Zooarchaeology in Complex Societies: Political Economy, Status, and Ideology

Abstract

The zooarchaeology of complex societies provides insights into the interrelated social and economic relationships that people and animals created. I present a synthesis of zooarchaeological research published since the early 1990s that addresses political economy, status distinctions, and the ideological and ritual roles of animals in complex cultures. I address current approaches and applications as well as theoretical shifts in zooarchaeological practice. Research indicates there is great variability across space and time in how past peoples used animals to generate economic surplus, to establish status differentiation within societies, and to create symbolic meaning through sacrifices, offerings, and in feasts. The study of human/animal interactions in complex societies can contribute to fundamental questions of broad relevance regarding political and social life.

Meat traditions. The co-evolution of humans and meat

“…These involved the establishment of cults and specialized rituals for the elite, claiming divine justification through ancestral legacy (Rossano, 2007). In many societies throughout history, the types of meat that were consumed on special occasions or during communal gatherings have had a clear class component (Bulliet, 2005;deFrance, 2009;DeMello, 2012;Johnson et al, 2011;Kovárová, 2011;Pilcher, 2006;Régnier, Lhuissier, & Gojard, 2006;Scholliers, 2009). In Argaric funeral rituals, for instance, cattle and ovicaprids were associated with the highest and lowest social groups, respectively (Jiménez & Guerrero, 2007).…”

“…Understanding the historical trajectory of meat is therefore essential (Burkert, Girard, & Smith, 1987;Jones, 2007;Pollan, 2013). However, tracing this historical framework is a complex task, as meat is embedded in numerous ecological, cultural, and social processes (Bulliet, 2005;deFrance, 2009), and subjected to personal and perceptual interferences (de Boer et al, 2006;Turner & Thompson, 2013). These effects can usefully be understood as acting in a cascade-like framework, creating heterogeneity between and within societies and influencing contemporary behaviour.…”

A noble diet at the Hof van Leugenhaeghe (Steendorp, Belgium): pig skulls as a fourteenth–fifteenth century delicacy?

“…At all of these sites archaeologists recovered large numbers of pig head parts, and we also observe a mild version of this trend for the Hof van Leugenhaeghe. The overrepresentation of pig heads is probably the result of selection for skulls and brains as a source of animal fats (Ervynck et al 2006, p. 55;Van der Veen 2003, p. 411;DeFrance 2009). Pig brains were prized by nobility as a delicacy during this period (De Jong 1992, p. 216).…”

Of Buffalo and Butchers: Coupling Traditional Procurement Studies with Taphonomic Analyses to Explore Intensive Wild Animal Processing Patterns at Two Early Iron Age Sites in the Kruger National Park

“…For example, the presence of these (new) domestic species (i.e., cattle, sheep, and goat) has been used as a cultural proxy with which archaeologists can track the IA agro-pastoralist peoples into and across the southern African landscape (e.g., Voigt 1986 ). Domesticate studies have also explored agro-pastoralist interactions with autochthonous foragers (e.g., Denbow zooarchaeology (e.g., Crabtree 1990 ;deFrance 2009 ;Russell 2011 ;Sykes 2014 ;Twiss 2012 ). In light of this, this paper uses theories of intensification (Morrison 1994 ) to examine Le6 and Le7 faunal use beyond its basic nutritive value and move into the driving forces behind peoples' choices.…”