Abstract:

During the last years ancient DNA and stable isotope analyses has been currently used in archaeological research. These applications totally enlarged limits and possibilities of the zooarchaeological studies changing the historical meaning of the faunal assemblages recovered in archaeological sites. Ancient biomolecular analyses have different advantages from techniques and methods traditionally used in Zooarchaeology. First, the possibility to directly investigate the dynamics and way of life of the living animal populations (i.e. reproductive patterns, dietary habits and movility patterns), very difficult to achieve from traditional approaches. Secondly, broadening the temporal resolution of the samples, getting access to historical events in reduced timescales. These advantages allowed to fall on questions very difficult to evidence from archaeological studies, so far almost invisible. In this work are presented the main research lines and themes investigated from these analyses, debating current possibilities and limitations. This work highlight the interdisciplinary character of the ancient biomolecular studies and the possibilities to abroad different subjects.