Digital Commons Network^™

The Small Animals Of Maasai Settlements: Ethnoarchaeological Investigations Of The Commensalism Model, Lior Weissbrod

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

This research was designed to test Tchernov's model of commensalism and the idea that remains of commensal species that today coexist with humans in settlement environments could be used to detect early sedentism in the archaeological record. The validity of the model has been questioned due to the lack of empirical knowledge on commensalism in a wide range of settlement environments including sedentary and more mobile ones. This study examined the commensalism model by focusing on seasonally occupied settlements of Maasai pastoralists in East Africa. Methods from ecology, ethnography, and archaeology were used to document the impact of Maasai settlements …