| AOR Archaeology Online Resources |
| Basic Information on Faunal Remains |
| Faunal Remains |
| "Discover, Explore, and Learn from the Past!" |
| Faunal Remains refer to any sort of animal remains that are found at an archaeological site. |
| Faunal remains can give insight into human subsistence and information on the ecological and geographical elements of the site. Analysis can provide information on types of animals eaten, utilized, hunted, etc. |
| Basic Principles |
| Faunal remains are usually initially collected by screening. Using a 1/4" or 1/8" screen, dirt and excavated material is then sifted for these animal remains. There are two primary methods of screening: Dry & Wet. Dry screening may leave faunal material difficult to identify, where wet screening will often allow greater probability of recovering faunal remains. Naturally the larger the screen, the more "small" elements will slip through and be lost. Some utilize a multi-level sifting process to increase the probability of capturing the remains. The location where the faunal remains are found is important for several reasons. For example, a burned bone in a generic site could have been burned in a natural fire...whereas a small burned bone found in a midden or firepit would have different implications. Another location that faunal remains can be found is on tools, where protein residues often remain. |
| The Faunal Remains from Arroyo Hondo Pueblo, New Mexico: A Study in Short-Term Subsitence Change By: Richard Lang, Arthur Harris |
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| Price: $14.95 |
| Faunal Remains: Taphonomical and Zooarchaeological Studies of the Animal Remains from Tell Hasban and Vicinity By: Oystein Labianca, Angela Driesh |
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| Price: $45.99 |
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| Price: $196.93 |
| After finding faunal remains, they must be identified. This consists of seperating and sorting the remains by various type...such as bone or insect parts. Then the parts are compared to other "collections" or databases to identify exactly what the remains came from. Faunal Analysis can often tell one the species, sex, and age of the animal. Two common methods of recording data is NISP or MNI. NISP refers to the number of identified specimens. Essentially it gives a total rough estimate of a specific animal found at that location. It often overstates "actual" numbers. For example, if 5 rabbit femur were found, the NISP would be 5. If one of those 5 broke in two, in antiquity for example, the NISP could be 6. MNI refers to Minimum Number of Individuals. It measures the minimum number of a specific species at a site. The number is calculated based upon the most abundant faunal remain found. For example, if 5 rabbit left femurs are found and 6 mandibles, the MNI for the rabbit would be 6. (The greater of the two values.) |
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