The Spirited Horse

This project investigates human-animal relations in the ancient Near East, with equids (horses, donkeys and horse-donkey hybrids) as the main focus, and with an understanding of animals as social actors. The data used include the material culture of the Bronze Age Near East in the form of archaeological contexts with equid remains (burials, sacred space, settlements and other contexts), supplemented by iconography, textual references and finds associated with equids, such as chariots and harnesses. The application of research from the interdisciplinary field of Human-Animal Studies enables a dynamic approach to human-animal interfaces where the agency of animals is recognised. This results in a new type of study of how humans encounter and interact with other animals, and how those animals, in turn, interacts with humans, with broader implications for human involvement with their environment, both today and in the past.

For more information about the project please visit the external project website.