TAG2019-UCL

Human – animal relationships have often been viewed in terms of domination and exploitation, whilst more recently there has been an emphasis on commensality, intimacy and trust. Power and knowledge flow around such relationships, directed by the agency of both human and animal participants. In addition, knowledge of animals may shape human – human interactions, being used to empower or to marginalise animal specialists. Within mainstream archaeology, the significance of animals is largely confined to economy and domestication, and the power, knowledge and agency that revolve within and around animal-human interactions are essentially ignored.

This session will encourage discussion and debate on the dynamics of human-animal relationships, exploring ways in which animals themselves, together with those who interact with them have shaped human history. Animals have not ceased to be an important means for constructing human relationships; rather, human relationships have become so complex that it is frequently forgotten that animals, their agency and their exploitation may lie unrecognised at the very base of these constructs. Knowledge and power are clearly interwoven through these relationships. Themes to be explored may include (but are not limited to) theory and theoretical approaches to animals in human societies, animal-based cosmologies, cross-disciplinary perspectives and animal-related technologies.

Organisers: Andrew Reid; UCL • Joanna Lawrence; University of Cambridge • Mariana B. Muñoz-Rodríguez; University of York • Claire Ratican; University of Cambridge • Laerke Recht; University of Cambridge

13:30 | Joanna Lawrence, University of Cambridge | Introduction

13:35 | Jill Goulder, University College London | Donkeys - the secret agents

13:55 | Neil Erskine, University of Glasgow | Farm, Field, and Fauna. Socialisation in the agricultural hinterlands of the 3rd Millennium Jazira

14:15 | Lonneke Delpeut, Leiden University | The expression of human-horse relationships in ancient Egypt

14:35 | Claire Ratican, University of Cambridge | Animal and HumanBodies in Producing Viking Age Persons

14:55 | - | BREAK

15:25 | Erica Priestley, Independent researcher | Waste Not - A Re-examination of Neanderthal Hunting Strategies and their Relationships with Animals

15:45 | Erin Crowley, University of Minnesota | Commensal Feasts with Commensal Beasts

16:05 | Andrew Reid, UCL | Livestock, agency and the human career

16:25 | Joanna Lawrence, University of Cambridge; Andrew Reid, UCL; Claire Ratican, University of Cambridge; Laerke Recht, University of Cambridge | Discussion

17:00 | - | END