Zooarchaeology

Bones, shells, and other finds from Uganda

What is zooarchaeology?

Zooarchaeology is the study of animal bones and teeth from archaeological sites. Information gained from these remains—such as what species they belonged to, how old an animal was when it died, and whether people modified bones through cutting, burning, shaping, etc.—we can reconstruct ancient food systems, environments, and ritual practices. Here, I briefly summarize some of the tools I use to study human-animal relationships in the past, including the process of zooarchaeological analysis and why I think this type of work is important.

My toolkit

Traditional Analysis: Taxonomic identification, demographic reconstruction through dental aging, taphonomic assessment of bone modification patterns, and morphometrics for distinguishing species (e.g., wild from domestic).

Biomolecular Integration: Ancient DNA analysis for tracking animal translocations and breeding practices, as well as paleoproteomics for species identification in fragmented assemblages.

Isotopic Applications: Multi-isotope analysis (carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and strontium) for reconstructing animal diets, mobility patterns, and paleoenvironmental conditions.

How I work with bones

  1. Field: I recover the bones from a site by excavating and sieving sediments through fine mesh.

  2. Lab: I sort, quantify, and identify the bones in a lab, often with the help of student trainees.

  3. Analysis: I select and export special bones and teeth for scientific laboratory analyses in Oxford, after which I are return them to their home countries.

  4. Interpretation: I use statistical methods to analyze the data I get and look for interesting patterns. I then compare my results to other archaeological, environmental, and climatic datasets to make inferences about the past. This often involves deep-diving into the ethnographic record to understand how people from different cultural backgrounds might explain the patterns I see.

Why this work matters

  • Provides records of past biodiversity and ecosystem change.

  • Shows how communities adapted to climate variability and resource stress.

  • Reveals how animals helped structure identity, rituals, and social relations.

  • Offers deep-time perspectives for thinking about conservation, climate adaptation, and food systems today and into the future.

  • Researchers have long believed that ruling elites living on the hill at Great Zimbabwe preferentially ate younger, more tender beef (think veal) while lower-status people in the surrounding areas consumed poorer-quality meat. However, my recent re-analysis of cattle mortality across the site shows this wasn’t the case. Instead, people everywhere consistently slaughtered adult cattle to supply the community with food, tools, and ritual objects. This suggests that cattle were not only a source of food used to mark social and political division at the site, but a key resource that helped unite people.

    By integrating these zooarchaeological results with isotopic data showing that cattle were being brought to Great Zimbabwe from across the broader region, my team and I are uncovering complex networks of interaction, cooperation, and exchange that sustained the city for centuries. Together, the evidence for resource sharing facilitated by regional exchange networks challenges older narratives that portray Great Zimbabwe as a monument to hierarchy and inequality. Instead, these findings highlight how an emphasis on maintaining community cohesion and long-distance relationships helped hold the city together as it grew and flourished.

Cattle incisors from Great Zimbabwe