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Equids and an acrobat: closure rituals at Tell Brak

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

Joan Oates ,
Theya Molleson  and
Arkadiusz Sołtysiak
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
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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.

Keywords

AkkadianMesopotamiaTell Brakacrobatkúnga equid (hybrid)donkeyonagerhorseclosure rituals
Type
Research article
Information
Antiquity , Volume 82 , Issue 316 , June 2008 , pp. 390 - 400
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd 2008

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