Proceedings of the 9th ICAZ Conference

Human migration tends to involve more than the odd suitcase or two - we often carry other organisms on our travels, some are deliberately transported, others move by accident. This volume of 12 papers offers a zooarchaeological approach to questions surrounding the nature and extent of human colonization and migration, and the adaptation of humans to new and sometimes extreme or challenging environments. The volume is divided into two parts: Part 1 takes up the theme of Human and Animal Migration and Colonisation. Contributors consider the relationship between human movements and the movements of animals and animal products; case studies look at Neolithic population movements in Oceania, the Norse colonization of Greenland, and the European settlement of Virginia. Part 2 focuses on the topic of Behavioural Variability in the So-Called Marginal Areas. Contributors offer various interpretations of the concept of 'marginality', from climatic extremes of the Arctic cold, and the heat and aridity of western North America, to the geographical remoteness of Patagonia, and the cultural circumstances surrounding the beginnings of transhumant pastoralism in prehistoric southeastern Europe.

Taphonomic studies are a major methodological advance, the effects of which have been felt throughout archaeology. Zooarchaeologists and archaeobotanists were the first to realise how vital it was to study the entire process of how food enters the archaeological record, and taphonomy brought to a close the era when the study of animal bones and plant remains from archaeological sites were regarded mainly as environmental indicators. This volume is indicative of recent developments in taphonomic studies: hugely diverse research areas are being explored, many of which would have been totally unforeseeable only a quarter of a century ago.

This, the final title to be published from the sessions of the 2002 ICAZ conference, focuses on the role of man's best friend. As worker or companion, the dog has enjoyed a unique relationship with its human master, and the depth and variety of the papers in this fascinating collection is a testament to the interest that this symbiotic arrangement holds for many scholars working in archaeology today. The book covers an eclectic range of subjects, such as considering dogs as animals of sacrifice and animal components of ancient and modern religious ritual and practice; dogs as human companions subject to loving care, visual/symbolic representation, deliberate or accidental breed manipulation; as working dogs; and finally as co-inhabitors of human dwelling paces and co-consumers of human food resources. While many of the papers in this volume have a predominant focus, they also demonstrate that the relationships between humans and dogs are rarely , if ever singular or simple. Instead these relationships are complex, often combining the practical, the ideological and the symbolic.

Molluscs are the most common invertebrate remains found at archaeological sites, but archaeomalacology (the study of molluscs in archaeological contexts) is a relatively new archaeological discipline and the field of zooarchaeology is seen by many as one mainly focused on the remains of vertebrates. The papers in this volume hope to redress this balance, bringing molluscan studies into mainstream zooarchaeological and archaeological debate, and resulting in a monograph with a truly international flavour.