G20 - Animals in symbolic and ritual items across the Neolithic world

Session Organisers: Abu B. Siddiq, Benjamin S. Arbuckle

Category: Symbolism

Session Abstract: Various animals, ranging from fearsome carnivores, meat-providing ungulates, raptors, aquatic birds, fish, and reptiles to boneless insects, were depicted in a diverse array of Neolithic artifacts and features. At many Neolithic sites, items were crafted in the shape of animal heads or specific animal species, while burials often revealed the presence of animal bones or even complete skeletons interred alongside humans. Despite variations in geography, species preferences, and artifact types, animal imagery consistently emerges in cultural items across the Neolithic landscape. This opens new avenues for understanding intra-site as well as regional aspects of animal-based rituals and socio-symbolic complexities in animal-human interactions in the Neolithic world. This session aims to foster global discussions on the contemporary understanding of animals in Neolithic rituals and symbolism, asserting that cultural artifacts with animal imagery or scattered animal remains within ritual contexts are intrinsically linked to supernatural beliefs prevalent throughout the Neolithic world. Beyond the simplistic hunter–hunted dichotomy, the session will promote new ways of understanding the complexity and deep extent of animal–human interactions throughout the Neolithic, spanning from the 11th millennium BCE in West Asia and continuing up to the 1st millennium BCE in South Asia.

Room: E

07/11/2024

Start Time - End Time	Authors	Title
10:00 - 10:20	Vecihi Özkaya, Abu B. Siddiq	Animal symbolism at the 11th-10th millennium BCE Körtiktepe: Towards trends, exchange and spread across Upper Mesopotamia
10:20 - 10:40	Andrey Varenov	Demonic Dogs of the Chinese Neolithic Period on the Dadiwan Site Vessel and Posthumous Trials of the Human Soul
10:40 - 11:00	Eyyüp Ay	From Nomadic Hunter-Gatherer to Sedentary Hunter-Gatherer; A New Approach to the Transition Process from Sedentary Hunter-Gatherer to Producer Peasant: "The Woman makes, The Man conquers”
11:00 - 11:20	Aslı Kahraman Çınar, Güldane Sarica, Rabia Baydar, Mürüvvet Hiçyilmaz	An Evaluation on The Chalk Stone Relief from The Nevali Çori Finds

Lunch Break

Start Time - End Time	Authors	Title
13:00 - 13:20	Geigl Eva-Maria, Grange Thierry, Mattei Jeanne, Bendhafer Wejden	Animal Symbolism Unraveled Through Paleogenomics
13:20 - 13:40	Elena A.A. Garcea, Julia Budka, John Galaty, Salima Ikram, Shayla Monroe	Ceremonial ostentations of wild and domestic Bos in Sudan from prehistory to contemporary times
13:40 - 14:00	Laura Strolin, Melissa Kennedy, Hugh Thomas, Jane Mcmahon	Faunal remains from mustatils: animals and ritual in Neolithic Northern Arabia
14:00 - 14:20	Borut Toškan, Matjaz Simoncic, Lidija Korat, Tommaso Pilla, Anton Velušcek	The deer tamer? Pathological deformations as an indicator of human care of a lame stag in the 4th millennium BC on the Ljubljansko barje, Slovenia

Coffee Break

Start Time - End Time	Authors	Title
14:45 - 15:05	Ulan Umitkaliev, Liudmila Lbova, Didar Zharmukhamedov, Pavel Volkov, Farkhat Aldilgazy	Zoomorphic Sacred Images on the Kyrykungyr Necropol Structure in Eastern Kazakhstan
15:05 - 15:25	Cláudia Costa	From life to death: Ovis/Capra phalanges as amulets integrated into funerary rituals of the 4th millennium BC in Portugal
15:25 - 15:45	Benjamin Arbuckle	Paths not pathways: ontological imperialism and the art of not seeing human animal relationships in prehistoric SW Asia