Archaeobiology Program Research

Program research spans the history of human interaction with plants and animals, with a special focus on the initial domestication of plants and animals and the development of early agricultural economies based on domesticated species. The domestication of plant and animal species by human societies resulted in one of the most profound ecological transformations in the history of life on earth. The intensification of agriculture that followed the origin of domestication has proven the single most powerful agent in the reduction of biodiversity worldwide.

Plant and animal remains recovered from archaeological sites provide a detailed record of the origin and proliferation of agricultural economies. Research on these archaeobiological collections integrate anthropological and biological sciences in seeking a deeper understanding of the history of human interaction with the environment. This historical understanding, in turn, provides an important context for understanding humankind's present and future relationship with the natural environment.

Program Projects

Human Exploitation and domestication of plants
Animal Domestication in the Near East
Impact of Agriculture in Northern Mesopotamia
Origin of Specialized Pastoralism in Northern Mespotamia
Environment and Long-Distance Trade in 3rd Millennium BCE North Syria
East African Mammal Imaging Project

Starch grains from Phaseolus lunatus (lima bean). Photograph courtesy of Linda Perry, Smithsonian Institution, Archaeobiology Program.