Lecture by Margaret Aiken, “Hunting Dolphins in the Black Sea: A Zooarchaeological Perspective”
October 22 @ 19:00 – 21:00
Dr. Margaret Aiken (Postdoctoral Researcher, Swedish Museum of Natural History; Adjunct Graduate Faculty, Department of Anthropology, Trent University), “Hunting Dolphins in the Black Sea: A Zooarchaeological Perspective”.
Dolphin and porpoise bones are recovered regularly from archaeological sites in the Black Sea region. This contrasts sharply with the Mediterranean, where remarkably few marine mammal bones are recovered. While ancient authors such as Oppian (Halieutica 5.52-61) suggest that dolphins were hunted in antiquity in the Black Sea, there has previously not been any meta-study of the zooarchaeological assemblages. Here, we combined data from 27 archaeological sites in the Black Sea region, producing a meta-database of faunal assemblages in the region. Through the analysis of the faunal data, we examine dolphin and porpoise hunting and use as a resource over a period of 8,500 years. We show that dolphin and porpoise bones are present in over 90% of the archaeological contexts in the Black Sea region. While often recovered in small quantities, we identify two peaks in the presence of the dolphin and porpoise bones in the Chalcolithic and Roman periods, which can be linked to both ecological and anthropogenic factors. The increase in dolphin and porpoise bones in the Chalcolithic is suggested to relate to a rise in dolphin and porpoise population size. The Roman period increase in dolphin bone finds is likely linked to an increasing human population and, potentially, an increased need for illuminant for lamps. Overall, the results of this study show a unique presence of dolphins and porpoises in Black Sea zooarchaeological assemblages.
Research conducted at the University of Copenhagen.
Live-stream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEK5wTv9ay0
