Stable isotopes and discriminating tastes: Faunal management practices at the Late Bronze Age settlement of Mycenae, Greece

Price, Gypsy; Krigbaum, John; Shelton, Kim

doi:10.1016/j.jasrep.2017.05.034

Cited by 7 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 52 publications

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“…Changes in the proportion of animals will thus have an effect, as highlighted by the reduction in per capita land use between Phases 1 and 3, due to the strong decrease of sheep/goat in favor of pigs apparent in archaeozoological assemblages. Currently, we do not consider a distinct land area for pig husbandry because it is unclear to what extent separate pastures were arranged for pigs (Frémondeau, De Cupere, Evin, & Van Neer, 2017;Halstead & Isaakidou, 2011;Price, Krigbaum, & Shelton, 2017). Changes in pig meat consumption have a secondary effect on land requirements, however, decreasing the effect of other meat sources, and, if pigs were to be included in the pasturage category along with cattle, sheep and goats, the land demand for pasturage would increase significantly.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mediterranean land use systems from prehistory to antiquity: a case study from Peloponnese (Greece)

Weiberg

Hughes²,

Finné

et al. 2019

Journal of Land Use Science

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Understanding the sustainability of land use systems over time requires an accounting of the diversity of land uses and their varying influences on the environment. Here we present a standardized review of land use systems in the Peloponnese, Greece, from the Neolithic to the Roman period (~6500 BC-AD 300). Using a combination of sources, we synthesize the fundamental information required to characterize and quantify the spatial requirements of land use. We contextualize our results in a discussion of temporal trends, the probable drivers of change, and how these changes can be integrated with the general knowledge of these societies and the overall effect of land use across time. While our review concentrates on the Peloponnese, our methodology is widely applicable where suitable archaeological and historical records are available, and is broadly representative of the prehistoric and early historical evolution of agricultural land use systems in the eastern Mediterranean.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mediterranean land use systems from prehistory to antiquity: a case study from Peloponnese (Greece)

Weiberg

Hughes²,

Finné

et al. 2019

Journal of Land Use Science

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“…Isotope analysis of pig remains in Mycenaean Greece may provide interesting insights into these fattening practices. In Mycenae, δ 15 N values in pig bones from the Cult Center indicate a vegetal diet for sacrificial pigs, whereas the elevated δ 15 N values of the pigs from the industrial residence of the Petsas House are consistent with an enriched diet (Price, Krigbaum, and Shelton 2017). Whereas differences in δ 15 N may indicate dietary differences between wild boar and domestic pigs, vegetal diets may likewise designate controlled fattening practices (Price, Krigbaum, and Shelton 2017) or herding.…”

Section: Mycenaean and Northern Greecementioning

confidence: 99%

“…In Mycenae, δ 15 N values in pig bones from the Cult Center indicate a vegetal diet for sacrificial pigs, whereas the elevated δ 15 N values of the pigs from the industrial residence of the Petsas House are consistent with an enriched diet (Price, Krigbaum, and Shelton 2017). Whereas differences in δ 15 N may indicate dietary differences between wild boar and domestic pigs, vegetal diets may likewise designate controlled fattening practices (Price, Krigbaum, and Shelton 2017) or herding. The enriched diets of Petsas House pigs indicate they were likely scavenging on settlement waste or reared in households (e.g., Hamilton, Hedges, and Robinson 2009; Balasse et al 2018).…”

Section: Mycenaean and Northern Greecementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Fattened pigs (sialos = "fattened animal," a-se-so-si = "fattening," (h)opa = "to apply to," SUS + KI = "fattened pig") were allocated to banquets, festivities, and offerings, underlining that pigs fulfilled symbolic, as well as economic, roles (Rougemont 2006;Halstead and Isaakidou 2017). Archaeological evidence for pig offerings and cult meals were found at Ayios Konstantinos (Hamilakis and Konsolaki 2004), in the Cult Center complex at Mycenae (Price, Krigbaum, and Shelton 2017), and possibly in the Palace of Nestor at Pylos (Isaakidou et al 2002).…”

Section: Mycenaean and Northern Greecementioning

confidence: 99%

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Pigs in Sight: Late Bronze Age Pig Husbandries in the Aegean and Anatolia

Slim¹,

Çakırlar²,

Roosevelt

2020

Journal of Field Archaeology

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This paper explores pig husbandry across the Aegean and Anatolia based on zooarchaeological data and ancient texts. The western Anatolian citadel of Kaymakçı is the departure point for discussion, as it sits in the Mycenaean-Hittite interaction zone and provides a uniquely large assemblage of pig bones. NISP, mortality, and biometric data from 38 additional sites across Greece and Anatolia allows observation of intra-and interregional variation in the role of pigs in subsistence economies, pig management, and pig size characteristics. Results show that, first, pig abundance at Kaymakçı matches Mycenaean and northern Aegean sites more closely than central, southern, and southeastern Anatolian sites; second, pig mortality data and biometry suggest multiple husbandry strategies and pig populations at Kaymakçı, but other explanations cannot yet be excluded; and, third, for the Aegean and Anatolia during the Late Bronze Age more generally, pig data suggests pluriformity, which challenges the use of "pig principles" in this region.

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“…Dog carcass parts were recovered from Petsas House-a domestic-industrial complex involved in wider local and regional systems of craft production (ceramics) and the provisioning of diverse resources, including animals, during the Late Helladic IIA2 period (1375-1300 B.C.) (Shelton 2010;Price, Krigbaum, and Shelton 2017;Kvapil et al 2019). Petsas House was recently excavated by the Archaeological Society of Athens and the University of California Berkeley under the field direction of Kim Shelton (Shelton 2010(Shelton , 2015.…”

Section: Mycenae (Greece)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Canine Economies of the Ancient Near East and Eastern Mediterranean

Price

Meier

Arbuckle

2020

Journal of Field Archaeology

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Archaeological assemblages, texts, and iconography indicate a multifaceted, yet often ignored, canine economy in the ancient eastern Mediterranean and Near East. This economy included not only dogs' celebrated roles as hunting aids, guards, village scavengers, and companions, but also the regular processing, use, and consumption of dogs for foods, hides, and medicinal/ritual purposes. Drawing on ethnohistorical information and zooarchaeological data from three Chalcolithic/Bronze Age sites-Tell Surezha (Iraq), Mycenae (Greece), and Acemhöyük (Turkey)we emphasize evidence for the processing of dog carcasses, which reflect a range of post-mortem treatments of dog bodies. We suggest the widespread use of primary products from dogs, features of an ancient canine economy that are rarely reported on in depth and often explained away as aberrations by modern scholars of the region. We speculate that this neglect stems in part from analysts' taboos on cynophagy (unconsciously) influencing archaeological reconstructions of dog use in the past.

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Stable isotopes and discriminating tastes: Faunal management practices at the Late Bronze Age settlement of Mycenae, Greece

Cited by 7 publications

References 52 publications

Mediterranean land use systems from prehistory to antiquity: a case study from Peloponnese (Greece)

Mediterranean land use systems from prehistory to antiquity: a case study from Peloponnese (Greece)

Pigs in Sight: Late Bronze Age Pig Husbandries in the Aegean and Anatolia

Canine Economies of the Ancient Near East and Eastern Mediterranean

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