last three decades resulting in a structured and standardised framework of practice, based upon skeletal lesion patterning and differential diagnosis. By comparison, disarticulated zooarchaeological assemblages have precluded the observation of lesion distributions, resulting in a dearth of information regarding differential diagnosis and a lack of standard palaeopathological recording methods. Therefore, zoopalaeopathology has been restricted to the analysis of localised pathologies and ‘interesting specimens’. Under present circumstances, researchers can draw little confidence that the routine recording of palaeopathological lesions, their description or differential diagnosis will ever form a standard part of zooarchaeological analysis. This has impeded the understanding of animal disease in past society and, in particular, has restricted the study of systemic disease. This research tackles this by combining the disciplines of human palaeopathology and zoopalaeopathology and focusing on zoonotic disease. The primary aim of this research was to investigate the skeletal manifestation of bTB in cattle, sheep/goat and pig to establish differential diagnostic criteria for its identification in zooarchaeological assemblages. Methods commonplace in human palaeopathology were adapted and applied to zoopalaeopathology, in addition to radiography and aDNA analysis. The results emphasise the difficulties but also the potential associated with the identification of systemic diseases in zooarchaeological assemblages. An approach to the classification of potentially infectious lesions is presented that enables the calculation of crude prevalence in disarticulated assemblages. In addition, the potential for a DNA analysis to shed further light on animal disease in the past is emphasised. / Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) / Many of the images have been removed from the online version due to copyright restrictions. The embargo period for the thesis ended: 16th January 2018.

The Leon River, a small-medium river in central Texas, is highly impacted by multiple impoundments, enrichment from agricultural runoff, and decreased dissolved oxygen levels. This degraded river contains sixteen unionid species, two of which are both endemic to the region and candidates for the federal endangered species listing (Quadrula houstonensis and Truncilla macrodon). While there is a short historical record for this river basin and a recent modern survey completed in 2011, zooarchaeological data adds evidence for conservation efforts by increasing the time depth of data available and providing another conservation baseline. Zooarchaeological data for the Leon River is available from the two Late Holocene archaeological sites: 41HM61 and the Belton Lake Assemblages. Data generated from these assemblages describe the prehistoric freshwater mussel community of the Leon River in terms of taxonomic composition and structure. By comparing this zooarchaeological data to the data generated by the longitudinal modern survey of the Leon River, long term changes within the freshwater mussel community can be detected. A conceptual model is constructed to evaluate how robusticity, identifiability, and life history ecology affect unionid taxonomic abundances in zooarchaeological data. This conceptual model functions as an interpretive tool for zooarchaeologists to evaluate forms of equifinality in zooarchaeological assemblages. This thesis determines differences between the late Holocene and modern freshwater community of the Leon River, explores how different alternative mechanisms influence zooarchaeological data, and exemplifies of how zooarchaeological data can be used for conservation biology.

The archaeofaunal remains left by the Ancestral Puebloan people of Goodman Point Unit provides a valuable, yet underutilized resource into pit structure function. This thesis explores temporal changes in pit structure use and evaluates if a final feast occurred during a kiva decommissioning. The results from zooarchaeological analyses of a pithouse and two great kivas suggest that changes in pit structures at Goodman Point mimic the regional trend toward specialization until late Pueblo III. Cross-cultural studies on feasts, southwest ethnographies and previous zooarchaeological work established methods for identifying a feast. The analysis of differences in faunal remains from a great kiva and multiple room block middens imply that the remains in the kiva were from a final feast prior to a decommissioning ceremony and were not fill. Spatially and temporally the great kiva appears to be a unique, specialized structure in the cultural development of the Goodman Point community.