Dr. Barthelme, Anthropology Dept.

The goal of archaeology is to gain a greater understanding of the past.  Once a site has been excavated, the work of analysis begins.  The study of animal bones found in association with an archaeological site is called faunal analysis.  My introduction to it started with learning the various parts of the mammalian skeleton, and subsequently determining one species from another.  For this portion of my independent study, I used the literature available in the Anthropology Lab, and the growing comparative collection of animals that I helped to clean and sort during this project.  Once I was familiar with the mammal skeleton and the methodology of faunal analysis, I was given part of a teaching collection from SUNY Potsdam.  This collection was excavated from the Fort la Presentation site in Ogdensburg, occupied from 1749-1796.

My goal for the faunal analysis was to determine which animals were represented, their ages, which sections of the animal were found, and what percentage each animal represented of the entire collection.

The first step was to separate which bones I was able to identify from the fragments that were too small to determine.  Next, I divided the bones roughly by size, and began to identify each one with the help of the comparative collection.  The three animals represented most often were deer, pig, and cows in that order.  Sheep bones were discovered in the collection as well.  I also identified catfish and rodents.  Ultimately, out of 327 identifiable bones, 11 species and 23 individual animals were recognized.  After I determined the species and element for each bone able to be identified, I calculated the minimum number of animals of each species.  After the percentages were calculated and the final amounts were tallied, I presented the data and the analysis of the findings in one report, handed in as a final project for Fall 2000.

Using the data I had gathered, I was able to determine several things.  The mix of domestic animals and wild animals indicates that the people living at this fort hunted and kept animals.  As there were an equal number of mature and immature cows, they were used for both milk and meat.  Sheep, which are generally only kept for their wool, indicate that the population had the resources to maintain them also.  Examining the bones themselves, nearly all were from healthy animals, and the bones were buried soon after butchery.  Using the data gained from faunal analysis, an essential part of the everyday lives of people who lived in this area long ago come to light.