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9: Reconstructing Environment and Subsistence

  • Page ID
    78469
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    Learning Objectives

    • Explain what archaeologists learn by reconstructing past environments.
    • Describe what archaeologists learn by studying flora and fauna in the archaeological record.
    • Outline the types of macro and micro evidence used by archaeologists.
    • Articulate specific types of evidence archaeologists use to determine if a site was used by foragers or agriculturalists.
    • Calculate minimum number of individuals (MNIs) and number of identified specimens (NISPs).

    • 9.1: Reconstructing Environments
      To understand and interpret past human behavior, archaeologists need a complete understanding of the past natural environment and regional climate at a site. Reconstructing the environment and climate allows archaeologists to identify the plants and animals with which humans shared the landscape and examine how humans at the time adapted in response to the resources available to them.
    • 9.2: Reconstructing Subsistence Patterns
      In addition to climates and natural environments, archaeologists reconstruct the diets of those who occupied a site using plant and animal remains. They seek to reconstruct the subsistence patterns.
    • 9.3: Chapter Nine Review
      Review important concepts and definitions of key terms.

    Image: Preserving food - The Bodewadimi in the 1700s. (2010). By ellenm1 under CC BY-SA via flickr.


    9: Reconstructing Environment and Subsistence is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts.

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