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Equids and an acrobat: closure rituals at Tell Brak

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

Joan Oates
Affiliation:
The McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, Cambridge University, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3ER, UK (Email: jlo29@cam.ac.uk)
Theya Molleson
Affiliation:
Department of Palaeontology, The Natural History Museum, London SW7 5BD, UK
Arkadiusz Sołtysiak
Affiliation:
Department of Historical Anthropology, Warsaw University, Poland

Extract

Deposits of human and animal bodies in a monumental Akkadian building at Tell Brak (ancient Nagar) superficially suggest random killing and disposal. But here the authors produce evidence that these represent the deliberate sacrifice of valued creatures. Among the human remains were those argued to represent a specialist acrobat, while the donkey remains reflect the association of the building with the breeding of the much-debated onager-donkey hybrid that preceded the horse.

Type
Research article
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd 2008

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