Zooarchaeologists working in all places and periods will find here much inspiration ... [Sykes writes] engagingly, without jargon, and yet with sufficient detail and precision for specialists.

Antiquity

This ambitious volume is as well informed and clearly expressed as it irreverent ... The range of material covered is impressive, and the bibliography will be indispensible for aspiring zooarchaeologists ... [It] will significantly enliven debate both within and outwith zooarchaeological circles; this is an important book.

Medieval Archaeology

[A] lively and entertaining manifesto for a new social zooarchaeology ... This is a brave, perceptive and informative book, valuable both as a general introduction and as an agenda for specialists.

British Archaeology

[Sykes presents] a new, fresh and unique way of addressing bigger social, cultural and economic questions ... Amusingly written, Sykes' work magisterially analyses different subjects related to faunal remains (animals and environment, food, ritual, domestic animals) over a very large chronological span ... [A]n excellent book that I would recommend to all my students.

European Journal of Postclassical Archaeologies

It was no surprise to find [Sykes'] latest book a lucid, thought-provoking and challenging review of the state of the discipline ... Sykes has created a new and, more importantly, accessible manifesto for future zooarchaeologists ... [She] is to be applauded.

Norwegian Archaeological Review

Ultimately, the boom invigorates zooarchaeological scholarship … in addressing the potential born from critical and creative inter- and multi-disciplinary perspectives within, and beyond, the discipline.

Journal of Roman Archaeology