Klippel With National Science Foundation support, Dr. Walter Klippel and his colleagues will work to improve the curation of the zooarchaeological collection at the University of Tennessee. These materials were acquired over a two decade span and the collection continues to grow. The 8,000+ skeletons include fish, reptiles, amphibians, birds and mammals. The 1,148 species represented are weighted heavily towards taxa native to eastern North America with an emphasis on species most frequently recovered in regional archaeological sites. Ten represented species, obtained in the early years of collection development, have been placed on the Federal Endangered or Threatened Species lists. While the collection is widely used by archaeologists curatorial problems both threaten the materials themselves and impede efficient use. With NSF support, Dr. Klippel and colleagues will implement a fumigation program to control pest infestation. Materials will be re- boxed and stored in new cabinets. Catalogue information will be entered into a computer system. Faunal remains are frequently recovered in archaeological sites and are extremely important to scientists for a number of reasons. They permit the reconstruction of past environments and provide insight into diet. They often allow archaeologists to reconstruct other aspects of social behavior such as exchange and population movement. Key to faunal analysis are collections of known species which serve as standards of comparison. The large and carefully documented Tennessee collection is widely used for this purpose and constitutes a valuable archaeological resource. With NSF support, its utility will increase significantly.
