Site assemblages--the content and layout of archaeological sites--can also hold clues to the presence of domesticated animals. For example, the presence of buildings associated with animals, such as pens or stalls or sheds, is an indicator of some level of animal control. A pen or stall might be identified as a separate structure or room in a house with evidence for animal dung deposits.
Artifacts such as knives for shearing wool or bits for horses have been found at sites and interpreted as evidence for domestication. Saddles, yokes, leashes, and hobbles are also strong circumstantial evidence for the use of domesticated animals. Another form of artifact used as evidence for domestication is art work: figurines and drawings of people on horseback or oxen pulling a cart.
More Signs of Domestication
- Body Morphology
- Demography and Mortality Profiles
- Site Assemblages
- Animal Burials
- Animal Diets
