Zooarchaeology Comparative Databases
Search the Zooarchaeology Comparative Collections
The Zooarchaeology Comparative Collection is one of four collections within the Environmental Archaeology program:
The Zooarchaeology Comparative Collection contains skeletons of vertebrates and exoskeletons of mollusks and crustaceans and their associated data. Since the focus of our zooarchaeological research is the southeastern United States, the West Indies, the circum-Caribbean area, and northwestern South America, the comparative collection is composed of specimens from these regions with particular emphasis on those from the southeastern United States and the West Indies. These specimens are used in a comparative way to identify the fragmentary remains from archaeological sites. The data are also used to estimate size, age, and season of death of animals recovered from archaeological contexts. Some of the specimens are accompanied by various standard measurements; others have only basic collection information. This information is made available for research purposes. We welcome any suggestions or corrections for improving this database. We would also like to know how it has been put to use.
Scholars who would like to use this collection for research should contact either Dr. Kitty Emery, Sylvia J. Scudder or Irv Quitmyer.
In addition to the Zooarchaeology Comparative Collection the FLMNH houses three collections catalogued in the Environmental Archaeology Program. This program began with the Zooarchaeology Collection and with the primary research tool for all zooarchaeological research, the Zooarchaeology Comparative Collection, both initiated in 1961. These were followed by the Archaeobotanical Collection started in 1986 by Lee Newsom and monitored today by Donna Ruhl, and the Archaeological Soils Collection started in 1991 by Sylvia Scudder. The addition of these last two collections transformed the former zooarchaeology program into its present broader scope, the Environmental Archaeology Program. Computerization of the data integral to these collections is an important management and research tool. As soon as this is completed these databases will be included on the Internet. At the present time the collection databases that you will find on the Internet are for the Zooarchaeology Comparative Collection.
Send comments or inquiries to Dr. Kitty Emery, Sylvia J. Scudder or Irv Quitmyer.
We seek and encourage input from users about the Zooarchaeology Comparative Databases and request that you send us any comments and suggestions about errors or inconsistencies that might be determined during your use of this resource. We reserve the right to modify, or not to modify, the existing database in response to your comments.