The Dogs of War: A Bronze Age Initiation Ritual in the Russian Steppes

Summary

At the Srubnaya-culture settlement of Krasnosamarskoe in the Russian steppes, dated 1900–1700 BCE, a ritual occurred in which the participants consumed sacrificed dogs, primarily, and a few wolves, violating normal food practices found at other sites, during the winter. At least 64 winter-killed canids, 19% MNI/37% NISP, were roasted, fileted, and apparently were eaten. More than 99% were dogs. Their heads were chopped into small standardized segments with practiced blows of an axe on multiple occasions throughout the occupation. The repeated violation of the canid eating taboo, unique to this site, combined with the metaphor of human transformation into male canids, suggests that the participants entered a liminal state typical of a rite of passage. Parallels from comparative Indo-European (IE) mythology provide the indigenous narrative that gave meaning to this ritual: we argue that it was an initiation into the widely attested IE institution of youthful male war-bands, symbolized by transformation into a dog or wolf.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 20030