Langurs in the Aegean Bronze Age? A Review of a Recent Debate on Archaeoprimatology and Animal Identification in Ancient Iconography

Abstract

Recently, an article was published in the journal Primates, in which an interdisciplinary team consisting of primatologists, a taxonomic illustrator, and an art historian/archaeologist suggested a new identification of the monkeys depicted in a wall painting from Room 6 of Building Complex Beta in the Bronze Age town of Akrotiri on the Cycladic island of Thera.1 Briefly summarised, Pareja et al. argued that the monkeys represented are to be identified as grey or Hanuman langurs (Semnopithecus spp.), a monkey genus native to the Indian subcontinent. With this, they diverged from the traditional identification as green monkeys/vervets/grivets of the genus Chlorocebus from Africa.2 It was claimed that the new identification as langurs provides (further) evidence for links between the Aegean and the Indus River Valley during the Bronze Age, with Mesopotamia as a likely intermediary region. According to the authors, the Cycladic artists could have seen langurs on their travels, and monkey iconography could have reached the Aegean via objects originating from these regions.

Archaeoprimatology: TheLongue DuréeInterface Between Humans and Nonhuman Primates

“…Also, in Mesoamerica, researchers have not only identified primate taxa on Mayan vases by using phenotypic attributes but also linked them to Mayan mythological references of howlers and spider monkeys related to wisdom and scribal capabilities as recorded in ancient sacred texts Downloaded from www.annualreviews.org. (Braakhuis 1987;Baker 1992Baker , 2013Bruner & Cucina 2005;South 2005;Nájera-Coronado 2012Rice & South 2015). In sum, the combined approaches of ethnoprimatology and archaeoprimatology surpass the current time frame to encompass distant epochs and ultimately can be perceived as intertwined disciplines.…”

A Primate on a Fresco from the Mycenaean Acropolis of Tiryns

“…The relationship of the inhabitants of the Mycenaean Greek mainland with primates remains tenuous, particularly when compared with the relatively ample primate imagery of the Minoans (Papageorgiou & Birtacha, 2008;Phillips, 2008aPhillips, , 2008bGreenlaw, 2011;Pareja, 2015Pareja, , 2017Urbani & Youlatos, 2020a,b, 2022Binnberg et al, 2021). The only other objects depicting monkeys found on Mycenaean lands are either imports from Egypt or directly influenced by Cypriot or Near Eastern artistic traditions.…”

“…In addition to rendering physical traits of primates in a relatively naturalistic way (cf. Cameron, 1968; Masseti, 1980; Doumas, 1992; Groves, 2008; Urbani & Youlatos, 2012, 2020a,b, 2022; Binnberg et al, 2021), Minoan images of papionins also include aspects that highlight their perceived similarities to humans (see Greenlaw, 2011; Chapin & Pareja, 2021) and ‘were attributed more anthropomorphic behaviours and depicted in sacred or ritual events’ (Urbani & Youlatos, 2020a: 3). The colour red is universally associated with energy and vitality, and in Aegean wall-paintings is frequently represented as the skin colour of adult males (Morgan, 2020).…”

“…These artefacts were imported from workshops under the rule of Amenhotep II (Cline, 1991). During the same period in New Kingdom Egypt, baboons were commonly represented in art (Pio, 2018; Dominy et al, 2020; Urbani & Youlatos, 2022): for instance, the tomb of Rekhmire (TT100), who was the vizier to Amenhotep II, includes a fresco that depicts baboons along with Puntians, Nubians, and other Bronze Age Aegean peoples paying tribute (see discussion in Binnberg et al, 2021; Urbani et al, 2021; Urbani & Youlatos, 2022). Moreover, a recent study confirmed the presence of Hamadryas baboon ( Papio hamadryas ) mummies in Egyptian tombs (KV50, KV51, and KV52) related to the reign of Amenhotep II (Dominy et al, 2020).…”

“…The earliest Bronze Age Mediterranean non-human primate (primates hereafter) representations on frescoes are found at the Aegean sites of Knossos (Crete) and Akrotiri (Thera/Santorini) and date to around 1650-1450 BC (for recent reviews, see Binnberg et al, 2021;Urbani & Youlatos, 2022). Even though they are generally well-known since their early discovery at Knossos (Evans, 1921(Evans, , 1935, relatively recent and new descriptions of Theran frescoes depicting primates (Vlachopoulos, 2007) have been omitted in major studies concerning Minoan primates, as noted by Urbani & Youlatos (2022).…”