Zooarchaeology Laboratory- Useful Links & Resources

Below you can find links to various online zooarchaeological resources and lab web pages. Websites are in English unless otherwise noted

On

Key Links

Archéozoo Archéozoo is a place for communication and exchange for zooarchaeologists. The site provides information on, and useful links to zooarchaeological information. [French]
Association for Environmental Archaeology (AEA) The AEA promotes the advancement of the study of human interaction with the environment in the past through archaeology and related disciplines.
BoneCommons BoneCommons is an ICAZ-sponsored project developed by the Alexandria Archive Institute. Launched in May 2006, BoneCommons facilitates discussion and contact between zooarchaeologists worldwide by offering forums where ICAZ members can post papers, ideas, images, questions, and comments.
International Council for Archaeozoology (ICAZ) The International Council for Archaeozoology (ICAZ) is a nonprofit organization devoted to promoting archaeozoological research of the highest scientific standards and fostering communication among the international community of archaeozoologists. ICAZ has 13 Working Groups, each of which focusses on a different aspect of archaeozoology.
ZOOARCH ZOOARCH is a JISCmail list that promotes the flow of ideas, skills, information, and offers support to fellow zooarchaeologists. ZOOARCH is supported by and works closely in association with the International Council of Archaeozoology (ICAZ).
ZooBook The purpose of this network is to enable the sharing of research between interested parties within a 'closed network'. It is aimed to work in conjuction with the services offered by ZOOARCH and Bonecommons.

Online Resources

General Resources

  • Animal Osteology Reference Photos (by John Rochester)- A Flickr album featuring 900+ high quality reference images of bones from various species
  • Animal Diversity Web- Animal Diversity Web is an online database and encyclopedia of animal natural history. It is hosted by the University of Michigan Museum of Zoology, and includes many high resolution photographs of animal bones.
  • Arachne- Arachne is the central object database of the German Archaeological Institute (DAI) and the Archaeological Institute of the University of Cologne, administrated by Reinhard Foertsch. Arachne is intended to provide archaeologists and Classicists with a free internet research tool for quickly searching hundreds of thousands of records on objects and their attributes. [German/English]
  • ArchéoZooThèque- Photographs and illustrations of animal bones, and information about animal bone exhibitions.
  • BoneID- A visual bone identification guide for forensic anthropologists, law enforcement, and naturalists.
  • Comparative Osteology- Authored by Bradley Adams and Pam Crabtree. This site contains 171 selected images from the print volume Comparative Osteology with specific facets and points of interest labeled on the bones.
  • Historic England Animal Bones and Archaeology- These guidelines aim to promote high professional standards in zooarchaeological practice in project planning, excavation, reporting and archiving. The guidance supports archaeology advisors, project managers, field staff and zooarchaeologists through outlining the potential of animal bones from archaeological sites, highlighting the importance of archaeological methods and promoting understanding of zooarchaeological reports and datasets.
  • Inventaire National du Patrimoine Naturel- Search here for records of faunal species from archaeological sites in France, and other information about extant plant and animal species in France. [French]
  • Knochenarbeit- Website with information on various zooarchaeological resources and research
  • National Zooarchaeological Reference Resource (NZRR)- Aimed to improve accessibility to zooarchaeological reference collections and facilitate zooarchaeological research across all sectors. The NZRR comprises submissions from universities, museums, the public sector and private collections, the holdings of which can be searched either via an online form, or downloaded to be searched in more detail.
  • Russell Bone Atlas- Comparative osteology site that photographically details human and animal bones for educational purposes
  • Stable Isotopes in Zooarchaeology- This site will provide current information for members of the Stable Isotopes in Zooarchaeology Working Group of the International Council for Archaeozoology.

Selected ADS Zooarchaeological Databases 

Bird related resources

  • Aves 3D- Aves 3D is a National Science Foundation funded online database of three-dimensional digital surface models of the various bones that make up the skeleton of birds. Aves 3D aims to provide as wide of a representation of living and extinct bird species as possible.
  • Avian Osteology- Bird bone ID guide hosted by Royal BC Museum.

Fish related resources

  • Archaeological Fish Resource- The Archaeological Fish Resource Project created Fishbone, a digital reference collection. This online reference collection provides high-resolution digital images for key skeletal elements, taken at different views, for over 90 species of Mediterranean and North Atlantic freshwater and marine fishes.
  • Bioarchiv- Bioarchiv has the general purpose to provide information about fishes and fish bones. Here you can find the software "Bone Base Baltic Sea", which serves as a bone picture data base and an identification key for fish bones.
  • Fish Remains- Fish Remains, hosted by The Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, was created to help assist identification of Hawaiian fishes based on bones. There are 1250 fishes known from Hawaiian waters. This key concentrates on those fished known from the diet of the Hawaiian monk seal, and is constantly being expanded.
  • NABONE- Digital images of elements of five North Atlantic gadids.
  • OSTEO- Images of bones and teeth of recent fishes from rivers and lakes around the world.
  • OsteoBase- Hosted by Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, OsteoBase is an interactive website designed for osteological exploration, from the entire skeleton to constituting bones. The interface provides access to pictures of a collection of osteological items, organized to compare these osteological items in different fish taxa.
  • Pictoral Skeletal Atlas of Fishes- Fish bone atlas produced by Environmental Archaeology at the Florida Museum of Natural History.
  • Sydney Fish Library- This online collection, hosted by The University of Sydney and complied by Sarah Colley, contains images of selected diagnostic anatomical elements from fish taxa commonly found on archaeological sites in the Sydney region, supplemented by taxa of the same family or genus from elsewhere where modern reference skeletons of Sydney taxa were not readily available.

Mammal related resources

  • Deer Bone Database- A searchable database of deer remains from European sites of all periods.
  • Dentitions of East African ungulates- Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History's digital archive: Dentitions of East African ungulates. Designed and developed by Zelalem Assefa.
  • Digital Bone Library- 3D models of mammalian zooarchaeological remains compiled by the Australian National University
  • eSkeletons- An excellent resource for primate comparative anatomy hosted by the University of Texas at Austin.
  • FAUNMAP- FAUNMAP is an electronic database documenting the late Quaternary distribution of mammal species in the United States. It has been developed at the Illinois State Museum.
  • LUNA- Australian mammal bone image database that contains over 550 images of 25 marsupial species commonly found in archaeological sites. Examples of bone points, macropod molar eruption aged specimens and archaeological bone are also displayed.

Zooarchaeology and Related Labs

This list is not exhaustive, you can find a list of other Archaeozoological Labs and Institutions on Knochenarbeit

Other labs