Bones, Behaviour and Belief

Bones, Behaviour and Belief PDF Author: Gunnel Ekroth
Publisher: Paul Astroms
ISBN: 9789179160623
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 272

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Book Description
"The importance of the zooarchaeological evidence as a source for ritual practices in ancient Greece is gradually becoming widely recognized. Animal bones form the only category of evidence for Greek cult which is constantly significantly increasing, and they can complement and elucidate the information provided by texts, inscriptions and images. This volume brings together sixteen contributions exploring ritual practices and animal bones from different chronological and geographical perspectives, foremost ancient Greece in the historical period, but also in the Bronze Age and as early as the Neolithic period, as well as Anatolia, France and Scandinavia, providing new empirical evidence from a number of major sanctuaries and cult-places. On a methodological level, the complexity of identifying ritual activity from the zooarchaeological evidence is a recurrent theme, as is the prominence of local variation visible in the bone material, suggesting that the written sources and iconography may offer simplified or idealized versions of the rituals actually performed. Although zooarchaeology needs to and should be integrated with other kinds of sources, the independent study of the bones in an unbiased manner is of utmost importance, as the bones can provide a different "reality" than that encountered in our other sources."--Publisher's website.

Bones, Behaviour and Belief

Bones, Behaviour and Belief PDF Author: Gunnel Ekroth
Publisher: Paul Astroms
ISBN: 9789179160623
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 272

Get Book Here

Book Description
"The importance of the zooarchaeological evidence as a source for ritual practices in ancient Greece is gradually becoming widely recognized. Animal bones form the only category of evidence for Greek cult which is constantly significantly increasing, and they can complement and elucidate the information provided by texts, inscriptions and images. This volume brings together sixteen contributions exploring ritual practices and animal bones from different chronological and geographical perspectives, foremost ancient Greece in the historical period, but also in the Bronze Age and as early as the Neolithic period, as well as Anatolia, France and Scandinavia, providing new empirical evidence from a number of major sanctuaries and cult-places. On a methodological level, the complexity of identifying ritual activity from the zooarchaeological evidence is a recurrent theme, as is the prominence of local variation visible in the bone material, suggesting that the written sources and iconography may offer simplified or idealized versions of the rituals actually performed. Although zooarchaeology needs to and should be integrated with other kinds of sources, the independent study of the bones in an unbiased manner is of utmost importance, as the bones can provide a different "reality" than that encountered in our other sources."--Publisher's website.

Behaviour Behind Bones

Behaviour Behind Bones PDF Author: Sharyn Jones O'Day
Publisher: Oxbow Books
ISBN: 1782979131
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 347

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Book Description
This book is the first in a series of volumes which form the published proceedings of the 9th meeting of the International Council of Archaeozoology (ICAZ), held in Durham in 2002. The 35 papers present a series of case studies from around the world. They stretch beyond the standard zooarchaeological topics of economy and ecology, and consider how zooarchaeological research can contribute to our understanding of human behaviour and social systems. The volume is divided into two parts. Part 1, Beyond Calories, focuses on the zooarchaeology of ritual and religion. Contributors discuss ways to approach questions of ritual and religion through the faunal record, and consider how material culture depicting and/or associated with animals can provides clues about ideology, religious practices and the role of animals within spiritual systems. Part 2, Equations for Inequality, looks at questions of identity, status and other forms of social differentiation in former human societies. Contributors discuss how differences in food consumption, nutrition, and food procurement strategies can be related to various forms of social differentiation among individuals and groups.

Behaviour in our Bones

Behaviour in our Bones PDF Author: Cara S. Hirst
Publisher: Elsevier
ISBN: 0128213841
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 330

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Book Description
Exploring behaviour through bones has always been a fascinating topic to those that study human remains. Human bodies record and store vast amounts of information about the way we move, where we live, and our experiences of health and socioeconomic circumstances. We see it every day, and experience it, but when it comes to past populations, understanding behaviour is largely mediated by our ability to read it in bones. Behaviour in Our Bones: How Human Behaviour Influences Skeletal Morphology examines how human physical and cultural actions and interactions can be read through careful analyses of skeletal human remains. This book synthesises the latest research on reconstructing behaviour in the past. Each chapter is dedicated to a specific region of the human body, guiding the reader from head to toe and highlighting how evidence found on the skull, shoulder, thorax, spine, pelvis, and the upper and lower limbs has been used to infer patterns of activity and other behaviour. Chapter authors expertly summarise and critically discuss a range of methodological, theoretical, and interpretive approaches used to read skeletal remains and interpret a wide variety of behaviours, including tool use, locomotion, reproduction, health, pathology, and beyond. - Serves as a comprehensive resource for readers who are new to human skeletal behaviour investigations - Offers an overview on how behaviour may impact the entire skeleton (from head to toe) - Discusses activities that can leave evidence on the human skeleton and how behaviour can become incorporated in bone - Introduces methods that biological anthropologists use to quantify and interpret skeletal evidence for behaviour and its range of morphological variation - Critically examines the current state of skeletal behaviour research and provides recommendations for future work in this field

Animal Sacrifice in the Ancient Greek World

Animal Sacrifice in the Ancient Greek World PDF Author: Sarah Hitch
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 110821004X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 351

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Book Description
This volume brings together studies on Greek animal sacrifice by foremost experts in Greek language, literature and material culture. Readers will benefit from the synthesis of new evidence and approaches with a re-evaluation of twentieth-century theories on sacrifice. The chapters range across the whole of antiquity and go beyond the Greek world to consider possible influences in Hittite Anatolia and Egypt, while an introduction to the burgeoning science of osteo-archaeology is provided. The twentieth-century emphasis on sacrifice as part of the Classical Greek polis system is challenged through consideration of various ancient perspectives on sacrifice as distinct from specific political or even Greek contexts. Many previously unexplored topics are covered, particularly the type of animals sacrificed and the spectrum of sacrificial ritual, from libations to lasting memorials of the ritual in art.

Identifying and Interpreting Animal Bones

Identifying and Interpreting Animal Bones PDF Author: April M. Beisaw
Publisher: Texas A&M University Press
ISBN: 162349026X
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 194

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Book Description
Offering a field-tested analytic method for identifying faunal remains, along with helpful references, images, and examples of the most commonly encountered North American species, Identifying and Interpreting Animal Bones: A Manual provides an important new reference for students, avocational archaeologists, and even naturalists and wildlife enthusiasts. Using the basic principles outlined here, the bones of any vertebrate animal, including humans, can be identified and their relevance to common research questions can be better understood. Because the interpretation of archaeological sites depends heavily on the analysis of surrounding materials—soils, artifacts, and floral and faunal remains—it is important that non-human remains be correctly distinguished from human bones, that distinctions between domesticated and wild or feral animals be made correctly, and that evidence of the reasons for faunal remains in the site be recognized. But the ability to identify and analyze animal bones is a skill that is not easy to learn from a traditional textbook. In Identifying and Interpreting Animal Bones, veteran archaeologist and educator April Beisaw guides readers through the stages of identification and analysis with sample images and data, also illustrating how specialists make analytical decisions that allow for the identification of the smallest fragments of bone. Extensive additional illustrative material, from the author’s own collected assemblages and from those in the Archaeological Analytical Research Facility at Binghamton University in New York, are also available in the book’s online supplement. There, readers can view and interact with images to further understanding of the principles explained in the text.

The Local Horizon of Ancient Greek Religion

The Local Horizon of Ancient Greek Religion PDF Author: Hans Beck
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1009301845
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 407

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Book Description
Explores the many ways in which ancient Greek religious beliefs and practices operated in their various local contexts.

Animal Sacrifice in the Ancient Greek World

Animal Sacrifice in the Ancient Greek World PDF Author: Sarah Hitch
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 0521191033
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 351

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Book Description
Experts in Greek language, literature and material culture re-examine the role of animal sacrifice in Greek life across the Mediterranean.

Between Deity and Dedicator

Between Deity and Dedicator PDF Author: Sanne Hoffmann
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
ISBN: 3110770229
Category : Antiques & Collectibles
Languages : en
Pages : 360

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Book Description
The book presents a broad survey of Greek votive terracotta figurines, a class of votives where previous scholarship has mainly consisted of research in specific sites and collections. They have traditionally been interpreted as inexpensive and inconspicuous votives for everyday use, but this study questions whether this is in fact the case. By introducing the theoretical model of chaîne opératoire for a life cycle study of the votive figurines the book moves through the stages of production, distribution, use and discard of the votives, the latter both in the sense of practical discard and in the end of use. The study is based on a selection of case studies and surveys of relevant material, allowing for in-depth analyses of the terracottas in those life stages of shifting contextual interactions. The approach furthers new knowledge on several levels, such as the value of the terracottas, their suitability and their popularity as dedications, their iconography and symbolism, the general votive practice, and the end of the terracotta practice. As such, the book is relevant for all who seek insights on terracotta figurines, votive offerings, ritual practice, as well as those interested in archaeological methodology, theory and contexts.

The Dragon in the West

The Dragon in the West PDF Author: Daniel Ogden
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0192565877
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 478

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Book Description
An exploration of how the image and idea of the dragon has evolved through history How did the dragon get its wings? Everyone in the modern West has a clear idea of what a dragon looks like and of the sorts of stories it inhabits, not least devotees of the fantasies of J. R. R. Tolkien, J. K. Rowling, and George R. R. Martin. A cross between a snake and some fearsome mammal, often sporting colossal wings, they live in caves, lie on treasure, maraud, and breathe fire. They are extraordinarily powerful, but even so, ultimately defeated in their battles with humans. What is the origin of this creature? The Dragon in the West is the first serious and substantial account in any language of the evolution of the modern dragon from its ancient forebears. Daniel Ogden's detailed exploration begins with the drakōn of Greek myth and the draco of the dragon-loving Romans, and a look at the ancient world's female dragons. It brings the story forwards though Christian writings, medieval illustrated manuscripts, and the lives of dragon-duelling saints, before concluding with a study of dragons found in the medieval Germanic world, including those of the Anglo-Saxon Beowulf and the Norse sagas.

Kom al-Ahmer – Kom Wasit I: Excavations in the Metelite Nome, Egypt

Kom al-Ahmer – Kom Wasit I: Excavations in the Metelite Nome, Egypt PDF Author: Mohamed Kenawi
Publisher: Archaeopress Publishing Ltd
ISBN: 1789692997
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 386

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Book Description
This volume presents the results of the Italian archaeological mission at Kom al-Ahmer and Kom Wasit, Beheira, Egypt between 2012 and 2016. It provides details of the survey and excavation results of the different occupation phases, which range from the Late Dynastic to the Early Islamic period.