Zooarchaeology, also called archaeozoology, is the study of the past through animal remains, especially animal bones. The discipline of zooarchaeology has a long and varied history, drawing information and skills from many different fields. Zooarchaeology grew out of zoologists’ interests in the history of, and changes in, animal populations. In the 1970s with the advent of processual archaeology, the study of zooarchaeology became more common. Now animal bone reports are common for most sites when bone survives.
Although a sub-discipline the aim of zooarchaeology is the same as the main aim of archaeology. To investigate the past through the material culture left behind, although in zooarchaeology's case, what we concentrate on is the animal remains recovered.
Zooarchaeology is now a fast developing discipline. No longer do zooarchaeogists aim to just answer the classic question, 'so what did they eat?'. Although zooarchaeology can inform about a past society's diet, it can also help us investigate other aspects of a society including, the economy, the environment people lived in, specialist activities taking place on the site, status, 'rituals' and taboos.
