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.

*More references at https://www.archpodnet.com/animals/58

Contact

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

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