Encountering Ancient Environments: The Impact of Nonhuman Animals on Populations of Hittite Anatolia

This article surveys different textual genres from Hittite tablet collections of Hattusa (Boğazköy/Boğazkale) and Tapikka (Maşat Höyük) with the goal of exploring specific instances where one can detect human responses, strategies, and adaptations in the face of the active presence and behavior of a...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Casa, Romina della (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: University of Chicago Press 2022
In: Near Eastern archaeology
Year: 2022, Volume: 85, Issue: 4, Pages: 258-269
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Anatolia / Boğazkale / Animals / Hominoide / Behavior / Locusts / Wolf / Pig / Dog / Affe (Motif) / Horse / Sheep / Calf / Quarreling / Multiplicity of crimes (Biology) / Adaptation
IxTheo Classification:HB Old Testament
TC Pre-Christian history ; Ancient Near East
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Description
Summary:This article surveys different textual genres from Hittite tablet collections of Hattusa (Boğazköy/Boğazkale) and Tapikka (Maşat Höyük) with the goal of exploring specific instances where one can detect human responses, strategies, and adaptations in the face of the active presence and behavior of ancient nonhuman animals (henceforth animals). The examples under study explore the animal side of human-animal encounters and involve locusts, wolves, pigs, dogs, donkeys, horses, sheep, and cattle. They reveal the existence of at least two main interrelated modes through which these animals impacted human behavior. One exhibits animal competition with humans for food, leading ancient Anatolian populations to devise strategies to minimize their impact on nearby resources. The other reflects that the behavior of certain animals encouraged practices of containment, regulation, mobility, and care, depicting, overall, key features of how animals shaped the daily life of ancient Anatolia’s human inhabitants.
ISSN:2325-5404
Contains:Enthalten in: Near Eastern archaeology
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1086/722488