Dear List;
I have just returned from the Society for Historical
Archaeology conference in Alabama and would like to
bring up the issue of the place of zooarch
presentations at these general archaeology
conferences.
There was (and usually is) only one session devoted to
faunal analysis at the SHAs and, as usual, it was
poorly attended. Even the few zooarch papers in larger
sessions saw their attendance drop significantly from
the presentation before it.
I brought up this attendance issue with several
archaeologists at the conference and the consensus was
that they (non-zooarchaeologists) are not interested
in faunal analyses because it does not tell them
anything they don't already "know" (their words). They
are especially not interested in faunal presentations
as they contain too many graphs/formulas and other
elements that are difficult to follow and often even
difficult to see.
What I am interested in is what is the general
consensus among zooarchaeologists...Do you think we
should change the way we present zooarch research at
non-zooarch conferences or should we continue to
preach to the few who do attend our presentations?
-April
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April M. Beisaw, RPA
Zooarchaeology and Taphonomy Consulting
http://www.taphonomy.com
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