Man, Animal, and Gods: Animal Remains as Indicators of Beliefs in the Ancient Near East

Résumé En

The elements that allow us to approach the question of religion in archaeology are often extremely limited. Artistic expressions, sculptures, paintings and engravings, as illustrations of mental images, are the main material for prehistorians to study the emergence of symbolic systems (Cauvin 2000). Even in regions where the early appearance of writing makes it possible to call upon sources, textual sources that represent knowledge of the religious and sacred sphere sometimes remain very incomplete, particularly with regard to rituals and cultic activities. Nevertheless, “a religious activity is inscribed in a world of practices that unfold within a material environment” (" une activité religieuse s’inscrit dans un monde de pratiques qui se déploient au sein d’un environnement matériel": Cohen and Mottier 2016: 350). Belief––or rather “doing religion”––is a social dynamic construction where practices make a sacred entity, deity, or spirit, present through features and rituals (Cohen and Mottier 2016). Studies devoted to material cultures, i.e., the tangible forms linked to religious activities, can give an account of the latter and stimulate research perspectives. Taking into account the place of animals when discussing the material aspects of the remains of ritual and cultic activities, religious practices seems essential because animals are integrated into the sphere of the sacred and participate in the religious phenomenon in all societies: “There is no religion without animals” (Poplin 1989: 13). Skeletal elements are the mineral, tangible parts that remain of animals. While not comparable to other material objects that are considered material culture, faunal remains are part of the world of practices that take place within a material environment. In fact, they are clearly part of the material expressions of human activities, particularly religious ones in relation to beliefs. We present here the study of animal remains found in temple contexts in the Near East (Syria and Lebanon) dated to the Bronze Age that raise major questions: What information can archaeozoological studies of sanctuary contexts provide? How can animal remains be identified in relation to rituals and religion? Can we characterize them in relation to other archaeological remains linked to secular butchery and food activities? What is an intentional ritual deposit?