Glossary

Commensal animal An animal that lives in a mutualistic relationship with people.

Dental cementum A hard tissue deposited in layers around the outer surface of some teeth and serves to hold the teeth in place. diversity An information theory measure that combines

Information about the number of categories present (such as the number of plants and animals) and the abundance of each category (the relative abundance of each plant or animal) to describe heterogeneity of a system. equitability An information theory measure based on the degree to which a category, such as a specific plant or animal within a list of several plants or animals, is equally abundant. medullary bone A calcified storage tissue found in bird bones; the calcium and fat are used during the period when eggs are formed.

Optimal foraging theory A theory proposing that humans develop subsistence strategies based on energy expenditures such as distance traveled, time spent, and the size of the items acquired.

Otolith A calcium carbonate structure, in the form of aragonite, located in the inner ears of fishes. These function in hearing and equilibrium.

Reciprocal exchange An economic exchange of goods or services in the form of a gift given to a person or group by another person or group. Acceptance of the gift bears the obligation to reciprocate at some future date. redistribution An economic exchange in which goods are collected from a group of people by a centralized administrative body. The goods are then reallocated throughout the group. scute A horny, bony, or chitinous scale such as the outer covering on a turtle shell.

Broadly defined, zooarchaeologists (also known as archaeozoologists) study animal remains from archaeological deposits. The field traces its roots to the nineteenth century when the major scientific questions focused on the antiquity of life. Thus, zooarchaeology shares research traditions with what subsequently developed into anthropology, archaeology, ecology, palaeontology, and zoology. The combination of theories, methods, and data from these and other fields focused on archaeological animal remains is the defining characteristic of zooarchaeology. Common interests include site-formation processes; subsistence strategies and human health; animal domestication and health; technical and social uses of animals; and palaeoenvi-ronments. These topics are examined through time using animal remains from single sites and over space among sites, regions, and even globally.

The diverse applications of zooarchaeology reflect shifts in prevailing theories, methods, and research interests in allied disciplines and within zooarchaeology itself. The development of zooarchaeology owes much to an awareness of the importance of environmental relationships on human behavior and of the human impact on the environment. Despite a diverse, global, and interdisciplinary heritage, zooarchaeologists share two related goals: to understand the biology and ecology of animals, especially humans, and to understand the interactions of humans with their biotic and abiotic environments through time and space. These topics are briefly reviewed here. To begin a more comprehensive study of zooarchaeology, the reader is referred to the references listed in ‘Further Reading’ section, The Journal of Archaeological Science, Environmental Archaeology: Journal of Human Paleoecology, and other entries in this encyclopaedia.