the diet like, and in what ways were the animals used for food? Which animals were eaten, in what amounts, and with what other foods? Who were the ones to obtain the food, and did the availability of that food depend on age or gender? How was culture, such as technologies and behavior, influenced by and associated with diet? How can faunal remains identify social differences such as class or ethnicity? What purposes, other than food, were animals used for? What was the environment like? How did hunter-gatherers collect food? How have human populations changed over time? How have humans domesticated animals over time? How do modern animals compare to animals of the past, and how does this give context to human populations who interacted/still interact with those animals? Another important aspect of zooarchaeology is its application to the migration patterns of humans. In areas where people are either closely tied to animal as companions or regularly follow the migrations of herds, the data collected from these animals can help give context to human movement as well. Studying animal remains can also give context to other remains and artifacts found in association with them. Faunal remains Faunal remains are parts of animals that have been left in the material record, which archaeologists study. These remains are important to the record because they can show cultural practices, such as what food they are eating, based on the remains left behind. Zooarcheologists can find out information like the species the animal is, the age the animal was when it died, and what its sex was. Some common faunal remains found at sites include, as stated above, bones, shells, hair, chitin, scales, hides, proteins and DNA. These are often found in piles of waste that have been left behind. There, as well as in other places, the pieces of bone, scales, teeth, etc. may be mixed together where the archaeologist will have to sort through and identify where the remains came from (what animal/ what species) and where on that species the remain is from. The types of fauna that leave behind these remains will depend on where the archaeological site is located. These animals can be domesticated or wild, and sometimes they find both types of remains at sites. In addition to helping us understand the past, zooarchaeology can also help us to improve the present and the future. Studying how people