Zooarchaeology, traditional societies, biodiversity, and climate change: integrating perspectives between past and future

Abstract

The particularities and diversity of the Neotropics provide valuable oportunities for studying human-animal interactions over time and their implications for the zooarchaeological record. The Neotropical Zooarchaeology Working Group (NZWG) of the International Council for Archaeozoology (ICAZ) seeks to connect researchers from different countries interested in studying these issues.

This special dossier, entitled “Zooarchaeology, Traditional Societies, Biodiversity, and Climate Change: Integrating Perspectives from the Past to the Future”, shares the theme of the 4th Academic Meeting of the NZWG, and includes fourteen papers and two research notes covering different chronologies, methodologies, geographical areas and socio-cultural contexts related to Neotropical Zooarchaeology. The contributions included encourage the re-evaluation of zooarchaeological approaches, highlighting the potential of Neotropical Zooarchaeology for understanding archaeological, historical and ethnographic contexts, and its importance in the study of human-animal relationships.

The dossier highlights the need to transform the way we relate with the natural world, abandoning the perspective of domination, and adopting Amerindian philosophies that reject the separation between nature and culture.