"Zooarchaeology (sometimes called archaeozoology), also known as faunal analysis, is a branch of archaeology that studies remains of animals from archaeological sites."
The study of animal remains to understand past human-animal interactions.
"Faunal remains are the items left behind when an animal dies. These include bones, shells, hair, chitin, scales, hides, proteins, and DNA."
"Of these items, bones and shells are the ones that occur most frequently at archaeological sites where faunal remains can be found."
"Most of the time, a majority of these faunal remains do not survive. They often decompose or break because of various circumstances."
"Zooarchaeology serves as a 'hybrid' discipline: combining the studies of archaeology and zoology, which are the study of past human culture and the study of animals respectively."
"Zooarchaeologists may also be: anthropologists, paleontologists, archaeologists, zoologists, ecologists, etc."
"The main focus of Zooarchaeology is to not only find remnants of past animals but to then identify and understand how humans and their environment (mainly animal populations) coexisted."
"Zooarchaeology allows researchers to have a more holistic understanding of past human-environment interactions, thus making this topic a sub-field of environmental archaeology."
"The study of animal remains provides a great amount of information about the groups that interacted with them. Whether it is diet, domestication, tool use, or ritual..."
"Archaeology provides information on the past which often proves invaluable for understanding the present and preparing for the future."
"Zooarchaeology plays a valuable part in contributing to a holistic understanding of the animals themselves, the nearby groups, and the local environments."