Taking the Deer by the Antlers: Deer in Material Culture in the Balkan Neolithic

Abstract

Prehistoric communities had strong ties with the animal world that surrounded them—animals were prey, sources of food, and raw materials, but also threats and mysteries, and certain animals often had an important place in the symbolic realm. With the process of domestication and the switch to animal husbandry as the main source of animal food, these relations changed considerably, and a certain dichotomy between “the domestic” and “the wild” may be noted in numerous past communities. When it comes to the Neolithic period in the Balkans, domestic animals had an important place in subsistence and economy, and it seems that cattle had a particularly prominent symbolic role. Wild species preserved some of their significance in both subsistence and symbolic realms, especially cervids (red deer, roe deer, and fallow deer). In this paper, the place of deer in the material culture of the Neolithic communities in the Balkans will be analysed: skeletal elements of deer were used for the production of diverse items, including non-utilitarian ones, or were part of ritual depositions, and deer representations are encountered in other materials, such as clay figurines. The symbolic meaning of deer cannot be reconstructed with certainty; however, it is probable that deer were tied with territoriality and the landscape.

Human–Deer Relations during Late Prehistory: The Zooarchaeological Data from Central and Southern Portugal in Perspective

“…Here, several phalange idols were recovered, with the prevalence of red deer phalange idols decreasing towards the end of the Chalcolithic period in favor of equid phalange idols. These are mostly shaped and rarely decorated, but different from what is seen elsewhere in Europe, where they can be found perforated (e.g., [106]). Cervids proliferated in the Alentejo zooarchaeological record during the 3rd millennium BCE and played a significant role in "meaningful" events.…”

“…The use of deer teeth to adorn the body and decorate clothing or in connection with other artifacts is widespread (e.g., [103][104][105][106]. They have been considered to have a multifaceted meaning [103], with their reshaping being a transformation that integrates these remains (and their corresponding animals) into an artificial world of humans.…”

“…The sole case of an ivory deer zoomorphic figurine from Perdigões is also noteworthy. Clay deer figurines are known in European Late Prehistory, being abundant in some cultures [106]. Ivory was used as a raw material to make other idols in Late Prehistoric Iberia.…”