Multispecies Archaeology

Description

Multispecies Archaeology explores the issue of ecological and cultural novelty in the archaeological record from a multispecies perspective. Human exceptionalism and our place in nature have long been topics of academic consideration and archaeology has been synonymous with an axclusively human past, to the detriment of gaining a more nuanced understanding of one that is shared. Encompassing more than just our relationships with animals, the book considers what we can learn about the human past without humans as the focus of the question. The volume digs deep into our understanding of interaction with plants, fungi, microbes, and even the fundamental building blocks of life, DNA. Multispecies Archaeology examines what it means to be human--and non-human--from a variety of perspectives, providing a new lens through which to view the past. Challenging not only the subject or object of archaeology but also broader disciplinary identities, the volume is a landmark in this new and evolving area of scholarly interest. Multispecies Archaeology- Front Cover Multispecies Archaeology Title Page Copyright Page Contents List of illustrations Figures Tables Notes on contributors Acknowledgements Introduction Multispecies archaeology in practice Living in the “Anthropocene” The multispecies ecology of the built environment Agrarian commitments: towards an archaeology of symbiosis The ecology of movement Conclusion References PART I: Living in the Anthropocene Chapter 1: Calabrian hounds and roasted ivory (or, swerving from anthropocentrism) Epochs, humans, and other species The antiquity of other species Mammoth protagonists Giant species and human origins Species memory and the fossil archive Notes References Chapter 2: The end of the ‘Neolithic’? At the emergence of the Anthropocene The close of an agrarian era? The Argive Plain, Greece: flora and their farmers Cattle City, Texas: urban herds A deep rupture? Archaeology unbound? Acknowledgments Notes References Chapter 3: Rehearsing the Anthropocene in microcosm: the palaeoenvironmental impacts of the Pacific rat (Rattus exulans) and other non-human species during island Neolithization Introduction: Anthropocene as present singular or past plural? Neolithic packages as multi-component ecosystems Palaeoenvironmental transformations in the Pacific Islands Rehearsing the Anthropocene: a drama for several players Conclusions: the islands of the day before Acknowledgments Notes References Chapter 4: Trans-Holocene human impacts on California mussels (Mytilus californianus): historical ecological management implications from the Northern Channel Islands Introduction Environmental and cultural background California mussel ecology Methods and materials Results Discussion and conclusions References Chapter 5: Drift Prelude: Eidsbukta 70.96262°N 26.66342°Ø Patina Contours Tide Borderland Coincidence Drift Afterlife Environment Acknowledgements References PART II: Multispecies ecology of the built environment Chapter 6: Symbiotic architectures Introduction Turf buildings and synanthropic species Turf building ecologies Turf buildings and symbiosis: traversing the animate/inanimate border Acknowledgements References Chapter 7: The eco-ecumene and multispecies history: the case of abandoned Protestant cemeteries in Poland Introduction Multispecies history Humanitas comes from the Latin humando, meaning ‘burying’ Cemeteries as an ecosystem and multispecies ecumene A proposition for the future Conclusion Acknowledgements Notes References Chapter 8: Ecologies of rock and art in northern New Mexico Introduction From history to place in the Rio Grande Gorge Natural signs Life on rocks Multispecies art Notes References Chapter 9: Oysters and mound-islands of Crystal River along the Central Gulf Coast of Florida Introduction Shell architecture in the American Southeast Crystal River and the Roberts Island Complex Investigations at the Roberts Island Complex Dwelling in time and the watery landscapes of the Gulf Coast Traditions and shellfish Conclusions Acknowledgments Note References Chapter 10: Multispecies dynamics and the ecology of urban spaces in Roman antiquity Introduction Animals, nature, numbers, and the ancient city Commodity animals in Roman urban environments Pet animals in Roman urban environments Commensal and scavenger animals in Roman urban environments Conclusions References Chapter 11: Mammalian community assembly in ancient villages and towns in the Jordan Valley of Israel Introduction The zooarchaeological record Case studies Discussion References PART III: Agrarian commitments: towards an archaeology of symbiosis Chapter 12: Animals and the Neolithic: cui bono? References Chapter 13: Making space from the position of duty of care: Early Bronze Age human-sheep entanglements in Norway Introduction Interspecies relationships: the complexity Symbiosis and social contracts A social contract: socio-cultural ramifications Domestication discourses Domestication as an ethics of care A chain of domestications: changes in terms of engagement Trust, socialisation and habituation embedded in the architecture The power of early socialisation Conclusion: who’s who in the Anthropocene Acknowledgements Notes References Chapter 14: The history of the human microbiome: insights from archaeology and ancient DNA The use of microbiology to examine multispecies archaeology The human microbiome The evolutionary history of the human microbiome Ancient DNA analysis Analysis of ancient microbiomes from preserved feces and dental plaque The ‘Neolithic Revolution’ and its impacts on human microbiome The Industrial Revolution impacts on the human microbiome Further alterations to human microbiota in the past century Conclusion References Chapter 15: An archaeological telling of multispecies co-inhabitation: comments on the origins of agriculture and domestication narrative in Southwest Asia Introduction Neolithic origins narratives Domestication and modernity Troubling the Neolithic narrative When (some) species meet – object(s) 1: carved animal bones When (and where) species meet 2: mortuary/burial contexts Endwords Acknowledgments References PART IV: The ecology of movement Chapter 16: Legs, feet and hooves: the seasonal roundup in Iceland Introduction Becoming with is becoming worldly: landscape inhabitation Spatial networks Temporal networks Networks of social practice Sorting fold and earmarks: convergences and transformations A species that incarcerates another forges its own chains Conclusions Note References Chapter 17: The rhythm of life: exploring the role of daily and seasonal rhythms in the development of human-nonhuman relationships in the British Early Mesolithic Introduction Human and nonhuman rhythms Tracing Mesolithic rhythms Site background and assemblage data Daily rhythms Inter-personal meetings Environmental rhythms Seasonal rhythms Conclusions Note References Chapter 18: Seasonal mobility and multispecies interactions in the Mesolithic northeastern Adriatic Introduction Environmental context and seasonality Multispecies paleoecology Human foraging ecology Archaeological context Seasonality and terrestrial fauna Vela Špilja Lošinj Seasonality of marine mollusc collection Season of site use Discussion: the seasonal round Conclusion References Chapter 19: The role of ostrich in shaping the landscape use patterns of humans and hyenas on the southern coast of South Africa during the late Pleistocene Introduction Background Methods Results Discussion and conclusions Acknowledgements References Chapter 20: Prey species movements and migrations in ecocultural landscapes: reconstructing late Pleistocene herbivore seasonal spatial behaviours Introduction Spatial aspects of herbivore ethology and behavioural ecology Prey species’ movements and migrations in human niche and cultural geographies The insufficient analogue Reconstructing animal life-histories, past and present European reindeer in the late Pleistocene: a case study in isotope palaeoethology using intra-tooth strontium isotope analysis Concluding thoughts: towards a framework for prey species spatial palaeoethology and palaeoecology Acknowledgements References Index