Zooarchaeology is a mouthful for most laypeople, but is increasingly on the lips of wildlife and resource managers. This growing field explores past animal populations and their responses to human impacts, for better or worse. Now scientists are demonstrating that zooarchaeology has much to offer when applied to current wildlife management issues. Zooarchaeology and Conservation Biology, edited by Lee Lyman and Ken Cannon, is an exciting collection of case studies in point.
Coeditor Ken Cannon, a researcher at the Midwest Archaeological Center, is former principal investigator of Earthwatch's popular Jackson Hole Bison Dig project. Cannon demonstrated that evidence from prehistoric bison herds holds valuable lessons for the management of modern populations in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. This new collection of research findings, ranging from native fishes of Virginia to the muskoxen of the Canadian Arctic, shows that zooarchaeology has far-reaching implications for wildlife management today and for the future. This scholarly book will be a valuable addition to the library of researchers, students, or serious armchair naturalists.
Zooarchaeology and Conservation Biology. R. Lee Lyman and Kenneth P. Cannon (eds.). The University of Utah Press, 2004.