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The symbolic meaning of cattle and sheep/goat in the Bronze Age: Faunal inclusions in funerary contexts of South-Western Iberia

dc.contributor.authorCosta, Cláudia
dc.contributor.authorBettencourt, Ana M. S.
dc.contributor.authorSenra, Marta
dc.date.accessioned2020-07-24T10:51:59Z
dc.date.available2020-07-24T10:51:59Z
dc.date.issued2019-07
dc.description.abstractThe inclusion of faunal remains in funerary practices is widely documented in Iberian prehistory. For the late prehistory (Neolithic to Bronze Age), there is relatively more data than in earlier periods, with limb segments being very common, and complete animals are rarer. In Bronze Age contexts from South-Western Iberia, a high percentage of human burials in subterranean chambers (hypogea) are associated with limb bones of cattle (Bos taurus) and sheep/goats (Ovis/Capra), along with other grave goods. Traditionally, this practice is interpreted as the result of rituals of commensality. In this paper, we present a different perspective. Besides commensality, we show that the inclusion of the same species and the same anatomical parts is a highly standardised behaviour. Beyond the tight connection between humans and animals, this pattern also points to a strong symbolism of these domestic species and to symbolic meaning of the anatomical parts themselves.
dc.description.versioninfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
dc.identifier.doi10.1002/oa.2756
dc.identifier.issn1047-482X
dc.identifier.issn1099-1212
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10400.1/14299
dc.language.isoeng
dc.peerreviewedyes
dc.publisherWiley
dc.titleThe symbolic meaning of cattle and sheep/goat in the Bronze Age: Faunal inclusions in funerary contexts of South-Western Iberia
dc.typejournal article
dspace.entity.typePublication
oaire.citation.endPage612
oaire.citation.issue4
oaire.citation.startPage602
oaire.citation.titleInternational Journal of Osteoarchaeology
oaire.citation.volume29
person.familyNameCosta
person.givenNameCláudia
person.identifier.ciencia-idA71A-CC86-2461
person.identifier.orcid0000-0002-2715-1154
person.identifier.ridL-1279-2014
person.identifier.scopus-author-id57198432820
rcaap.rightsrestrictedAccess
rcaap.typearticle
relation.isAuthorOfPublication95c43034-5257-4515-9b98-f931999ebf4d
relation.isAuthorOfPublication.latestForDiscovery95c43034-5257-4515-9b98-f931999ebf4d

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