Signs of Animal Masters and Associated Rituals in the ancient Near East

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Supernatural Gamekeepers and Animal Masters: A Cross-Cultural Perspective" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

What evidence is there for the existence of Animal Masters and their rituals in the ancient Near East? This paper ranges from Mesolithic/Epi-Palaeolithic to Chalcolithic times (ca. 15,000-4000 B.C.) and spans the transition from hunter-gatherer to agricultural societies. It surveys the iconography and material remains from caves, megalithic enclosures, public buildings, houses and burials and reconsiders their interpretation in light of available studies of fauna, flora and residue analysis as well as recent research in the field of neurotheology. I conclude by placing the resulting picture from the ancient Near East within the wider frame of cross-cultural studies on the subject of "Supernatural Gamekeepers."

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)   •
• Supernatural Gamekeepers and Animal Masters: A Cross-Cultural Perspective

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 22778