Funerary Zooarchaeology

The construction of rattles from turtle (Testudines) shells is an important consideration when distinguishing between food and non-food uses of archaeological turtle remains. However, the identification of turtle shell rattles in prehistoric contexts can be quite challenging. Equifinality is a major problem for being able to distinguish rattles from food refuse, particularly when a carapace is not burnt or modified. In addition, diversity, abundance, and distribution of Chelonian taxa varies throughout the southeastern United States, creating differential access for indigenous groups. Thus, multiple lines of evidence are needed from archaeological, ethnographic, and ethnohistoric records to successfully argue for the production and use of turtle shell rattles in the prehistoric southeastern United States. In this article, we present examples of turtle shell rattles in the southeastern United States to highlight their function and use by indigenous groups, the construction process, and several common characteristics, or an object trait list, that can aid in the identification of fragmentary turtle shell rattle remains. Proper identification of turtle remains is important for interpreting faunal remains and may be of interest to indigenous groups claiming cultural items under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA).

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Burial of horses and horse-elements occurred throughout Europe during the first millennium AD. These burials are prevalent in northwest Europe and are perhaps more significant in Britain than previously realised. This article explores the position and value of the horse within Britain during this period, why the burials are likely to represent ritual deposition and what they may indicate about the culture. Both horse deposits and human-horse burials are linked to non-Christian burial and sacrificial practices of the Iron Age and Early Medieval period and are particularly associated with Anglo-Saxon and Viking Britain. Some of the traditions appear to reflect the culture described in the Icelandic Sagas, Beowulf and other legends and chronicles. Archaeologically, the human-horse burials are also linked with high status individuals and ‘warrior graves,’ while complete-horse and horse-element burials may represent ritual feasting and sacrificial rites probably linked with fertility, luck and the ancestors.

Given the possibility of a tripedal protohominid in our own ancestry, it is interesting to learn that three-legged creatures feature in the mythologies of many cultures. The attributes of tripedal animals encompass the sun and divine power (‘sanzuwu,’ the East Asian crow, and an Irish solar horse), earthly fortune and luck (the ‘chan chu,’ a Chinese money toad; ‘kratt,’ an Estonian fire-serpent, and ‘chanchito,’ a Chilean pig), aquatic purification and fertility (a giant offshore Indo-Iranian donkey), the male sexual principle (Mycenaean bulls, and perhaps Malian stallions), amusement for children (Saharan terracotta figurines), and even sacrifice and death (bulls in Mycenaean and Egyptian ritual, Danish ‘helhest’ or ghost-horse, and Malian terracottas from funeral chambers). This illustrated research essay constitutes an original synthesis of topics that previously have only been considered in isolation.

"This book will be invaluable to those researching animal bone deposits. Its data sets will be a starting point for many future studies. I would also recommend Morris’s readable and lucid explanations of taphonomy and butchery to non-archaeozoologists seeking to understand the reports set before them."
The Archaeological Journal 2012

"Morris’ book represents an excellent aid to approach this type of archaeology [animal burials] within a new theoretical framework and should be on your bookshelf"
Environmental Archaeology 2012 17:2

In recent years, zooarchaeology has started to move beyond the purely economic towards social interpretations. In particular, these ‘social’ interpretations have often concentrated upon complete or partial animal burials rather than upon the disarticulated and fragmented faunal remains more commonly recovered from archaeological sites. This book presents a study of these associated bone groups from the Neolithic to late Medieval periods of southern England and Yorkshire. Not only does it present data on over 2000 deposits, it also discusses their interpretation, arguing that most are based on generalised period-based assumptions. It is proposed that a biographical approach to these types of deposit allows the investigation of the specific above ground actions behind their creation, moving away from generalisations towards individual interpretations. The study shows the value of not only utilising specialist data, but integrating such knowledge with other archaeological evidence and theoretical approaches.

The book is divided into three main sections. The first two chapters discuss the history of associated bone groups in the archaeological record and how they are created by human and natural actions. The second section consists of detailed chapters (three to nine) discussing the evidence from each region by archaeological period. The third section discusses trends in the data and the problems with how they are interpreted. It outlines and tests the use of a biographical approach and discusses the implications of these findings for wider research.

A well-preserved burial, discovered during peat clearing on Langwell Farm in Strath Oykel, Easter Ross, consisted of a stone cist that held the skeleton of a woman who had died in 2200–1960 cal BC. Although the cist contents were disturbed and partly removed before archaeological investigation took place, the burial rite can be interpreted to some extent. The woman, who died in her late 20s, had been wrapped in brown cattle hide, and wooden and woven objects were placed with her body. Periodic waterlogging created conditions that allowed the rare, partial preservation of the organic materials. Analysis of bone histology indicated that decay of the human remains had been arrested, either by deliberate mummification or by waterlogging. The cist had been sent into a low knoll on the valley floor and it may have been covered with a low cairn or barrow. This spot had been the site of a fire several hundred years earlier, and it may have been a node on a cross-country route linking east and west coasts in the Early Bronze Age. The use of animal hide suggests the creation and use of particular identities, linking the dead to ancestors and to powerful spiritual properties attributed to the natural world. The work was carried out for Historic Scotland under the Human Remains Call-off Contract.

To read full article:
http://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/archiveDS/archiveDownload?t=arch-352-1/dissemination/pdf/vol_144/144_0065_0132.pdf

Burials of children and dogs at Qasr Allam, Bahriya, Egypt

The ruins of the settlement of Qasr Allam, which in the Third Intermediate Period was part of a religious ensemble connected to a “Precinct of Amon”, were reused as a cemetery after abandonment. During the end of the Late Period and/or the Ptolemaic era (towards the fourth century bc), human and animal burials were installed within the same funerary space. The preponderance of children and dogs in relation to the rest of the population and livestock is clear, and canines seem to enjoy a funeral treatment comparable to that of humans. The procedures that the taphonomic study allowed us to reconstitute would suggest that dogs and humans, in
particular immature humans, were sometimes deliberately associated and put in physical contact. Such a phenomenon
of juxtaposing these species, on this scale, has never been witnessed in Egyptian anthropozoology.

Inhumations d’enfants et de chiens à Qasr ‘Allam, Bahariya, Égypte

Les ruines de l’habitat de Qasr ‘Allam, qui faisait partie, vers la fin de la Troisième période intermédiaire, d’un ensemble religieux rattaché à un « Domaine d’Amon », furent remployées en cimetière après leur abandon. à la Basse Époque tardive et/ou à l’époque ptolémaïque (vers le IVe siècle ?), des inhumations humaines et animales y furent installées dans des espaces mortuaires communs. La surreprésentation des enfants et des chiens, par rapport au reste de la population et du cheptel, est manifeste, et les canidés paraissent bénéficier d’un traitement funéraire comparable à celui des hommes. Les gestes que l’étude taphonomique permet de reconstituer suggèrent que les chiens et les humains, en particulier immatures, furent parfois volontairement associés et mis en contact physique. Un tel phénomène de rapprochement entre ces espèces, à cette échelle, n’avait jamais été mis en évidence dans l’anthropozoologie égyptienne.

Les Messagers divins. Aspects esthétiques et symboliques des oiseaux en Asie du Sud-Est/Divine Messengers. Bird Symbolism and Aesthetics in Southeast Asia, préface de Jean Larivière (vice-président de la Section française de l’Union mondiale pour la Nature), avant-propos de Bernard Sellato, introduction de Pierre Le Roux, Paris/Bangkok, Connaissances & Savoirs/SevenOrients/IRASEC, avec le concours de la Fondation Singer-Polignac et de la Maison Asie Pacifique), 862 p.

Is there a special relationship in Southeast Asia between humans and birds? Indeed, birds play here an important role in cosmology, beliefs, social structure, funerals, and ritual technology (which is not to be separated from economic productions: agriculture, fishing, harvesting, hunting, handicraft and trade). The bird in Southeast Asia is to be understood first as part of an essential symbolic couple: the snake and the bird, which represent masculinity, seniority, the underground and aquatic worlds, rainy seasons; and femininity, the sky, the dry season, and juniority, i.e., all dependent people. In a region characterized by alternating monsoons and, often, by a cultural bi-polarity, most societies have elaborated a dualistic conception of the universe, sometimes a ternary conception: two expressions of a same original godhead. A trinity made of two main elements (the elder and younger brothers) and a third one (the wife) dominates throughout almost all of Southeast Asia, where the opposition between elder and younger is general and relevant in most kinship and marriage systems. Here, perhaps more than elsewhere in the world, the social position of women is privileged, if not primordial. If the bird, very often, is a metaphor for a maiden, its taking flight is always assimilated to that of the soul of the dead, the beginning of a new life, and so, always, a symbol of hope.

Southeast Asia here is understood as stretching from India to China, and south towards the Pacific. It thus includes not only Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam, but also the Andaman Islands (India), Madagascar, Papua-New Guinea, Taiwan, and Nepal.

Here below, a list of the contributions in French or in English by:
Lorraine V. Aragon (University of North Carolina, USA), Helga Blazy (Universität zu Köln, Germany/Allemagne), Pascale Bonnemère (CNRS, France), Peter Boomgaard (KITLV, The Netherlands/Pays-Bas), Jean Boulbet (EFEO, France), Josiane Cauquelin (LASEMA, France), Anne May Chew (Université de La Sorbonne, France), Robert K. Dentan (State University of New York at Buffalo, USA), Gregory Forth (University of Alberta, Canada), Donald & Joan Gear (South Africa/Afrique du Sud), Itie Van Hout (KIT Tropenmuseum, The Netherlands/Pays-Bas), Bernard Koechlin (CNRS, France), Corneille Jest (CNRS, France), Pierre Le Roux (France), Ghislaine Loyré de Hauteclocque (IRSEA, France), Guy Lubeigt (CNRS, France), Albert Marie Maurice (France), Nguyên Tùng (CNRS, France), Bernard Pot (IRSEA, France), Oliver Raendchen (Humboldt Universität, Germany/Allemagne), Clifford Sather (Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, Malaysia/Malaisie), Bernard Sellato (CNRS, France), Jean-Christophe Simon (IRD, France), Vishvajit Pandya (Institute of Information and Communication Technology, India/Inde).

Se presenta el estudio de la fauna recuperada en el tholos de Montelirio, perteneciente al yacimiento calcolítico de Valencina-Castilleja de Guzmán (Sevilla). La fauna pertenece a depósitos calcolíticos y a depósitos alterados en época romana. En este último caso, se observa como se ha producido una mezcla de los materiales provenientes de las cámaras funerarias. El rasgo que lo define por encima de todo es la escasa
presencia de fauna en esta estructura funeraria, situación recurrente en gran parte de los contenedores funerarios localizados en este yacimiento. Se ha documentado la presencia de ovicaprino, Bos taurus, Sus sp., Orictolagus cuniculus, Bufo bufo, Struthio camelus, malacofauna terrestre y dentro de la marina, Ruditapes decussatus. La presencia más significativa corresponde al colmillo de elefante (Elephas antiquus) y a la magnífica colección de productos elaborados en marfil cuya procedencia es de elefante africano de estepa (Loxodonta africana africana).

This paper presents the results of the zooarchaeological analysis of the recovered faunal remains at tholos de Montelirio from the archaeological site of Valencina de la Concepción-Castilleja de Guzmán (Seville). The
faunal remains belong to the chalcolithic deposits but also to levels disturbed in Roman times. The main characteristic of this assemblage is the very few animal remains found at this funerary structure. However,
the following species have been documented: ovicaprids, Bos taurus, Sus sp., Orictolagus cuniculus, Bufo bufo, Struthio camelus, terrestrial shells and marine shells such as Ruditapes decussatus. The most interesting findings are the elephant tusk (Elephas antiquus) and the magnificent collection of elaborate ivory products of steppe african elephant (Loxodonta africana africana).

This paper introduces some of the invaluable aspects of, and new perspectives arising in, the field of zooarchaeology. Studying archaeological animal remains provides clear evidence of past human diet, but the contributions zooarchaeology can make to archaeological research have a much broader scope. Zooarchaeological research provides an interesting insight into the study of past environments, animal domestication, biostratigraphy, the social side of food, animal remains as clothing or even as building materials and art manifestations, amongst others. Zooarchaeology is subdivided here into environmental or physical zooarchaeology, which mainly deals with climate, seasonality and dating of a site, and social zooarchaeology, which deals with hunting techniques, animal management, social hierarchy and symbolism. This array of possibilities is illustrated through examples drawn from diverse periods and places. Some of the issues concerning zooarchaeology are analysed in more depth through the site of Cueva Negra del Estrecho del Río Quípar (Murcia, Spain). This case study provides a practical application of zooarchaeological perspectives in the study of human evolution.

The field of zooarchaeology is therefore not limited to the study of past dietary habits. Rather the study of animal remains allows a deeper understanding of complex human-animal interactions and a greater comprehension of archaeological societies and cultures.

Between April 2006 and June 2007, a series of excavations were carried out by Museum of London Archaeology in advance of building redevelopment at the Royal London Hospital, Whitechapel, East London.1 The controlled excavation in an area formerly known as Bedstead Square revealed archaeological features relating to the use and development of the hospital in the early 19th century. As well as a substantial collection of human remains, the excavations produced a unique collection of 1,974 animal bones that offer an insight into the hospital’s practices and developments in comparative anatomy.

O ser humano tem vindo a enterrar ou dispor-se ritualmente de cães desde há muito tempo, por vezes eles tratam outros animais da mesma forma, mas não tanto como o cão, isso deve-se ao facto de o ser humano e o cão possuírem uma afinidade especial, que é demonstrada pelo número de raças que existem hoje e da importância do papel do cão na actividade humana. Os registos arqueológicos revelam-nos que esta relação começou há muito tempo, quando grupos de caçadores-recolectores domesticaram o lobo, por volta de há 15.000 anos (Morey, 2006).
Durante as escavações levadas a cabo na década de 90’s na Quinta do Almaraz (junto do Rio Tejo, no município de Almada) foram encontrados vários enterramentos de cães, que sucederam na Idade do Ferro, durante a ocupação fenícia da Quinta do Almaraz, a partir do século VIII a.C..
Através da análise aos ossos, descobrimos que estamos perante 13 indivíduos (NMI), de acordo com as patologias e os vestígios arqueológicos, teriam várias funções na sociedade fenícia. Durante a análise deparámo-nos com uma clara ausência dos crânios, total e/ou parcial. Constatámos que não havia sinais de corte nos ossos que faria conexão com o crânio, concluindo que os crânios não foram removidos quando existiriam partes moles e tecido conjuntivo. Resta assim a alternativa dos crânios terem sido removidos quando já não havia tecidos moles, ou seja, quando o cão se encontrava em fase de esqueletonização, revelando-nos que poderá ter havido um ritual aquando do enterramento e remoção dos crânios.
Em toda a colecção apenas os indivíduos CF13 e CF14 se encontravam enterrados no mesmo contexto. Neste caso, o facto de se encontrarem esqueletos parciais de dois indivíduos no mesmo quadrado, na mesma camada, e o facto de ambos os cães terem a mesma idade, sugere-nos a hipótese de um duplo enterramento.

This paper reviews the faunas retrieved at the PP4-Montelirio sector of the Chalcolithic site of Valencina de la Concepción, setting apart remains found in association with or without human bones. Although the structures of non-funerary character exhibit a similar mammalian profile to those of funerary nature, the molluscs and some items such as red deer antlers, a ram’s bucranium or the triton (Charonia lampas) seem to have a clear symbolic nature. A third of the 61 funerary structures incorporate the concave valve of scallops (Genus Pecten), and, less often, limpet shells of the species Cymbula nigra. These two taxa, considered as funerary offers, are always placed next to some of the inhumations. The prevalence of scallops in the tombs may constitute an identity sign for the members of this community. All the species documented in our study, with the sole exception of the aurochs (Bos primigenius), are still to be found in the region.

This paper analyzes the presence of gastropods and marine bivalves in the archaeological record generated by hunter-gatherers from the north Pampean region during the Late Holocene. The specimens studied were recovered in different archaeological deposits located in two distinct
landscape units, the Pampean steppe and the wetland of the Lower Paraná River. In general, the recorded species present a low frequency and their obtaining was not linked to subsistence. In this sense, part of the specimens were transformed and used as ornamental objects. The main objective of this work is to evaluate and discuss the acquisition, circulation and use of these elements based on the strategies of mobility and exchange and other aspects related to the economic and social organization of the human populations that occupied the spaces mentioned in the last 2000 radiocarbon years.

This paper presents a new series of absolute age determinations from the Zlota-Gajowizna site. These are the first chronometric data from the most important necropolis of the central group of the Globular Amphora culture. The obtained dendrochronological data, which are unique for the sites of the Late Neolithic in Poland, made it possible to specify the results of the calibration. A new interpretation of the arrangement of the cemetery has been proposed, which is the starting point for determining the GAC funeral rite in the Sandomierz Upland.

FOOD FOR THE DEAD AND FOOD FOR THE LIVING, A PERSPECTIVE FROM SOUTHERN MESOPOTAMIA AT THE DAWN OF HISTORY.
This paper presents the results of the archaeozoological and taphonomic analysis of the faunal remains associated with some Sumerian burials recovered at the site of Abu Tbeirah (Southern Iraq). The faunal assemblages and their archaeological context suggest the presence in some cases both of animals directly related to the dead person (as offerings for him/her or for the gods in order to favor the journey to the Netherworld) and of remains of funerary banquets. The materials from the funerary contexts will be also compared to the assemblages from the residential areas of the same site in order to verify similarities and differences

This thesis aims to clarify the filling process of prehistoric negative structures through the taphonomic study of vertebrate remains. To do so faunal assemblages from Perdigões (Reguengos de Monsaraz), Horta do Jacinto (Beja) and Montinhos 6 (Serpa) were chosen, with human occupations spanning the end of the 4th millennium to the first half of the 2nd millennium BC.
The assemblages comes from negative structures from these sites, namely pits and ditches from sector I and ditches from sectors Q and L in Perdigões, prehistoric pits and hypogea from Montinhos and negative structure 1 of Horta do Jacinto.
The data show a majority of mammals from a small group of species like suids, ovicaprids, cattle, auroch, deer, roe deer, dog, hare, rabbit and rodents. There were also identified reptiles like lizard, tortoise and snake, amphibians like toad and western spadefoot and unidentifiable birds.
The methodology employed a taphonomic analysis with a detailed understanding of the faunal associations, stratigraphy and artifacts associations with the archaeological provenance proceeding from the study of the post-depositional phenomena. The main variables were the anatomical profiles, fragmentation and natural taphonomic signatures both physical and chemical.
With this approach I demonstrate that recent prehistoric negative structures were filled by a mix of natural and anthropic processes. The natural processes are slow and cause exposure and water stagnation marks on the bones surfaces. The anthropic fill is faster, in ditches could occur in a phased manner, and water circulation allowed the preservation of the faunal materials.

Are you interested in zooarchaeology? Then you can adapt your curriculum in such a way that you specialize in zooarchaeology during your 2-year Research Master in Groningen. You will be using one of the best reference collections in the world, and you will be part of a very active research group!