Animals Archive
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Pigs and Their Prohibition
Posted on January 7, 2013 | No CommentsBecause no single discipline or explanation seems adequate to understandthis practice, the search draws data from biology, anthropology, ancient history, mythology, religion, and ecology. Some have dismissed religious explanations as ar- bitrary and tautological, but the information provided in this article shows that religious beliefs are important. -
Shape of the Beast: The Theriomorphic and Therianthropic Deities and Demons of Ancient Italy
Posted on January 7, 2013 | No CommentsUntil recent times, the idea of a human-animal hybrid belonged only in tales of folklore and fantasy and the realm of science fiction. -
The Monstrous and the Bestial: Animals in Greek Myths
Posted on December 29, 2012 | No CommentsIn the myths, the ancient GreeJcs were at times rather positive toward animals. The Olympian gods were often represented as wild animals, usually symbolizing some divine attribute. -
Seeds of Knowledge: Palaeoethnobotany in the Classical World
Posted on November 27, 2012 | No CommentsAncient plants and the ways in which humans interacted with them can be explored through the traditional methods, examining organic remains in the lab and under the microscope...Therefore, this thesis will explore a number of case studies in which the archaeology of plants can be and have been examined. -
Penelope’s Geese: Pets of the Ancient Greeks
Posted on November 21, 2012 | No CommentsHerein lies the crux of the problem, because before we talk about the pets of the Greeks, we would be wise to define what a pet actually is. A pet is generally defined as an animal kept for companionship or amusement. But what about com- panion animals that also serve a practical use such as hunt ing or guarding, as Argos did? One would also assume that humans do not eat their pets. But did Penelope ever eat her geese? -
Bulls and Bull-leaping in the Minoan World
Posted on November 21, 2012 | No CommentsA religious function is also suggested by the portrait-like quality of some rhyta. In contrast to the stylized depictions of priestesses, princes, and even deities, the Bull -
The catastrophic extinction of North American mammoths and mastodonts
Posted on September 8, 2012 | No CommentsArchaeological and theoretical evidence reviewed here indicates that Clovis-era foragers exterminated mammoths and mastodonts in North America around 11,000 radiocarbon years ago. -
A Tale of Two Kitties
Posted on August 26, 2012 | No CommentsThe extent to which various feline deities were venerated in Egypt is reflected in the large number of representations of the goddesses and, naturally, of cats. -
Camels were widespread in the Roman Empire, even northern provinces, study finds
Posted on August 13, 2012 | No CommentsThe camel would have been a common sight to see in the Roman Empire, even in far-off corners in what is now northern France and Belgium. Mew research by Fabienne... -
Posted on August 12, 2012 | No CommentsOne of many blood-filled sources of entertainment for the Romans was the venationes, or wild beast hunts, that took place in amphitheaters for hundreds of years around the Roman Empire.
