Toward a Multispecies Perspective on Human-Animal Networks in Early Urban Societies of Upper Mesopotamia

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Breaking the Mold: A Consideration of the Impacts and Legacies of Richard W. Redding" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Decades before anthropologists advocated for multispecies anthropology and ethnography, Richard Redding was charting a new path for a multispecies approach to anthropological archaeology. His research reveals an implicit awareness of the complexity of human-animal relationships that is a hallmark of the multispecies concept. For example, his models of caprine herding and culling practices highlighted both the logistical challenges of raising multiple species in tandem as well as the needs not only of humans, but also of the other animal species. Drawing inspiration from Redding’s original and distinctive approach to the analysis of ancient human-animal dynamics, this paper examines zooarchaeological data from third millennium Upper Mesopotamia to consider how findings might be better understood through the lens of a multispecies approach.The analysis discusses and utilizes some of Redding’s specific analytical techniques that provide a more holistic understanding of the web of interactions between humans and various animal species. For example, the use of density ratios makes it possible to track fluctuations in the abundance of each species through time. The paper aims to elucidate factors that underlie the multiple signature species distributions in urban and rural sites, ritual spaces, and houses of Upper Mesopotamia.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Breaking the Mold: A Consideration of the Impacts and Legacies of Richard W. Redding   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 41689.0