Hidden Hybrids: Camels and Cultural Blending in Ancient Near East (WGF - Dissertation Fieldwork Grant)

Summary

This resource is an application for the Dissertation Fieldwork Grant from the Wenner-Gren Foundation.

Two species from different domestication centres – the Bactrian camel from central Asia and the Dromedary from Arabia – were deliberately brought together and bred to create new, more powerful, animals. Larger than both parents and double the strength of its contributory species, the hybrid camel was the world’s first engineered hybrid transportation. Creating the hybrid camel required ceremonial transfers of technological knowhow and revolutionized trade networks across Eurasia. Through these networks not only goods were quickly spread, but also traditions, languages and ideas, leading to unprecedented forms of cultural hybridisation. In effect, the hybridization of camels led to the hybridization of humanity. The emergence of camel hybridization is woefully under-researched. This project will develop new methods to explore the emergence of camel hybridization in Southwest Asia from an integrated human-animal studied perspective.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• WGF - Support for Research Projects   •
• Wenner-Gren Foundation

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Wenner-Gren Foundation

Notes

Rights & Attribution: This resource is an application from the Wenner-Gren Foundation and has been approved by the grantee solely for pedagogical purposes. Please do not cite, circulate, or duplicate any part of these documents without the express written consent of the author.

File Information