Zooarchaeology

[deralte]

It's freezing cold out. I just got back from an extra lecture on the colour of animals in archaeology, done by my zooarchaeology professor, which is the only reason I attended. Now I have less then an hour before I have to decide if I want a cold walk to and from karate tonight for a seminar which I'm not at all sure about, or if I want to skip that and go to a flatwarming party, or stay home and watch the tele. Guess which one is winning.

Quotes from zooarchaeology professor:

On drawing animals - "Now I'll make a nice and graceful, tasty cow."

On drawing bulls - "This is a male. I indicate this with a horn and not something more pornographic."

On domestication - "Domesticity. That's the end of free love for domestic animals."

Comments

[doolabug.livejournal.com]

hmmm, looked through some of my books before I left work and all I could find re: fur on Mary Rose was wool. They apparently had quite alot of leather and horn and even ivory, but I couldn't find anything directly referencing fur. I brought the fur question up to some of my colleagues and they suggested that mummified Egyptian cats might have fur preserved. No one can think of any submerged sites, but I'll ask one of my profs, who worked quite a bit in Egypt and the Med, to see if she knows of anything there. I'm more familiar with New World stuff.

Fascinating.
*geeks out*