Anthropology of Hunting

‘Homo Venans. Religijny wymiar polowania starożytnych Greków według Arriana z Nikomedii’

by Bogdan Burliga

Rocznik Antropologii Historii 1 (2011), ss. 95-118

‘ἀεὶ μέντοι <τῷ> ἰσχυροτέρῳ τὸ ἀσθενέστερον θηρᾶν: The Meaning of the ‘Hunting’ Comparison in Xenophon’s Equit. mag. 4. 17’

by Bogdan Burliga

[in:] Xenophon: Greece, Persia, and Beyond [Monograph Series Akanthina no. 5], ed. B. Burliga, Gdańsk 2011, pp.  131–152

Review: Gray Ghosts and Red Rangers: American Hilltop Fox Chasing, by Thad Sitton

by Rob Boddice

Journal of American Studies (2012), 46 : E7

HUNTING AND MORALITY AS ELEMENTS OF TRADITIONAL ECOLOGICAL KNOWLEDGE

by Nick Reo

The legitimacy of contemporary subsistence hunting practices of North American Indians has been questioned because of... more The legitimacy of contemporary subsistence hunting practices of North American Indians has been questioned because of hunters’ use of modern technologies and integration of wage-based and subsistence livelihoods. The legitimacy of tribal traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) has been questioned on similar grounds and used as justification for ignoring tribal perspectives on critical natural resource conservation and development issues. This paper examines hunting on the Lac du Flambeau Indian Reservation in North Central Wisconsin, USA. The study documents contemporary hunting practices and the traditional moral code that informs hunting-related behaviors and judgments. Subsistence hunting is framed in the context of TEK and attention focused on the interplay between TEK’s practical and moral dimensions. Results indicate the importance of traditional moral codes in guiding a community’s contemporary hunting practices and the inseparability and interdependence of epistemological, practical, and ethical dimensions of TEK.

Pastoral perspectivism: A view from Altai

by Ludek Broz

L'art de la chasse

by Joël Vacheron

"The Game of the Courtly Hunt: Chasing and Breaking Deer in Late Medieval English Literature." JEGP. Forthcoming.

by Ryan Judkins

Argues that hunting was a game to the aristocracy, that that game presented a nostalgic vision of society as a feudal... more Argues that hunting was a game to the aristocracy, that that game presented a nostalgic vision of society as a feudal hierarchy, and that the meaning of the game changed moving into the fifteenth century due to pressure from the gentry imitating the nobility.

What's Old is New Again: Cultural Change in Hunting and Fishing in Missouri and Arkansas

by Justin Nolan

The Hunter-self: Perforations, prescriptions and primordial beings among the Hodï, Venezuelan Guayana

by Stanford & Eglee Zent

E Zent 2005/2007 Tipiti. 3(2):35-76

Gaudzinski, S., 2004. Subsistence patterns of Early Pleistocene hominids in the Levant - Taphonomic evidence from the ‘Ubeidiya Formation (Israel). Journal of Archaeological Science 31, 65-75.

by Sabine Gaudzinski-Windheuser

This paper reports the results of a taphonomic analysis of 17 faunal assembiages from archaeological horizons of the... more This paper reports the results of a taphonomic analysis of 17 faunal assembiages from archaeological horizons of the Early
Pleistocene ‘Ubeidiya Formation (Israel), focussing in particular on two representative assembiages (I-I5LFII-16 and 11-23).
Cut-rnarks on bones show that hominids interacted with the fauna and point to meat exploitation. In contrast, traces for marrow bone breakage were not observed. The absence of marrow processing at ‘Ubeidiya provides a marked contrast to the bone marrow focussed subsistence based on scavenging proposed by sorne researchers for African early horninids, and this question is discussed in a broader context.
lt is concluded that hunting of medium-sized mammals was probably one of the subsistence strategies available to Early
Pleistocene Levantine hominids.

Gaudzinski, S. 1998. Knochen und Knochengeräte der mittelpaläolithischen Fundstelle Salzgitter-Lebenstedt (Deutschland). Jahrbuch des Römisch-Germanischen Zentralmuseums 45, 163-220.

by Sabine Gaudzinski-Windheuser

The Middle Palaeolithic site of Salzgitter-Lebenstedt represents one of the most important exposures for our knowledge... more The Middle Palaeolithic site of Salzgitter-Lebenstedt represents one of the most important exposures for our knowledge of the evolution of hominin behaviour. Faunal analysis at the site revealed evidence for a reindeer mass-kill. Moreover, Salzgitter-Lebenstedt an assemblage of 28 bone tools was uncovered which have been manufactured by Neanderthals. Taphonomic analysis of the complete faunal assemblage, serves as a background for the study of the bone tools. It could be demonstrated that the raw material for the bone tools was intentionally selected by hominins. The bone tools are discussed within the archaeological context illustrating their unique occurrence in the Middle palaeolithic record.

Manliness and the "Morality of Field Sports": E.A. Freeman and Anthony Trollope, 1869-71.

by Rob Boddice

Published in 'The Historian', 70, 1 (2008), 1-29.

An early debate on the moral status of hunting, between a literary heavyweight and an Oxford historian. The paper... more An early debate on the moral status of hunting, between a literary heavyweight and an Oxford historian. The paper argues that the concept of cruelty hinged on an understanding of the qualities of manliness. Freeman argued that an action could be defined as cruel regardless of who was doing it (and that cruelty therefore stood in the way of claims to manliness); Trollope argued that manly men were incapable of being cruel by dint of their manliness, implicitly linking cruelty to lower-class activities.

Animal Signs and Ethical Significance: Expressive Creatures in the British Georgic

by Tobias Menely

Sarah Saw A Hunter: The Venatic Motif in Genesis Rabbah 53:11

by Jesse Rainbow

Pages 155–79 in Midrash and the Exegetical Mind: Proceedings of the 2008 and 2009 SBL Midrash Sessions. Edited by Lieve Teugels and Rivka Ulmer. Judaism in Context 10. Piscataway, N.J.: Gorgias, 2010.

In Gen. Rab. 53:11, various descriptions of Ishmael's offense against Isaac and Sarah (Gen 21:9) are construed as... more In Gen. Rab. 53:11, various descriptions of Ishmael's offense against Isaac and Sarah (Gen 21:9) are construed as forms of "hunting."

‘‘Tionoil na nslóigh chum na seilg’: an t-Urr. Raibeart Kirk agus an timcheall ann am Frìth Athaill’

by Andrew Wiseman

in Richard A. V. Cox (ed.), Dualchas agus an Àrainneachd: sin am fearann caoin (Ostaig: Clò Ostaig, 2009), 179–220

Despite the tinchel being the indigenous method of hunting there is only one poem that gives a sustained account of... more Despite the tinchel being the indigenous method of hunting there is only one poem that gives a sustained account of this technique composed by the Rev. Robert Kirk(e) (1644-1692). This paper puts into a social and historical context the importance of the hunt to the Gaelic elite by closely analysing this unique poem.

Morokapel's Feast: The Story of a Kara Hunting Ritual

by Felix Girke

Taphonomic analysis of the Twighlight Beach seals

by Steve Wolverton

Nagaoka et al. 2008

Taphonomic studies have become an integral part of zooarchaeological research over the past 30 years. Understanding... more Taphonomic studies have become an integral part of zooarchaeological research over the past 30 years. Understanding the processes that led to the samples of animal remains found in archaeological sites is crucial for evaluating the validity of interpretations of these datasets (Klein and Cruz-Uribe 1984; Lyman 1994a). It is important to recognise that taphonomic analysis, ‘as the science of the laws of embedding or burial’ (Lyman 1994a:1), is not done for its own sake, but to solve problems in zooarchaeological research (e.g. Gifford-Gonzalez 1991; Lyman 1994a; Stiner 2005). The purpose of this paper is to highlight the importance of taphonomic analyses, and provide an example of a detailed taphonomic analysis of a fauna – the Twilight Beach fauna – related to particular research questions in New Zealand.

White-tailed deer harvest pressure & within-bone nutrient exploitation during the mid- to late Holocene in southeast Texas, USA

by Steve Wolverton

Wolverton et al. 2008

Human population size and density increased in many areas of eastern North America after the mid-Holocene. As... more Human population size and density increased in many areas of eastern North America after the mid-Holocene. As predators, human foragers relied heavily on ungulate prey for food in many areas of the world during prehistory. In southeast Texas, changes in foraging adaptations relate to broader subsistence and population trends. A large, well-preserved archaeological faunal assemblage that spans much of the second half of the Holocene from the Eagle’s Ridge site (41CH252) indicates that harvest pressure and carcass exploitation of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) intensified through time following predictions framed under two theoretical models. The first model summarises effects of changes in harvest pressure and/or habitat productivity on prey population age structure and body size. Under harvest pressure age structures should become juvenile dominated expressing relatively steep survivorship, and ontogenetic growth rate of prey should increase. Habitat productivity affects ontogenetic growth rate but not proportional age structure in a prey population. The second model uses proxy measures of fragmentation to study exploitation of within-bone nutrients from white-tailed deer bones. Extent of fragmentation increases as marrow exploitation increases and intensity of fragmentation increases as grease exploitation intensifies. At Eagle’s Ridge multiple lines of evidence related to the two models indicate that as human population density increased through time white-tailed deer were harvested at a higher rate.

Harvest Pressure and Environmental Carrying Capacity: An Ordinal-Scale Model of Effects on Ungulate Prey

by Steve Wolverton

Wolverton 2008

Zooarchaeologists have long realized the analytical potential of ungulate mortality data in studies of temporally... more Zooarchaeologists have long realized the analytical potential of ungulate mortality data in studies of temporally shifting foraging efficiency. An additional but seldom examined form of evidence from ungulate remains is the morphometry of age-independent body size. Together simple bivariate morphometric and mortality data from ungulate remains reveal shifts through time in harvest pressure and/or environmental carrying capacity. A proposed model of these effects is validated using wildlife biology data from white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), an ungulate taxon that is very common in North American archaeological faunas. Several archaeological implications that bear on studies of foraging efficiency in subsistence hunting economies arise from this ordinal-scale model, such as the conditions under which harvest pressure increases or decreases or when carrying capacity rises or declines.

Desde hace mucho tiempo los zooarchaeologos han realizado el potencial analítico de los datos de mortalidad ungulados adquiridos a través de estudios en los cuales se cambia temporalmente la eficacia buscada. Una adicional pero rara forma de examinar las pruebas del ungulado es el morphometry del tamaño de cuerpo independientemente de la edad. Juntos simples datos de vicariato morphometric y la mortalidad del las permanencias ungulado revelan cambios a través del tiempo durante presión de cosecha y/o capacidad de transporte ambiental. Un modelo propuesto de estos efectos es validado usando datos de biología de fauna del venado “white-tail” (Odocoileus virginianus), un taxón ungulado que es muy común en la fauna arqueológica Norteamericana. Varias implicaciones arqueológicas que tienen que ver con estudios de buscar la eficacia en la subsistencia que caza economías provienen de éste modelo de escala ordinal, como las condiciones en las cuales la presión de cosecha aumenta o disminuye o cuando la capacidad cargada sube o hay decadencia.

The Terminal Pleistocene Extinctions in North America, Hypermorphic Evolution, and the Dynamic Equilibrium Model

by Steve Wolverton

Wolverton et al. 2009

The cause of megafaunal extinctions at the end of the last glaciation has been hotly debated during the last few... more The cause of megafaunal extinctions at the end of the last glaciation has been hotly debated during the last few decades, most recently at the global scale. In North America and elsewhere the debate centers on whether or not human hunters, who seemingly first entered the continent during the extinction period, caused the extinctions through over-hunting. An alternative explanation is that climate change during the terminal Pleistocene radically modified existing habitats and this caused the extinctions. Huston's (1979, 1994) dynamic equilibrium model (DEM) of community species richness provides a theoretical context for explanations of the extinctions in North America and highlights life history characteristics of extinct mammals. These life history traits and associated phenotypes are a seldom-explored line of evidence concerning the causes of the extinctions. In light of life history traits, environmental disturbance is implicated as the proximate cause of the extinctions, but the DEM does not preclude overkill as a contributing cause in North America.

El origen de la causa de la extinción de la megafauna de finales de la última glaciación ha provocado un intenso debate durante las últimas décadas que hoy en día ha transcendido a escala internacional. El debate se centra en si la causa de la extinción fue la caza excesiva. Al parecer, las poblaciones humanas entraron por primera vez al continente americano durante el período de extinción de la megafauna. Una explicación alternativa es que el cambio climático del Pleistoceno final provocó la extinción, ya que se modificaron radicalmente los hábitats. El modelo de equilibrio dinámico (MED) sobre la riqueza de especies de Huston (1979, 1994) proporciona un contexto teórico para la explicación de la extinción en América del Norte. Este modelo hace hincapié en la importancia de las características de la historia de vida de los mamíferos extintos. Estas características y sus fenotipos no suelen emplearse como pruebas del origen de la extinción. A la luz de la historia de vida de los animales, las perturbaciones del medio ambiente parecen ser la causa más importante de la extinción, sin que el MED excluya la importancia de la caza excesiva en la extinción de la megafauna en América del Norte.

La cause des extinctions mégafauniques survenue à la fin de la dernière glaciation a été fortement débattue pendant ces dernières décennies, et plus récemment à une échelle mondiale. En Amérique du Nord et ailleurs le débat s'inscrit dans la problématique qui cherche à savoir si les chasseurs humains, qui apparemment sont arrivés les premiers au continent pendant la période d'extinction, sont la cause de ces extinctions par la surchasse. Une autre explication veut que des changements climatiques pendant le Pléistocène terminal aient modifié radicalement les habitats et aient ainsi causé les extinctions. Le modèle d'équilibre dynamique (MED) de Huston (1979, 1994) de la richesse des espèces d'une communauté a fourni un contexte théorique pour expliquer ces extinctions en Amérique du Nord et a souligné les caractéristiques du cycle vital des mammifères disparus. Ces caractéristiques du cycle vital et les phénotypes qui leur sont associés constituent un axe de recherche rarement exploré concernant les causes des extinctions. À la lumière des caractéristiques du cycle vital, les facteurs environnementaux représentent la cause première des extinctions. Toutefois, le MED n'exclut pas la surchasse comme cause accessoire des extinctions en Amérique du Nord.