scholarly journals Parts and Wholes: The Role of Animals in the Performance of Dolenjska Hallstatt Funerary Rites

Arts ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 53
Author(s):  
Adrienne C. Frie
Keyword(s):  
Iron Age ◽  
Early Iron Age ◽  
Faunal Remains ◽  
Mortuary Practice ◽  
Animal Sacrifice ◽  
Animal Bones ◽  
Human Animal ◽  
Funerary Rites ◽  
The Sacrifice

There is a rich iconographic tradition demonstrating the importance of animals in ritual in the Dolenjska Hallstatt archaeological culture of Early Iron Age Slovenia (800–300 bce). However, the role of animals in mortuary practice is not well represented iconographically, though faunal remains in graves indicate that their inclusion was an integral part of funerary performance. Here, animal bones from burials are compared to images of animal sacrifice, focusing on the ritual distinctions between the deposition of whole animal bodies versus animal parts. It is proposed that human–animal relationships were a key component of funerary animal sacrifice in these multispecies communities. The deposition of whole horses may have been due to a personal relationship with the deceased human. In turn, the sacrifice of an animal and division of its parts may have been essential for the management of group ties with the loss of a community member. Particular elements such as teeth, horns, and claws may have served as amulets—perhaps indicating that these were personal items that had to be placed in the grave with the deceased or that the deceased needed continued protection or other symbolic aid.

scholarly journals Marine hunting and fishing on the coast of North Fennoscandia before Christ

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 171-179
Author(s):  
Alevtina Mikhailovna Kiseleva ◽  
Anton Igorevich Murashkin
Keyword(s):  
Iron Age ◽  
Barents Sea ◽  
Atlantic Cod ◽  
Early Iron Age ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
The Barents Sea ◽  
Animal Bones ◽  
Hunting And Fishing ◽  
Percentage Ratio

Archaeological evidence for marine hunting and fishing at the coast of the Barents Sea dates from 5000 cal BC to 0 cal BC/AD, encompassing the Neolithic, the Early Metal Period and the Early Iron Age. Among hunting and fishing equipment are bone and antler harpoon heads, fishhooks and leisters. Four periods of development of the tools were established on the basis of stable occurrence of the artefacts types in complexes (semi-subterranean houses, shell middens, burials). The chronological boundaries of the periods were defined by the radiocarbon dates of this complexes: A - 5000-2500 cal BC, B - 2500-1600 cal BC, C - 1500-1100 cal BC, D - 900 cal BC - 0 cal BC/AD. The primary marine taxa exploited were pinnipeds and cetacean. The marine hunting was supplemented by catching Atlantic Cod and codfishes. Percentage ratio of animal bones from dated complexes indicates that the role of the seal and whale hunting had increased considerably since about 2500 cal BC. This coincides with the appearance of toggling harpoons in hunting equipment. The exploitation of aquatic resources in the Early Iron Age (after 900 cal BC) remained important in the subsistence economy. The transition to a primary exploitation of terrestrial resources at coastal locations is not observed.

Food for the Living: a Reassessment of a Bronze Age Barrow at Buckskin, Basingstoke, Hampshire

1995 ◽  
Vol 61 ◽  
pp. 157-189 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael J. Allen ◽  
Michael Morris ◽  
R.H. Clark ◽  
Barbara Applin ◽  
A.M. ApSimon ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Cultural History ◽  
Environmental Data ◽  
High Status ◽  
Faunal Remains ◽  
Animal Bones ◽  
History Of ◽  
Funerary Rites ◽  
Burial Rite

The analysis of Bronze Age barrow sites excavated as long ago as 25 years can provide information on more significant and wide ranging topics than basic funerary rites. At Buckskin no primary burial rite was recorded nor any high status artefacts found. The analysis, of stored soil samples and animal bones however, produced evidence for ceremonial activity and feasting prior to the construction of the barrow mound. This encourages discussion on both the role of this barrow and the primary function, other than interment, of similar monuments, especially from the evidence of environmental data. Study of both land Mollusca and faunal remains enabled a greater explanation of the cultural history of this monument and aided the site phasing.

On a Distinctive Featureof the Andronovo (Fedorovka) Funerary Rites in the Baraba Forest-Steppe

2021 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-52
Author(s):  
V. I. Molodin ◽  
M. S. Nesterova ◽  
L. S. Kobeleva
Keyword(s):  
Forest Steppe ◽  
Faunal Remains ◽  
Native Population ◽  
Limb Bones ◽  
Animal Bones ◽  
Ash Layer ◽  
Burial Practice ◽  
Ritual Activity ◽  
Funerary Rites ◽  
Burial Rite

This article summarizes the findings relating to a spatially localized group of graves at the Andronovo (Fedorovka) cemetery Tartas-1 in the Baraba forest-steppe. Several rows of graves combine with ash pits suggestive of ritual activity. In the infill of graves, there were ash lenses with mammal and fish bones, and potsherds with traces showing the signs of applied heat. Ash had been taken from nearby ash pits with similar infill and artifacts. Faunal remains from graves and ash pits (limb bones of cattle, sheep/goat, and horse) indicate sacrificial offerings. In the ash layer of grave No. 282, there was an incomplete human burial, also believed to be a sacrifice. Features such as the orientation of the graves, their alignment, the position of human remains, and the grave goods in that area are similar to the Andronovo (Fedorovka) burial practice and do not differ from those in other parts of the cemetery. No complete parallels to this rite have been revealed. Some similarities, such as the use of ash, and the presence of animal bones, sacrificial pits, etc. at other sites are listed. A reconstruction of the funerary sequence and possible interpretations are considered. It is concluded that those graves were left by a group of Andronovo migrants who maintained close ties with the native population. Unusual features of the burial rite, therefore, can reflect an attempt to consolidate the immigrant groups on the basis of traditional ritual practices, where the major role was played by fire and its symbols.

Faunal Remains from the Early Iron Age Site on Mount Ebal

Tel Aviv ◽  
1987 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 173-189 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liora Kolska Horwitz
Keyword(s):  
Iron Age ◽  
Early Iron Age ◽  
Faunal Remains

scholarly journals Castration, cult and agriculture. Perspectives on Greek animal sacrifice

2014 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 153-174 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gunnel Ekroth
Keyword(s):  
Ancient Greece ◽  
Adult Males ◽  
Animal Sacrifice ◽  
Economic Reality ◽  
The Sacrifice ◽  
Sacred Laws

The castration of most male animals seems to have been the rule in ancient Greece when rearing cattle, sheep, goats, and pigs; only very few adult males are needed for breeding purposes and flocks of bulls, rams, billy-goats and boars are difficult to keep, since they are too aggressive. Castrated males yield more and fattier meat, and, in the case of sheep, more wool. Still, sacred laws and sacrificial calendars stipulate the sacrifice of uncastrated victims, and vase-paintings frequently represent bulls, rams and billy-goats in ritual contexts. This paper will discuss the role of uncastrated male animals in Greek cult in the Archaic, Classical and Hellenistic periods, both from a religious and an agricultural perspective. Of particular interest are the relations between the practical, economic reality and the theological perception of sacrifice. These issues will be explored using epigraphical, literary, iconographical and zooarchaeological evidence.

scholarly journals THE LATE HELLENISTIC WINE PRESS EXCAVATIONS FROM KNOSSOS: THE EARLY IRON AGE, HELLENISTIC AND EARLY ROMAN CONTEXTS

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-56
Author(s):  
Conor P. Trainor
Keyword(s):  
Iron Age ◽  
Early Iron Age ◽  
Faunal Remains ◽  
Urban Context ◽  
Early Archaic ◽  
Current Article ◽  
The City

The remains of an exceptionally well-preserved Hellenistic wine press were uncovered during a rescue excavation at Knossos in 1977. The architecture, stratigraphy and faunal remains from this campaign were published in BSA 89 (1994) by J. Carington Smith (the excavator) and S. Wall. The artefact assemblages from this excavation, however, have remained unstudied and unpublished until now. The current article presents the artefact assemblages from the wine press excavation and considers them within their urban context at Knossos. The key findings from this excavation relate to the Late Hellenistic wine press and its associated material, which enables us to consider both the ancient winemaking process at Knossos and the economic topography of the city in the decades around the Roman conquest of the island in 67 bc. In addition to the Late Hellenistic phase, material of Minoan, Early Iron Age–Early Archaic, earlier Hellenistic and Early Roman dates is also presented and discussed.

Nomads and the Shaping of Central Asia: from the Early Iron Age to the Kushan period

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
CLAUDE RAPIN
Keyword(s):  
International Trade ◽  
Central Asia ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Constant Factor ◽  
Early Iron Age ◽  
Steppe Belt ◽  
History Of

This chapter examines the role of the nomads in shaping the history of Central Asia during the period from the early Iron Age to the rule of the Kushan Empire. This study is based on the archaeological and chronological framework provided for the middle Zerafshan Valley by the site of Koktepe. The findings suggest that the nomads are a constant factor in the history of the steppe belt and of all the adjacent southern lands, and that they may have played an important role in the renewal of cultures and in the development of international trade.

Burnt animal sacrifice at the Mycenaean ‘Palace of Nestor’, Pylos

Antiquity ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 76 (291) ◽  
pp. 86-92 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valasia Isaakidou ◽  
Paul Halstead ◽  
Jack Davis ◽  
Sharon Stocker
Keyword(s):  
Faunal Remains ◽  
Greek Religion ◽  
Animal Sacrifice ◽  
Classical Greece ◽  
Historical Role ◽  
Palace Of Nestor ◽  
Archaic And Classical Greece

The burnt sacrifice of bare (defleshed) bones, described in Homer's Odyssey and well documented from Archaic and Classical Greece, is now clearly attested by burnt faunal remains from the ‘Palace of Nestor’ at Mycenaean Pylos. This evidance is of great importance for understanding both the historical role of sacrifice in Greek religion and the significance of fensting in Mycenaean palatial society.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document