Zooarchaeology Laboratory

The CAI’s Zooarchaeology Laboratory was established by Dr. Heather Lapham in 2004, following an extensive two-year restoration project to rehabilitate the comparative collection of modern animal skeletons. The laboratory provides researchers and students with the identification tools and work space needed to analyze animal remains from archaeological sites. Lapham also teaches a zooarchaeology course there every other spring.

The lab maintains an excellent research collection of modern animal skeletons from southern Illinois and the Midwest. The collection contains more than 900 skeletons and skulls that represent about 200 different species of mammals, birds, reptiles, fishes, and molluscs.

Current research projects in the Zooarchaeology Laboratory include Meghan Buchanan’s research which examines differences in animal utilization between ritual and non-ritual contexts at the Mississippian (A.D. 1000–1450) Kincaid site in southern Illinois. Data collected from an analysis of materials from several areas excavated by the University of Chicago in the 1930s–40s will be used to assess species diversity which in turn will provide information about animal use in these different locations and whether or not certain locations display animal species important in Southeast or Kincaid iconography. A detailed study of the deer remains will help to determine if differences existed in meat cut frequencies, body part distribution, and bone processing techniques between ritual and non-ritual locations. The annual CAI Field School, held each summer in conjunction with the Department of Anthropology, has been held at the Kincaid site since 2005.

Zach Gilmore is studying faunal materials from a late prehistoric (ca. A.D. 1000-1700) campsite (MD-1) in south Texas. For his Master’s Thesis, Zach is studying late prehistoric utilization of animal resources in the lower Nueces Valley to develop a more complete model of prehistoric subsistence patterns in the area. Faunal identifications will provide a better idea of the various animal taxa being exploited at site MD-1 as well as the season(s) in which the site was occupied. A more detailed study of bison bones from the site and related fragmentation patterns will be used to determine why certain bison elements were transported from the kill site back to the camp while others were left behind as well as the extent to which bison bones were being processed for marrow and grease fat. These data will be used to infer the relative level of subsistence stress experienced by the site’s prehistoric inhabitants.

Lapham’s current projects include the study of animal remains from an early historic Native American village and Spanish fort site in western North Carolina. Known in the historic documents as Joara, and archaeologically as the Berry site (31BK22), this native village was also the location of Juan Pardo’s 1566 Fort San Juan. Archaeological investigations at the site are part of an on-going, multi-institutional project, funded in part by the National Geographic Society. A detailed contextual study of the distribution of animal species and skeletal elements will help to determine the degree to which the Spanish soldiers supplied themselves with meat and fish compared to the degree to which the garrison accepted, or relied upon, provisions from their native Joaran hosts. These data will also provide insights in to where food preparation took place (inside the fort, within the village, or at both locales) and who prepared the Spaniards’ meals (the soldiers themselves or native Joarans).

Lapham is also studying faunal materials from the Rockhouse Hollow site, one of the largest rock shelters in the south-central Indiana region. Animal remains from the site, which was occupied continuously from the Late Archaic (ca. 2500-500 B.C.) through the Mississippian periods (ca. A.D. 1000-1450), will provide interesting insights into long-term changes in subsistence practices.

Inquiries about the CAI Zooarchaeology Lab and its projects, contact: Dr. Heather Lapham • Tel: (618) 453-5031 • E-mail: hlapham@siu.edu.