Discriminating Tastes: Intra-Species Variation in Exploited Fauna at Mycenae, Greece

Author(s): Gypsy Price

Year: 2016

Summary

This paper demonstrates how integrating isotopic analyses and more traditional zooarchaeological methods can help to bridge the gap between theory and practice. Isotopic ratios from species known to have been purposefully managed establish inter- and intra-taxonomic variation from which management practices may be inferred. These management practices reflect decision making processes enacted by producers and consumers responsible for procuring fauna for occasions of consumption. This paper presents results from faunal material recovered from the Late Bronze Age settlement of Mycenae, Greece, with an eye to elucidating faunal economies operating in disparate socio-economic sectors of the palatial settlement. Of particular interest is the lack of intra-site variation in management practices regarding consumed caprine resources, while other managed species show distinct variation between consumption contexts. These species-specific differences, while intuitive, can be hard to nail down in archaeological record. These data augment current models of faunal exchange within LBA Mycenaean palatial settlements, teasing out nuances which were previously unobservable.

Cite this Record

Discriminating Tastes: Intra-Species Variation in Exploited Fauna at Mycenae, Greece. Gypsy Price. Presented at The 81st Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Orlando, Florida. 2016 ( tDAR id: 403094)

Keywords

Geographic Keywords
Europe

Spatial Coverage

min long: -11.074; min lat: 37.44 ; max long: 50.098; max lat: 70.845 ;