The uses of archaeological faunal remains in landscape archaeology

Animals inhabit the landscape, are affected by it, and are often catalysts for its modifi cation or destruction. The presence of particular animals in a landscape will be limited by a species’ biological and ecological adaptation to specifi c habitats and environments, while the terrain encountered by an animal may bring about skeletal adaptation and modifi cation. For domesticates, human intervention determines the lifestyle of an animal within the landscape, by restricting its mobility and foraging through, at the one extreme, stalling, penning or hobbling, and at the other, supervised herding, transhumant systems, and range-managed animals. Moreover, the procurement of fodder and grazing for domesticates is one of the primary uses of the landscape by stock-holders, and the mismanagement of such resources has, and continues to have, a devastating impact on the environment in many areas of the world.