Animal Bones in Australian Archaeology: A field guide to common native and introduced species

Abstract

This book was developed out of a need for a clear and concise field manual that could be used to make basic identifications of animal bones from archaeological sites in Australia. While there are many excellent manuals that cover the identification of European and North American fauna, and a few that address Australian fauna, there are none that combine common introduced animals with both Australian native species and humans. This manual will be an asset to students of archaeology and faunal analysis, as well as law enforcement, forensic investigators, and the general public. It is an introductory field guide written primarily for Australian archaeologists working on both Indigenous and historic sites. It does not assume any prior knowledge of the mammalian skeleton and includes 16 species commonly encountered in most environments and archaeological contexts. Since it is impractical for a field manual to provide an exhaustive list of all the potential species that may appear, the aim is to provide basic knowledge needed to identify bones and species that are relevant to most Australian contexts. This manual is intended as a starting point for the non-specialist. Identification of bone can be difficult, even for the most experienced faunal analyst, and especially when faced with smaller elements with less-obvious diagnostic features. For this reason, smaller bones, such as many of the small hand and foot bones, ribs and vertebrae, have been excluded from this manual. For those bones and for species not included, as well as additional information, we have added a suggested reading list. Given that bone from archaeological contexts is often fragmentary, making identification much more difficult, definitive identification is always best accomplished by a trained specialist and based on a good comparative collection back in the lab.