Ebook: Shuffling nags, lame ducks: the archaeology of animal disease

Cover; Title Page; Copyright; Contents; Acknowledgments and photo credits; Chapter 1: Foreword; Chapter 2: Introduction; Chapter 3: Basic concepts; Chapter 4: History of studying pathological animal remains; Chapter 5: Differences between human and animal palaeopathology; 5.1 Divergent research traditions; 5.2 Differences in objectives; 5.3 Differences between selection pressures on human and animal populations; 5.4 Specifics of skeletal morphology and function; 5.5 Differences in archaeological deposition; 5.6 Fragmentation, fossil diagenesis and bone preservation; 5.7 Pseudopathologies.;The analysis of animal bone assemblages from archaeological sites provides much valuable data concerning economic and husbandry practices in the past, as well as insights into cultural and symbolic or ritual activity. Animal palaeopathology can identify diseases in archaeozoological assemblages but little interest has been expressed in investigating and understanding the cultural aspects of the diseases identified. Such assemblages represent the cumulative effects of human attitudes, decisions and influences regarding the keeping, care, treatment, neglect and exploitation of animals which resu.