Abstract
Applying archaeological faunal data to contemporary environmental and management questions has driven zooarchaeological research for decades (e.g. Lyman, 1996). In recent years, these data have grown increasingly prominent in conversations about conservation biology, resource and landscape management, the definition of the Anthropocene and the interdisciplinarity of ecological studies. Therefore, Wolverton, Nagaoka and Rick’s new volume is a timely publication that provides a clear overview and sets standards for students and those new to the subject of applied zooarchaeology. These authors, well established and well-known in the field of applied zooarchaeology, set out to provide ‘a primer that illustrates the kinds of challenges that arise when crossing’ into new disciplines (p. vii).
This very readable, approachable volume achieves this goal by illustrating not just these challenges but also concrete solutions. The book reiterates a series of challenges that have been discussed broadly in the archaeological literature (Driver, 1992; Grayson, 1984; Lyman, 1996), including the lack of standards in zooarchaeology, the novelty of social sciences to other disciplines and the complexities and political implications of conservation research. To propose solutions to these challenges, the authors take a critical view of their own work via a series of real-world, interdisciplinary case studies that demonstrate both how zooarchaeology has advanced in applied contexts and what future directions for this work should be.
In the introductory Chapter 1, the authors set up two main goals for this volume: first, they would like to cross disciplinary boundaries to demonstrate the applicability of zooarchaeological data in broader ecological contexts. Second, they would like ‘to inspire future generations of research in a cohesive framework that upholds the standards of our discipline and realizes the true interdisciplinary nature of applied zooarchaeological research’ (p. 2). Zooarchaeological research has achieved these goals in the past (e.g. Grayson, 2005); however, much research skirts the challenges laid out in this book and does not achieve real, interdisciplinary, applied results. The question is then, ‘Can zooarchaeologists use this volume to begin to navigate the interdisciplinary world of applied research?’
The individual case studies presented here help to answer this question by underscoring a series of themes, which are laid out in the introductory chapter. These themes include assuring the quality of our data, considering the political context of our work, learning to communicate across disciplines and considering the scale at which our research operates. The greatest strength of this book is that each archaeological or palaeozoological case study is firmly grounded in a contemporary conservation issue, and each case study presents a different methodological and conceptual discussion of this issue and the themes presented above.
To illustrate the importance of data quality in zooarchaeology, the authors draw on central literature in the field (Driver, 1992; Grayson, 1984; Lyman, 1994, 2008) to suggest that standards do exist and must be employed to confront questions about the utility of zooarchaeological data in ecological or biological applications. In Chapters 2 (‘Taphonomy and Conservation of Freshwater Mussels’) and 6 (‘Applied Zooarchaeology and the Deer Problem in Central Texas’), the authors outline detailed efforts to ensure that zooarchaeological data, taphonomic studies and quantification are standardized and transparent, as well as ways in which these social science data can be effectively communicated to biological disciplines. These concepts are key not just for training students new to zooarchaeology, but a vital reminder for all practitioners and an important introduction for those outside the field.
Like anthropologists, zooarchaeologists frequently consider the broader political implications of their research, both positive and negative. The complexity of political ecology is well illustrated in Chapter 4 (‘California Condor Conservation, North American Rewilding, and Pleistocene Overkill’), which sets up an excellent conservation biology question in the context of political ecology and asks broader theoretical questions about the relationship between extinction and conservation, the need to understand the values driving conservation and the important contributions social science can – and should – make to these conversations. Similarly, Chapter 3 (‘Sea Otters: Historical Extirpations and Modern Reintroductions’) asks a clear, applied question and, in the authors’ own words, ‘demonstrates the power of applied zooarchaeology for informing modern conservation and management’ (p. 43). The success of this case study lies in its strong historical context, its synthetic approach, and the use of methods, such as ancient DNA analysis, that clearly connect modern and ancient studies. Nonetheless, this case study underscores how challenging it can be for zooarchaeologists to communicate even the clearest, well-collected data to other disciplines.
The complexities of communicating the value of long-term data are further demonstrated in Chapter 5 (‘Takahe Translocation in New Zealand’) and again in Chapter 6, where the authors offer an honest appraisal of challenges they have faced when sharing data in other disciplinary contexts. As they suggest in Chapter 4, zooarchaeologists and palaeozoologists often find it difficult to gain access to the conservation biology dialogue. These difficulties should not deter readers of this volume. Rather, these case studies offer valuable lessons about how to express the varying scales of our data (how do we compare annual biological data to the centennial to millennial data found in the archaeological record?), how to put our work in the context of broader conservation efforts by learning the language of other disciplines and how to anticipate the kinds of questions that will arise about the value of social science data in biological contexts.
As the authors acknowledge throughout the volume, the concerns raised here are not new. Zooarchaeologists have worked for decades to standardize our analytical approaches, to develop interdisciplinary projects and to learn to communicate the results of these projects in management contexts. What is new and particularly useful about this book is that it provides a concise synthesis of the history of applied zooarchaeology and its challenges, and it uses innovative case studies to motivate students – and experienced researchers – to take seriously the future of this approach. This book will be most effective in the classroom when paired with detailed ecological, biological and zooarchaeological data that will allow students to delve deeply into the methodological background and political implications of this work, and it will also serve as an important resource for interdisciplinary research teams.