Skip to Main Content

The Oxford Handbook of Zooarchaeology

Online ISBN:
9780191794223
Print ISBN:
9780199686476
Publisher:
Oxford University Press
Book

The Oxford Handbook of Zooarchaeology

Umberto Albarella (ed.),
Umberto Albarella
(ed.)
Archaeology, University of Sheffield
Find on

Reader in Zooarchaeology at the University of Sheffield (UK). He studied Natural Sciences at the University of Naples (Italy) and obtained his PhD from the University of Durham (UK). He has also worked at the Universities of Lecce (Italy), Birmingham (UK), and Durham (UK), as well as for English Heritage. His main areas of research include domestication, pastoralism, ethnography, husbandry innovations, and the integration of different strands of archaeological research. His work is predominantly based in Britain and Italy, but he has also worked in Armenia, Greece, the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, France, and Portugal. Within archaeology, he has been an advocate for global and social justice.

Mauro Rizzetto (ed.),
Mauro Rizzetto
(ed.)
archaeology, University of Sheffield
Find on

Mauro Rizzetto is a PhD student at the University of Sheffield. His research concerns the development of animal husbandry during the Late Roman–Early Medieval transition in Britain and in the lower Rhine region, with particular regards to biometrical changes. He obtained his undergraduate degree in Archaeological Science (2013) and a Master’s degree in Osteoarchaeology (2015) at the same university. He has been working at a number of archaeological sites in Italy, Britain, France, Greece, and Spain, dating from the Neolithic to the post-Medieval period.

Hannah Russ (ed.),
Hannah Russ
(ed.)
Archaeology and Heritage, Oxford Brookes University
Find on

Hannah Russ is a post-excavation manager at Northern Archaeological Associates and honorary Research Fellow at the Universities of Sheffield and Wales, Trinity Saint David. She is a zooarchaeologist specializing in the study of aquatic animals including fish, molluscs, and crustaceans. She has worked on remains from five UNESCO World Heritage sites, as well as other sites in Western Europe and the Middle East dating from the Upper Palaeolithic through to the Post-Medieval period. Hannah completed her undergraduate degree in Bioarchaeology (2004), a Master’s degree in Biological Archaeology (2006), and her PhD in Archaeological Sciences (2011) at the University of Bradford. After completing her PhD Hannah held positions at the University of Sheffield and Oxford Brookes University before taking her current role at Northern Archaeological Associates.

Kim Vickers (ed.),
Kim Vickers
(ed.)
Archaeology, University of Sheffield
Find on

Kim Vickers is a Honorary Research Associate in the Department of Archaeology at the University of Sheffield and specializes in the reconstruction of ancient environments and zooarchaeology. Her research interests include the Iron Age–Roman transition in Britain and the effects of the Roman invasion of Britain on farming practices and animal husbandry in the early first millennium ad. She has also worked extensively in Iceland, Greenland, and the Faroe Islands. After completing her PhD on the palaeoentomology of the North Atlantic islands in 2007, her research has focused on the environmental impact of Medieval human settlement and activity in Iceland, Greenland, and the Faroe islands, and on the nature of resource use and contact between Norse and Inuit cultures in Greenland. She has also undertaken an extensive study of the biogeography of the North Atlantic beetle fauna.

Sarah Viner-Daniels (ed.)
Sarah Viner-Daniels
(ed.)
Archaeology, University of Sheffield
Find on

Sarah Viner-Daniels studied as an undergraduate at the University of Liverpool (UK) and completed her Masters and PhD at the University of Sheffield (UK). She was then appointed as a Research Associate to the Feeding Stonehenge project, still at the University of Sheffield. Sarah’s main areas of interest include animal exploitation in the Mesolithic and Neolithic of Britain and the application of isotopic analysis (Strontium and Oxygen) to the understanding of prehistoric livestock mobility.

Published online:
5 April 2017
Published in print:
23 March 2017
Online ISBN:
9780191794223
Print ISBN:
9780199686476
Publisher:
Oxford University Press

Abstract

This book presents a survey of world archaeology, from the point of view of animal remain studies. It can be considered as a showcase for world zooarchaeology. Forty-eight chapters written by researchers from twenty-five countries discuss archaeological investigations in five different continents. The geographic range covers the Arctic as well as the Tropics, islands and continental land masses, marine shores, forests, hills, and mountains. Human interactions with many different creatures—ranging from mammals to birds, fishes, and molluscs—are discussed, and in a great variety of ecological and cultural contexts. Methodological approaches are also diverse, as they are chosen according to the themes and research questions discussed in individual chapters. The full range of zooarchaeological methods is on display, but also integration with evidence deriving from sister disciplines, such as history, ethnography, zoology, palaeontology, and biochemistry. A methodological glossary helps the reader, particularly the non-specialist, to get a grasp of the multitude of methodological approaches presented in the book. Most aspects of human–animal relationships—from hunting to husbandry, herding, and fishing, as well as the use of animals in ritual and social contexts—are discussed in one or more chapters, also covering all the greatest human civilizations. As a whole, these investigations authoritatively show the essential role that animals have played in human history. The book is the result of an ambitious project, never previously attempted at such scale; it aims to affirm the centrality of zooarchaeology in our investigation of past humanities.

Contents
Close
This Feature Is Available To Subscribers Only

Sign In or Create an Account

Close

This PDF is available to Subscribers Only

View Article Abstract & Purchase Options

For full access to this pdf, sign in to an existing account, or purchase an annual subscription.

Close