Care or Neglect?

Animals have always been integral to culture. Their interaction with humans has intensified since the onset of domestication resulting in higher incidences of animal disease due to human intervention. At the same time, human care has counter-balanced pressures of natural selection, reducing morbidity among wild animals. Prior to the emergence of a veterinary record, animal disease can only be traced by analysing pathological symptoms on excavated animal remains. This volume presents a collection of studies in the discipline of animal palaeopathology. An international team of experts offer reviews of animal welfare at ancient settlements from both prehistoric and historic periods across Eurasia.

Several chapters are devoted to the diseases of dog and horse, two animals of prominent emotional importance in many civilisations. Curious phenomena observed on the bones of poultry, sheep, pig and even fish are discussed within their respective cultural contexts. Many poorly healed bones are suggestive of neglect in the case of ordinary livestock. On the other hand, a great degree of compassion may be presumed behind the long survival of seriously ill companion animals. In addition to furthering our better technical understanding of animal disease in the past, this volume also mirrors the diversity of human attitudes towards animals during our millennia-long relationship. Some animal bones show signs of extreme cruelty but others also reveal the great attention paid to the recovery of sick animals. Such attitudes tend to be a largely hidden yet are characteristic aspects of how people relate to the surrounding world and, ultimately, to each other.

László Bartosiewicz is Professor in Osteoarchaeology at the University of Stockholm. He was granted a Senior Doctorate in Animal Science by the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in 2000. His research concerns animal-human relationships as shown by archaeological finds from various periods. Erika Gál is a Senior Research Fellow at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences Budapest. She completed her PhD in Palaeontology at the University of Bucharest in 2002. Her research focuses on the study of animal remains from archaeological sites in the Carpathian Basin with special interest in bird bones.