Zooarchaeology in the American Southwest and Northwest Mexico: New Pathways and Future Directions 1

Zooarchaeology is relevant to a wide array of socio-environmental concerns as well as to disciplines as diverse as ecology, conservation biology, geography, and geology.  This is especially true in the Southwest/Northwest region, where the rich and tangible material culture, long history of archaeological research, and pressing environmental issues combine to produce a promising arena for theoretically-driven ethnobiological research on archaeofaunal remains. The papers in this session assess the current state of zooarchaeology in the Southwest/Northwest and explore new directions for archaeofaunal research.