Dominion: People, Animals and Environments in Medieval Europe

Animals as material culture

In their study of zoo culture and related animal classification, Mullan and Marvin (1987:3) concluded that ‘in an important sense animals are human constructions’. Although other organisms are agents in their own right, within the context of human society and human perspectives they are solely given meaning by us. Where the bodies of animals have been physically modified or transformed to some degree, and have left a trace in the archaeological record, they can be approached from a zooarchaeological perspective as material culture. This approach treats the physical remains of deliberately deposited animals (recovered from excavations or sometimes extant in private collections having never been buried, or having been excavated, or buried and recovered in the past) as particular kinds of artefacts shaped by, but also shaping human responses. This is exemplified by the treatment of exotic animal bodies. These ideas will eventually form the basis for a book, focusing on the unicorn in medieval European society.

References

Mullan, B. and Marvin, G. (1987). Zoo Culture, London, Widenfeld & Nicolson.

Relevant publications

Pluskowski, A. G. (2005) 'Narwhals or unicorns? Exotic animals as material culture in medieval Europe', European Journal of Archaeology 7(3), 291-313.

Pluskowski, A. G. (2007) 'Communicating through skin and bone: the appropriation of animal bodies in medieval western seigneurial culture', in A. G. Pluskowski (ed.) Breaking and Shaping Beastly Bodies: Animals as Material Culture in the Middle Ages, Oxford, Oxbow, 32-51.

Pluskowski, A. G. (2009) 'What is exotic? Sources of animals and animal products from the edges of the medieval world', in Jaritz, G. and J. Kreem (eds.), The Edges of the Medieval World, The Muhu Proceedings 1, Budapest, CEU Medievalia, 113-129.

Forthcoming publications

Pluskowski, A. G. (in press) ‘Constructing exotic animals and environments in late medieval Britain’ in S. Page (ed.), The Unorthodox Imagination in Late Medieval Britain, Manchester, Manchester University Press.

Pluskowski, A. G. (in press) 'The value of exotica in medieval Europe: the treatment of imported animals after death’ in G. de Venuto and A. Buglione (eds.), Animals as Material Culture in the Middle Ages, 2.

Relevant presentations

July 2004. ‘From lions to unicorns: moving strange animals and their body parts across high medieval Europe’. International Medieval Congress, Leeds (part of two sessions entitled 'Negotiating through Beasts: European Appropriations of Strange and Familiar Creatures from Distant Lands', organised by A. G. Pluskowski).

9th September 2004. 'Narwhals or unicorns? A zooarchaeological approach to the uses and perceptions of exotic fauna in medieval Europe’, European Association of Archaeologists Annual Meeting, Lyon (part of session entitled 'Advancing Zooarchaeology – Beyond Socio-Economics in Faunal Research', organised by K. Seetah).

19th March 2005. 'Communicating through skin and bone: the appropriation of animal bodies in medieval seigneurial culture', Breaking and Shaping Beastly Bodies: Animals as Material Culture in the Middle Ages, McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, Cambridge (organised by A. G. Pluskowski).

31st March - 1st April 2006. 'Constructing exotic animals and environments in late medieval Britain', The Unorthodox Imagination in Late Medieval Britain, Neale Lecture and Colloquium, University College London.

4th-7th May 2006. 'Griffin or ibex? Medieval conceptualisations of animals through the lens of modern zooarchaeology', International Congress on Medieval Studies, The Medieval Institute, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo (part of session entitled 'Medieval Zoologies: Contexts, Functions, Meanings', organised by G. Jaritz).

7th October 2006. ‘The value of exotica in medieval Europe: the treatment of imported animals after death’, Animals' Routes, Peoples' Routes: Animals as Material Culture in the Middle Ages 2, University of Foggia.

Forthcoming presentations

Coming soon...