ANT 3 Study Guide - Final Guide: Paleozoology, Malacology, Paleobotany
Document Summary
Ecology - the science of the interrelations between a particular set of living organisms and their environment. If the living organisms are people, it"s called human ecology. Two kinds of paleoenvironmental studies: passive simple description of the environment, perhaps including how it changed over time, active how people interacted with their environment. Indirect data: functional artifacts projectile points connote hunting of animals (people too); grinding stones suggest plant processing, art cave wall paintings depicting various animals and hunting scenes; similarly, portable zoomorphic art objects. Direct data: plant remains (paleobotany, macrobotanical seeds, wood, tubers/roots, gourds, microbotanical , pollen (palynology, phytoliths (silica bodies deposited in plants) residue (left in pots or on grinding stones, animal remains (zooarchaeology, paleontology, paleozoology) Zooarchaeology is the study of animal remains from archaeological sites. Taphonomy the transformation of living organisms from the biosphere (living realm) to the lithosphere (geological realm); taphos = burial; nomos = law: subsistence.
