Where Is the Horse and the Rider? Considering the Militia Horses of the Black Hawk War through a Zooarchaeological Lens

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Material Aspects of Global Conflict" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Human-animal interactions in conflict have resulted in the injuries and deaths of millions of livestock, pets, wild animals, and military animals, leading to human subsistence issues, long-term environmental impacts, and animal welfare concerns. This work focuses on human-animal interactions during the Battle of Kellogg’s Grove during the Black Hawk War of 1832. The war, while typically viewed as a regional conflict, engulfed numerous Native groups along the frontier of the expanding nation. A militia was raised from the local settlers, many of whom brought their personal horses to war. During the battle, a group of militia horses were killed while isolated from their riders, thus removing a mobile unit from the war. Despite its importance, the exact number and final location of the militia horses killed remains unknown. Identifying the remains and establishing osteobiographies of these animals could reveal details of the previous relationships between the militia and their horses as civilians, while also providing missing context to the horses’ later deaths in battle. This example highlights the significance of zooarchaeological research to the study of conflicts and demonstrates how expanding the repository of historical, zooarchaeological specimens with accompanying analyses can enhance our understanding of human-animal entanglements in wartime periods.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Material Aspects of Global Conflict   •
• Society for American Archaeology 90th Annual Meeting, Denver, CO (2025)

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 51903