Hi everyone, I am a recent graduate with a BA in Anthropology and I work as a CRM archeologist. I am in the process of applying for both a zooarchaeology internship and a grad school program. While I am in the process of both of those, I want to increase my knowledge on the subject. I took an intro to Zooarch class during undergrad and I no longer possess any of the textbooks/ sources we used, nor do I have lab access to look at faunal remains in person.

How can I learn more about bone identification from home without access to physical remains (besides maybe some I can find in the woods)? Any and all recommendations would be fantastic!

Hi everyone, I’m a high school student who will be going to university in fall 2024 doing a major in biology.

I’ve always thought archeology and dinosaurs and prehistoric stuff like fossils and bones were cool, and zoology is probably the most interesting branch of biology for me, but I never considered studying geology or archaeology as a major and the other more biological stuff as a minor.

I was wondering if I could get into this field of work with a background in biology? Or if there are similar professions out there… would a minor in geology help?

Thanks! Y’all are cool af

i’ve been in possession of what i believe to be a big cat (tiger?) claw for a few years passed down in a relatives will. would anyone be able to confirm this or help me verify the species?

Hiya. Just wondering if anyone knows how to calculate MNE & MNI using pivot tables? I have an assemblage of nearly 250,000 bones and doing it manually is so tedious. Some species have 1,000+ fragments to sort through. Obviously I need to consider the type of bone (e.g., femur, humerus, etc.), bone completeness (e.g., complete, fragment, etc.), bone portion (e.g., medial, distal, etc.), side (left or right), and age-at-death - just can't figure out how to get these all into a pivot table that I can interpret. Thanks!

I have been wondering how honey bees and honey has spread around the world. And I am a little confused by it. So apparently the western honey bee was present almost everywhere in Africa and Eurasia and made honey. In the 16th century they brought it to the americas and later to Australia, New Zealand, south east Asia, etc.

But I also read that the Mayans for example had harvested honey from the "stingless honey bee" before the introduction of the western honey be.

So did the stingless honey bee evolve honey making independently ?

I've read that the oldest honey bee fossils are ca. 150 million years old. But the continents split around 200 millions years ago. So did the honey bees somehow traverse the oceans in some time later and split into "stingless honey bees" and western honey bees ? Or did they evolve honey making independently in some sort of converging evolution ?

Is there anyone who happens to be well versed in the history of honey bees and honey making animals ?

Hello, Looking for some help calculating MNE. I understand NISP, but having trouble figuring out the MNE. Some examples are from a pig

1. Lower canine teeth

I have 3 left side (half portion), 2 right side (half portion) and 1 right side (nearly complete portion)

Is the MNE = 4??

Hi all!

I have some trouble determining which avenue to take regarding field schools. I need lab work, as I have excavation experience (only one, however).

Both schools offer lab work as their main component and are roughly the same length.

The US one states they help with job placement, while the other is in an area of study interest for my thesis.

The US one costs exponentially more, and it's possible I could go to two field schools abroad with the same funds with some leftover.

Potential other relevant Info: I am just now starting my MA thesis, so it will be at least 1.5 years before I complete that. I also did not major in Anth/Arch as an undergrad.

Any tips on which to choose? I'd love to do both, but the US one is preventing that due to lack of funds.

Thank you!!!

(Cross posted in r/archaeology)

Hello everyone! First time here.

I'm writing a fantasy book and one of the characters gets brought into a paranormal agency to examine remains of a bird that are about 2-3000 years old, and an egg. Based on feedback I got posting about this in the paleontology subreddit, and some research I did after, these questions are better aimed at archeologists and archeozoologists rather than paleontologists, since they are decidedly remains and not fossils.

I've done a bit of research so far on my own, but I think some more specific questions answered by actual experts could help! I have a few questions that could help me flesh out some details, but I would also love to hear from this community some thoughts on how I could make this scene feel more authentic (with a grain of salt since the plot overall is fantasy.)

So archeologists and people with tangential knowledge, here are my questions.

The character, Mary, is in this mystery agency/museum type building, and this couple flies in from overseas with a crate containing the aforementioned remains: A crate of bones belonging to a Heron's leg and a preserved egg.

1. If you were in this situation, how would you expect a bunch of bones to be stored for transport? cases? bubble wrap? foam? I'm not sure how to describe the way the bones are packaged when Mary opens the crate theyre in. (A heron's leg from the toe to the knee, but the people who wrapped them up didnt identify or sort them so Mary has to reorganize them herself).
2. She unwraps the bones and starts examining them and organizing them on this table, based on one bad photograph someone took of the find. What tools would she use to do this task? Could be simple things like what kind of protective gear like glasses/gloves would she use, or what more specific things might she have on hand to help her handle, identify, and organize said bones? (A previous person asked told me some Nitrile gloves and a dissecting scope would do it, but i would LOVE to hear more about what someone using the scope would be looking for in terms of identifying or dating the bones.)
3. How would a person/team identify an old egg from a rock? Would the egg actually still slosh around? (I've been told that's a silly thought but i've found articles that imply a perfectly sealed egg may not be desiccated.) Would it feel lighter or shift oddly if it were intact like a fresh egg would?

I recognize some of these questions are esoteric as hell but I'm curious to hear any wisdom anyone here may have. Cheers!

EDIT: no worries im also gonna post this on r/archeology xD