The Use of Archaeological Methods in Animal Conservation and Preservation

Figure 1:  Huemels are a critically endangered camelid species found in South America (Source: Barberena et al., 2011)

A hot topic that has been popular over many decades has been environmental conservation and preservation.  There are countless governmental agencies, non-governmental organizations, and individuals who are concerned with many different aspects of global environmental changes.  This includes concerns about the extinction of various plant and animal species, global warming, or other issues concerning our natural environments.  Researchers in the fields of natural resource management, biology, environmental sciences, and other hard sciences have dedicated a great deal of time, energy, and resources to understanding these issues and seeking resolutions to them.  One area of research that has received little attention in helping holistically understand and resolve these issues is archaeology.  Today’s blog post will address how archaeological research can be and is used to address issues concerning environmental protection, specifically animal conservation and preservation.

 

Environmental archaeologists have been addressing the issue of how their work can and should be used for environmental preservation for decades.  There have been some miscommunications in how specifically this can be done in a realistic manner, though.  Several environmental archaeologists have promoted ideas concerning returning to Indigenous means of working the land, which proved to be environmentally sustainable in the past.  While this is true it is not necessarily feasible due to the contemporary manipulation and changes to the lands that were previously worked through Indigenous methods.  This had led to pivoting directions and messaging. 

 

Presently, archaeologists argue that their work still matters but in different ways.  First, archaeological data can be used to understand the historical relationships between humans and their environments.  By having this understanding one can better assess the role humans have played in manipulating those environments, identifying how specific plant and animal species have changed or gone extinct due to human actions.  Another important consideration is using archaeological data to evaluate past environments, which provides a survey of what past environments exists and with which specific plant and animal species existed within them.  Lastly, there is the potential for using archaeological data to pinpoint when specific plant or animal species were introduced by human into an environment, thereby understanding which animals were natural versus invasive to the environment.  This point of information is already documented in the historical record, such as knowing when European songbirds, such as the sparrow, were released throughout North America and devastated indigenous song bird populations.  An archaeological survey of these data provides are greater temporal range, particularly if and where the historical data is lacking or nonexistent.

 

Several studies have already utilized archaeological data to provides insights into past environments, particularly for critically endangered animal species.  One study on Huemuls (Figure 1), a camelid species indigenous to the Chilean and Argentinian Andes, utilized isotopic analyses to understand the diets of zooarchaeological samples of these species.  This information provided insights into the specialized diets of these species, which can inform contemporary conservationists on the best practices for replenishing these species.  This enables them to reintroduce them into areas where they will be best able to not only survive but thrive as they have plenty of food resources to proliferate across their new home ranges. 

 

A second study on Asiatic cheetah species has great potential for preserving these species, of which there are less than 70 left in the wild.  Morphological, genetic, and radiometric analyses of seven mummified cheetahs and over 50 skeletonized samples have provided insights into the number and home range for these cheetahs.  The researchers determined that hybridization between African and Asiatic cheetah species was quite common in the past, as well as additional useful information that could be used by conservationists as they explore options for rewilding this cheetah species.

 

Ultimately, there is great potential in the use of archaeological data to better inform conservation efforts.  While this blog post focused on two case studies focused on animal species there are several other studies that showcase the use of these methods in floral (plant) and other species, including insects, bacteria, and more.  By using multiple lines of evidence and interdisciplinary studies a better understanding of conservation problems can be attained, leading to informed and potentially more viable solutions.

 

References Cited

Barberena, R., Méndez, C., Mena, F., & Reyes, O. (2011). Endangered species, archaeology, and stable isotopes: huemul (Hippocamelus bisulcus) isotopic ecology in central-western Patagonia (South America). Journal of Archaeological Science, 38(9), 2313-2323.

 

Boug, A.A., Mir, Z.R., Jbour, S. et al. Mummified cave cheetahs inform rewilding actions in Saudi Arabia. Commun Earth Environ 7, 24 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-025-03021-6

 

Shriver-Rice, M., Schneider, M. J., & Pardo, C. (2022). Charismatic megafauna, regional identity, and invasive species: what role does environmental archaeology play in contemporary conservation efforts?. World Archaeology, 54(3), 429-446.