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W&L Human-Animal Relationships

Mar 24, 2023 • 9 tweets • 7 min read • Read on X

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1/x And now for student #zooarchaeology thread #2 for tonight's Mighty Stripes battles: #TEAMWILDCAT which should have gone last week but I told the student THAT OBVIOUSLY THEY WOULD WIN so she could wait until next week. Ooops. Thread by Taylor M. #WLCrittersClass #2023MMM

2/x My beloved combatant for #2023MMM is the wildcat (Felis silvestris silvestris) AKA the European Wildcat. It’s the FIERCEST animal of the Mighty Stripes! Archaeological evidence from Cyprus and Göbekli Tepe reveal more about their significance. #WLCrittersClass

3/x #2023MMM #WLCrittersClass The Felis genus first appeared ~3.4 million years ago. Felis sylvestris is NOT the wild ancestor of domesticated cats, which came from the African wildcat, Felis lybica. The skull below is Felis lybica (citation in AltTxt).

When hunter-gatherers became sedentary (staying in one place), Felis lybica began its relationship with humans as a commensal animal (it was tolerated b/c it fed on the rodent pests that infested the earliest stored grain). But that's NOT F. sylvestris! #2023MMM #WLCRittersClass

5?/x But F. sylvestris DOES appear archaeologically just a bit earlier! Evidence from the fascinating sight of Göbekli Tepe (9,600-8,200 BCE) reveals alongside of the monumental structures built by hunter-gathers, 21 wildcat bones (NISP) were found!
#WLCRittersClass #2023MMM

[Prof's note: Felis lybica and Felis sylvestris overlapped in the area of the earliest cat domestication in SW Asia, complicating the story of why cats were tamed & then domesticated in the first place. It would help if more research focused on this... ]
#2023MMM #WLCrittersClass

7?/x #WLCrittersClass #2023MMM
So what is significant about 21 wildcat bones excavated from Göbekli Tepe? This reveals even more insight into the special status of cats in early Neolithic societies.

8?/x Citations #2023MMM #WLCrittersClass

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W&L Human-Animal Relationships

@WLCrittersClass

Mar 30, 2023

1/x And now for our last student #zooarchaeology thread of the night, the Greater Rhea! The following thread is by Anne Charlotte R. #WLCrittersClass #2023MMM
Pretend these are definitely rheas in the gif.

2/x Two species of rhea, Rhea americana (greater rhea) and Rhea pennata (lesser rhea), inhabit
South America. R. Americana ranges from Bolivia to Paraguay & Brazil. (Abbona, et. al.)
#WLCrittersClass #2023MMM

3/x The ranges of these two species of Rhea overlap in Patagonia, & the osteological morphology
of these two birds is very similar. This makes it difficult to identify bone fragments down to the
species level. (Abbona, et. al.) #WLCrittersClass
#2023MMM

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W&L Human-Animal Relationships

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Mar 30, 2023

Welcome back to the #zooarchaeology subtweets from #WLCrittersClass, (Critters, Monsters, & Vermin: Human-Animal Relationships & Social Zooarchaeology, SOAN 291F)! Tonight we'll be bringing you the zooarch of Striped Hyena and the Greater Rhea! #2023MMM

2/x Our first #zooarchaeology thread of the night comes from Manuela Z. and focuses on the Striped Hyena! Narration by Manuela.
#2023MMM #WLCrittersClass
(This gif may not be the right hyena, sorry.)

3/x The striped hyena (Hyaena hyaena) is a mammal that is part of the Hyaenidae family, [which is part of the Carnivora suborder Feliformia!!]. They are native to Northern and Eastern Africa, the Middle East, India, & Asia (the Caucasus & S Siberia).
#2023MMM #WLCrittersClass

Read 16 tweets

W&L Human-Animal Relationships

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Mar 28, 2023

1/x? And WE'RE BACK from #WLCrittersClass with more #zooarchaeology to coincide with #2023MMM! (Note: we are not officially affiliated so all errors are our fault.) Get ready for more golden eagle and maybe a few others chiming in independently tonight! #TeamGoldenEagle

2/x And now, without further ado, #TeamGoldenEagle returns for a second round of #zooarchaeology #WLCrittersClass info! Our narrator will once again be Cooper. #2023MMM
#Carnage

3/x Golden eagle bones were found at the Templo Mayor in an offering box from c. 1500 AD. They were adorned with copper and gold jewelry and were most likely used in rituals or as ceremonial offerings to the gods (Arbuckle and McCarty 2014). #WLCrittersClass #2023MMM

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W&L Human-Animal Relationships

@WLCrittersClass

Mar 24, 2023

1/x #2023MMM Last up tonight for #WLCrittersClass: the #zooarchaeology of #TeamWolverine from Virginia S.!!

2/x #2023MMM #WLCrittersClass The wolverine (Gulo gulo) is found in N America & N Eurasia. Wolverines were historically found in more southern areas of Europe, but this changed due to humans, as we’ll see at the site of Dolní Věstonice I!

3/x #WLCrittersClass #2023MMM
Dolní Věstonice I is one of the most significant localities known from southern Moravia belonging to the Pavlovian culture (29-25kya), a local variant of the Upper Paleolithic Gravettian culture. Excavations began there in 1924.

Read 9 tweets

W&L Human-Animal Relationships

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Mar 24, 2023

1/? And now for our first #Zooarchaeology student thread of the night from #WLCrittersClass by Kierstyn W representing #TeamStripedDolphin! #2023MMM

2/? The striped dolphin (Stenella coeruleoalba) has the largest range of any dolphin! They live in every ocean other than the Arctic! They prefer warmer tropical waters though. #2023MMM #WLCritters #Teamstripeddolphin

3/? In the Late Bronze Age of the Mediterranean region, paintings of striped dolphins were done using special blue paint. This began with the Late Minoans at the Palace of Knossos in Crete in what is known as the “Marine Style”. #2023MMM #WLCritters #stripeddolphin

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W&L Human-Animal Relationships

@WLCrittersClass

Mar 23, 2023

Tonight our second student to talk about the study of human-animal relationships from archaeological sites (#zooarchaeology) is Amanda B., who will be discussing the archaeology of...the dik dik! The following thread is her work. #WLCrittersClass #2023MMM

2/? #WLCrittersClass #2023MMM The dik-dik is a small mammal from the family Bovidae found in both south and east Africa, in small pockets of Somalia and Tanzania as well as Namibia and Angola.

3/? #WLCrittersClass #2023MMM
The dik-dik has been seen throughout archaeological history as food for communities that practice hunting and gathering in times of food insecurity and large-game overhunting.