Print

Print


Dear Zooarch's,

Last November my colleague Angel Blanco-Lapaz and I reached out via  
the listserv to gauge interest in the creation of an official ICAZ  
Microfauna Working Group and the response was wonderful!

Many of you wrote back to express support for the idea, and a  
substantial number of listserv members (~20) would be interested in  
joining.  As such, we have decided to push on with an application for  
the creation of a Microfauna Working Group.

Therefore, we are writing now to solicit feedback on our latest draft  
of the working group statement of purpose which will be submitted to  
the IC as part of our final working group proposal. The statement does  
not address the overlap in material interest that the MFWG would share  
with the Bird Working Group (BWG) and Fish Remains Working Group  
(FRWG), and to a lesser extent the Taphonomy Working Group (TWG), as  
we hope that this overlap in research interests will facilitate  
greater interaction between the working groups and their members.

We are still looking for more ICAZ members to express interest in  
joining the working group in order to meet the requires of ICAZ, so if  
you are interested and have not reached out to us as of yet, please do  
so soon (at [log in to unmask] or  
angel.blanco-lapaz@uni-tuebingen). We will be submitting the formal  
application for creation of the working group on February 8th 2016 by  
end of day.

Thank you all for your continued support and interest,

Sara & Angel

Microfauna Working Group Statement
The Microfauna Working Group (MFWG) was developed as a forum for the  
exchange of data and information related to the study of  
microvertebrate remains from archaeological deposits.  Archaeological  
analysis of faunal assemblages of taxa with a live weight of <5kg  
(which includes amphibians, reptiles, fishes, birds and mammals) are  
published in various professional journals, crossing various time  
periods and geographic regions.  The MFWG is designed to improve  
communication of these studies and related work on methods and theory  
between academics, with a particular focus on providing resources to  
graduate students studying microfaunal remains. Group interests  
include, but are not limited to, microvertebrates taxonomy,  
biostratigraphy, palaeoenvironment, commensalism, taphonomy,  
methodology, subsistence and human-animal relations in the past. In  
addition to regular working group meetings where research will be  
presented via thematic workshops, the MFWG will also provide  
information about the most recent published literature from this field  
via a biannual electronic newsletter.


-- 
Doktorand
Eberhard-Karls Universität Tübingen
Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Fakultät - Archäozoologie