An Insight into Life at Geometric Zagora Provided by the Animal Bones

Abstract

This thesis is a study of the animal bone distribution at the Geometric period settlement of Zagora (ca. 850-700 BC), on the island of Andros. The animal bones were excavated during the 1967-74 University of Sydney excavations and analysed in 1977 by a specialist who compiled a report of her findings. The report is currently in preparation for publication and is the primary source for this thesis. The data it provided was limited but enough could be extracted to identify patterns that permitted a tentative reconstruction of social life and the economy at Zagora. There is a paucity of excavated settlements from the Greek EIA and few of these have published faunal material, an essential element in reconstructing past lifeways. Those preserved settlements from which animal bones have been published are not extensive with good domestic contexts but usually sites of minimal extent. Hence, it has not been possible to conduct an analysis of the spatial distribution of animal bones from such a settlement. Zagora, being an extensive settlement containing mainly domestic structures, is therefore unique and the animal bone report provided the opportunity for such a study to be undertaken. A number of analyses were performed using both statistical and non-statistical methods. Through these it was discovered that there is a relationship between the animal size and the size of the architectural unit within which it was found. Similarly, there appeared to be a relationship between larger architecture and the presence of fish, postulated as being a pelagic species. The patterns observed were interpreted as evidence of ‘special’ meals with a larger than usual number of diners in attendance and hence the need for a larger space to host them. Using the animal bones’ distribution and architectural evidence it is proposed that feasting was an important event at Zagora, conducted at the household level to possibly reinforce bonds of kinship and friendship. The evidence also suggests that the H area could have been inhabited by people of better means than elsewhere in the settlement, particularly by the hypaethral sanctuary. Ideally the animal bones would have been studied in conjunction with associated artefacts, but this was not possible and so this would be something desirable to be performed in the near future. With 21st century excavation techniques, the future Zagora excavations should provide greater granularity in the faunal information obtained from the settlement to allow better precision in subsequent analyses