Prestige and Predation: Dugong Hunters of the Torres Strait, Australia

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.

Large animals are particularly prone to human overexploitation for both biological and cultural reasons. Relatively rare and slow to reproduce, these populations are naturally sensitive to predation. For the hunters, evolutionary and cultural forces conspire to make these animals highly desired. This paper describes the response of dugong hunters in the Torres Strait to the increasing rarity of their favored prey and considers the effect of prestige on the choices they make.

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): 22786