Research Training Program

Smithsonian Institution
National Museum of Natural History

PROJECT SUMMARY
1996

Scott J. Rufolo
Brigham Young University
Provo, Utah
Melinda A. Zeder, Ph.D.
Supervising Scientist
Department of Anthropology
Frank Hole Field, Ph.D.
Department of Anthropology, Yale University
"The opportunity to once again associate with the RTP and to experience science as it is conducted in the field was the perfect complement to what had already been an invaluable and unique component of my education. ''

Faunal Analysis and the Tell Ziyadeh Expedition, 1996 Field Season

ABSTRACT
Through participation m the 1995 Summer research training Program, I worked with members of the Zooarchaeology Laboratory of the National Museum of Natural History's Department of Anthropology. Part of the Archaeobiology Program, this laboratory is concerned with the analysis of animal bone recovered from within an archaeological context, and focuses primarily on Near Eastern sites in the pursuit of understanding the development of animal domestication and its role in the rise of agricultural communities and urban civilization. As a 1995 intern, I examined the faunal remains of three Syrian sites, located in the Khabur River drainage basin of Northern Mesopotamia, in order to determine trends in subsistence strategy and resource utilization from the 4th into the 3rd millennium B.C. This span of time represents a crucial transition in the region, immediately predating the initial period of developed large-scale agricultural communities. The results of this research indicated that the evolution of reliance upon domesticated animal resources in the area did not follow a linear progression, but was marked by a period of employment of localized procurement strategies with varying emphasis on wild and domestic sources. The Second Summer opportunity component of the 1996 research Training Program provided me with the resources to join the Tell Ziyadeh Expedition of the Khabur Basin Project, an ongoing research endeavor of the Department of Anthropology of Yale University which operates in association with the Zooarchaeology Laboratory. Tell Ziyadeh is a site located in close proximity to the three sites analyzed the previous summer, and contains deposits spanning a range of 6,000 years, including the 4th and 3rd millennia B.C. As such, it affords an opportunity to examine long-term trends in animal resource usage and provides additional information to compare with that obtained last summer. Only a preliminary field sort of the material was conducted, as the primary concern was the recovery, initial cataloguing, and preparation for shipment of the faunal remains. Complete analysis and preparation of the data for publication will be accomplished in the upcoming year, and although my graduate studies will likely prevent me from being involved with this process, I gained invaluable field experience and insight into the nature of modern Near Eastern archaeology.

Letter of Gratitude