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Application of Allometry to Zooarchaeology

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Elizabeth J. Reitz ,
Irvy R. Quitmyer ,
H. Stephen Hale ,
Sylvia J. Scudder  and
Elizabeth S. Wing
Elizabeth J. Reitz
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602
Irvy R. Quitmyer
Affiliation:
Florida State Museum, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611
H. Stephen Hale
Affiliation:
Florida State Museum, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611
Sylvia J. Scudder
Affiliation:
Florida State Museum, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611
Elizabeth S. Wing
Affiliation:
Florida State Museum, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611
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Abstract

Zooarchaeologists have used several methods to assess the relative dietary contribution of species found at archaeological sites. The most common methods are either based upon the assumption that bone weight is a fixed percentage of total body weight, or require estimating an "average" body size for identified taxa. In fact, the relationship between parameters of bone and body mass is generally allometric and can be described by linear regression. Use of allometric models places original body mass predictions on a more sound biological basis and makes calculations of "average" weight unnecessary. The potential of allometry is discussed and objections addressed with the goal of encouraging others to develop allometric formulae and to use them in their research.

Type
Research Article
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 52 , Issue 2 , April 1987 , pp. 304 - 317
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 1987

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