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Identifying animals to species from relict proteins is a powerful new archaeological tool. Here the authors apply the method to answer questions relating to the Salish of west coast North America. Did they weave their blankets out of dog hair? The proteomic analysis shows that they did, interweaving it with goat, and that the woolly dog was increasingly superseded by sheep in the later nineteenth century. Keywords: North America, nineteenth century, Coast Salish, textiles, sheep, goat, woolly dog, Introduction Protein mass spectrometry, already successfully applied to materials such as archaeological seeds and paint binders (Cappellini et al. 2009; Chambery et al. 2009; Fremout et al. 2010), is a [...]

Animal depictions are frequently treated by archaeologists either as direct reflections of human-animal relations or as symbolic of social realities. This paper offers a different way of conceptualizing animal depictions, as objects which mediate between society and human relationships with nonhuman animals. The focus here is on the large number of lions depicted on sealstones from Bronze Age Crete, despite there being no evidence (excluding the depictions themselves) that lions were present on Crete during this period. This paper examines how these depictions change over the course of the Bronze Age, and suggests links between iconographic features and knowledge of, and encounters with, real lions. It considers the interplay between the affordances of lions revealed in the depictions, as dangerous predators, and the affordances of the objects, as a means of social interaction. The Minoan lion is an animal which is neither reducible to its iconographic manifestations nor possible to understand apart from a network of material culture. Keywords Affordance; Bronze Age Crete; human-animal relations; lion; seal. DOI: 10.1080/00438241003672989

A survey and analysis of skeletal pathologies from dog remains at Roman archaeological sites in the Mediterranean context reveals patterns of osteological health and welfare that in turn provide an indication of human treatment and care for pet animals during Roman times. Common pathological conditions include dental complications, especially pre-mortem tooth loss, healed limb fractures, osteoarthritis and infection, in patterns and frequencies similar to dog samples from other temporal and spatial contexts. Generally, Roman dogs seem to be in good condition, as regards skeletal health, with minimal osteological evidence for human abuse or maltreatment, but also no conclusive data for splinting any broken bones. Smaller 'toy' breeds of dogs in Roman times appear more susceptible to multiple pathological conditions, but also display signs of greater human care, especially in terms of pampering and feeding. Keywords Roman Mediterranean; zooarchaeology; palaeopathology; dogs; human care; health. DOI: 10.1080/00438241003673011

Hunting as praxis provides an opportunity to investigate how humans and animals meet economically and ontologically. It also provides a window into how societies may ritually construct, manipulate and navigate the human-animal divide as a liminal and permeable boundary. Founded upon the ontological status of prey as kin, marine mammal hunters often establish interpersonal dialogue with prey to aid hunting success. It is usually through the senses that communicative conduits are established so hunters can better know what prey are thinking and cognitively control prey behaviour. Significantly, this dialogue is often mediated ritually by material culture that incorporates prey body parts, particularly sensory organs of the head. This spiritual dimension of marine mammal hunting is explored archaeologically using dugong ear bones found within mounded ritual deposits of dugong bones in Torres Strait, north-east Australia. Ethnographic and archaeological data reveal that ear bones were purposefully extracted from dugong skulls and used as hunting charms to ritually mediate dialogue between hunters and prey. These rituals of sensory allurement provide new avenues for exploring the ontological relationship of ancient hunters to prey. Keywords Marine mammal hunting; human-animal divide; rituals; ontology; dugongs; Tortes Strait. DOI: 10.1080/00438241003672849

Tim Ingold's seminal article 'From trust to domination' introduces a hypothesis in which there is a shift from hunter-gatherer cultures to agro-pastoral cultures regarding perceptions of, and engagements with, animals. Whereas hunters regard prey as kindred brothers, farmers regard, and treat, their domestic livestock as slaves. On the basis of this hypothesis, archaeologists frequently take this to be a universal given. In this article, Ingold's hypothesis is critiqued via an in-depth discussion of the concepts of trust, reciprocity and intimacy. The author suggests an alternative model to the dualism of either trust or domination, namely the notion of a social contract between humans and animals. The uses of this model are explored through Bronze Age case studies from southern Scandinavia. Keywords 'From trust to domination'; human-animal relationships; social contract; intra-action; Bronze Age; Scandinavia. DOI: 10.1080/00438241003672724

This paper advocates a social approach to domestic animals in prehistory, one which situates herding practices in their (human) social context while also recognizing the status of animals of social beings in their own right. Domestic animals, it is argued, represent sentient property in the sense that, despite being incorporated as 'objects' into property relations between humans they remain subjects whose social world overlaps with that of humans. This tension between the status of domestic animals as subject and as object is played out in highly context-specific ways, being linked both to human social organization and to material/geographical aspects of herding practices. These ideas are used to develop a model for the role of cattle in a process of social change that took place during the later Neolithic Vinca period in the central Balkans. Keywords Human-animal relations; Vinca; Neolithic herding; domestication; enchainment. DOI: 10.1080/00438241003672773

Byline: Jayson L. Lusk (1), F. Bailey Norwood (1) Keywords: Animal welfare; Indirect questioning; Social desirability bias Abstract: Recent events suggest people are increasingly concerned not just with their own well-being but that of animals as well. However, there is little systematic evidence on people's willingness-to-trade their own well-being and quality of life for improvements in the well-being of farm animals. In this paper, we utilize a straightforward and unobtrusive technique to mitigate socially desirability effects and gage the publics' opinion about farm animal welfare: indirect questioning. In survey of United States households, we find sharp differences between direct and indirect questions related to farm animal welfare. For example, whereas only 15.6% of the public said they think low meat prices are more important than the well-being of farm animals, 67.5% said the average American thinks low meat prices are more important than the well-being of farm animals. This finding, coupled with the extant literature on indirect questioning, suggests that people's concerns for farm animal welfare are actually much lower than what they say they are. Author Affiliation: (1) Department of Agricultural Economics, Oklahoma State University, 411 Ag Hall, Stillwater, OK, 74078, USA Article History: Registration Date: 14/05/2009 Received Date: 20/02/2009 Accepted Date: 12/05/2009 Online Date: 26/05/2009

INTRODUCTION THROUGHOUT THE ARCTIC, the conservation of polar bears (Ursus maritimus), based on the goals and principles of the 1973 International Agreement for the Conservation of Polar Bears and Their [...]

Animal hoarding is an under-recognized problem that exists in most communities and adversely impacts the health, welfare, and safety of humans, animals, and the environment. These guidelines address public health and worker safety concerns in handling situations where animal hoarding or other dense concentrations of animals have caused unhealthy and unsafe conditions. Because animal hoarding situations are often complex, a full response is likely to be prolonged and require a crossjurisdictional multiagency effort. Each animal hoarding case has unique circumstances related to the types and numbers of animals involved, the physical structure(s) where they are being kept, and the health status of the animals, among other factors that must be taken into account in planning a response. Some general public health considerations and associated recommendations for personal protective equipment use are presented that apply to all cases, however., Introduction Animal hoarding is an under-recognized problem that exists in most communities and adversely impacts the health, welfare, and safety of humans, animals, and the environment. Animal hoarding is defined [...]

This paper analyzes human-animal landscapes within an urban setting. I use a historical ecology approach to discuss the formation of (post)modern landscapes in the twenty-first century Los Angeles. The historical approach is necessary to make informed decisions for habitat restoration, and to map out human influences on natural ecosystems (Egan and Howell 2001). In the process I discuss strategies for a new urban wildlife theory. Conflicts and encounters between humans and non-humans can be more intense and controversial in a city. Because cities are usually seen as human-only landscapes, urban wildlife is more marginalized there than anywhere else. This is especially relevant in Los Angeles, a prime example of unchecked growth that brings more urbanites to the periphery and into contact with wild animals. For that reason I maintain that an urban setting is ideal for wildlife conservation and creating more egalitarian human-nonhuman relations and for breaching of traditional boundaries of exclusion. The definition of urban, in this paper, includes areas within city limits, as well as areas outside: suburbs or urban fringe. With growing urbanization and the spread of built-up areas all over the world, there remains no choice but to create more hospitable conditions for wildlife within the city, if we want to preserve the wellbeing of individual animals or entire species and ecosystems. I am interested in various qualities in urban landscapes that would create these conditions., Introduction Studies of animals have rarely transcended disciplinary boundaries. Most often, animals dwelled in the realm of biological science, which separates living things into kingdoms and other distinct units of [...]

Substantial research and literature indicate how people and companion animals form relationships that are, for the most part, mutually beneficial. Yet there are highly dysfunctional human-animal relationships that do occur, meriting attention and remediation. One of the most perplexing and problematic human-animal relationships is encountered in cases of animal hoarding--a deviant behavior associated with extremely deleterious conditions of comorbid animal and self-neglect. Adult Protective Services workers often encounter theoretical and methodological dilemmas with these complex cases. To intervene most effectively, it becomes critical to elucidate some of the developmental factors of animal hoarding behavior and its correlation with self-neglecting behaviors in general. This article presents an in-depth diagnostic perspective as derived from the author's research and clinical experience. An analysis of the complex dynamics of the relationship between animal hoarders and their pets is presented in conjunction with accepted theories of self-neglect. With enhanced knowledge and understanding of animal hoarding, human service professionals will be better prepared to respond to these clients, evoke greater rapport and cooperation, and engage in the interdisciplinary efforts that are essential for optimal resolution. KEYWORDS animal hoarding, self-neglect, Adult Protective Services DOI: 10.1080/08946560903004839

A study is conducted to signify the importance of good environment and other husbandry conditions, which impacts the research animals health and behaviour. The study also signifies the importance of maintaining good animal-human relationship.

Alpha dog. Leader of the pack. Wolf-pack dynamics. These and other related phrases have entered the lexicon and become entrenched, used to describe everything from dogs to sports teams to […]

Some owners have dogs that persist in following them from room to room, angling to be as close as possible to their humans and keeping them always within sight. It's […]