Zooarchaeology and the Study of Human-Animal Relationships in Pre and Early Historic South India

Summary

The study of animal remains from archaeological sites has proven to be an invaluable approach to understanding past social, economic, and political practices. Despite the diverse behaviors and sets of relationships animal remains can index, faunal analysis has been an underutilized approach to studying Indian history and prehistory. In this paper, I present new research and zooarchaeological data to demonstrate how human-animal engagements changed throughout the Neolithic (3000-1200 BCE), Iron Age (1200BCE-300BCE), and Early Historic (300BCE-500CE) periods in South India. Using faunal remains from the site Kadebakele (Karnataka), I address how animal rearing, procurement, and consumption figured into the changing economic and agricultural regimes that ultimately laid the foundation for the emergence of urbanism in the region. In addition, I consider how a zooarchaeological study of human-animal relationships, in particular those forged through a history of animal husbandry, allow for us to critically engage with existing narratives concerning social and cultural change in South India.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)   •
• Archaeology of India

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 15906