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)
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Keywords
General
isotope
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Late Bronze Age
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Mycenae
Geographic Keywords
Europe
Spatial Coverage
min long: -11.074; min lat: 37.44 ; max long: 50.098; max lat: 70.845 ;