From the Frontlines to the Trenches - Ep 58

Rachel Roden

May 2, 2023

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Join us as we embark on another listener-requested episode topic, this time all about the zooarchaeology of animals used in warfare. From fiery pigs to Hannibal’s infamous elephants, we take a look at how animals from around the world have been integral to military operations from prehistory to World War I.

Links and Sources

Ameen, C., Benkert, H., Fraser, T., Gordon, R., Holmes, M., Johnson, W., ... & Outram, A. K. (2021). In search of the ‘great horse’: A zooarchaeological assessment of horses from England (AD 300–1650). International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, 31(6), 1247-1257.
Anthony, D. W., & Brown, D. R. (2017). The dogs of war: A Bronze Age initiation ritual in the Russian steppes. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 48, 134-148.
Bendrey, R. (2010). The horse. In T O’Connor and N J Sykes (eds) Extinctions and Invasions: a social history of British fauna, 10-16.
Dobat, A. S., Price, T. D., Kveiborg, J., Ilkjær, J., & Rowley-Conwy, P. (2014). The four horses of an Iron Age apocalypse: war-horses from the third-century weapon sacrifice at Illerup Aadal (Denmark). Antiquity, 88(339), 191-204.
Kveiborg, J., & Nørgaard, M. (2022). Early Iron Age cavalry? Evidence of oral and thoracolumbar pathologies on possible warhorses from Iron Age, Denmark. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology.
Mahaney, W. C. (2020). The Hannibal enigma of 218 BC: A forensic exercise of importance to historical archaeology. Sci. Cult, 6, 7-24.
Mayor, A. (2014). Animals in Warfare. In GL Campbell (ed) The Oxford Handbook of Animals in Classical Thought and Life. Oxford University Press, 282-293.
Nicholls, E. (2012) Specimen of the Week: Week Fifty-Seven. UCL Culture Blog.
Powell, E.A. (2013) Let Slip the Pigeons of War. Archaeology, 81(1303).
Rees, O. (2020). Dogs of War, or Dogs in War? The Use of Dogs in Classical Greek Warfare. Greece & Rome, 67(2), 230-246.
Romano, M., & Palombo, M. R. (2017). When legend, history and science rhyme: Hannibal’s war elephants as an explanation to large vertebrate skeletons found in Italy. Historical Biology, 29(8), 1106-1124.
Sala, R. (2017). The domestication of camel in the literary, archaeological and petroglyph records. Journal of Arid Land Studies, 26(4), 205-211.
Tsouparopoulou, C., & Recht, L. (2021). Dogs and equids in war in third millennium BC Mesopotamia. In L Recht & C Tsouparopoulou (eds) Fierce lions, angry mice and fat-tailed sheep: animal encounters in the ancient Near East. McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, 279-289.

Contact

Alex FitzpatrickTwitter: @archaeologyfitz
Simona FalangaTwitter: @CrazyBoneLady
Alex’s Blog: Animal Archaeology
Music "Coconut - (dyalla remix)" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2UiKoouqaY

Affiliates

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ArcheoWebby

October 2, 2018

Who Let The Dogs Out? Ep 3

ArcheoWebby

October 2, 2018

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The skeletal remains of dogs are simultaneously very distinct in their characteristics, but also very similar to other animals. Compare a dog skull to grey seals or foxes to see what we mean!

Dogs seem to have had a special relationship with humans - this can be observed in some burial and ritual rites involving dog remains. There is currently a lot of interesting research happening that combines aDNA (ancient DNA) analysis with zooarchaeology to better understand human-dog relations and the domestication of the dog over time.

Due to breeding techniques, the skulls of certain modern dogs have been transformed beyond recognition - if you're brave enough, Google some of the breeds we mention in the episode.

And we unfortunately have no idea who let the dogs out still...sorry.