New data on non‐human primates from the ancient Near East

The recent discovery of a rhesus macaque burial at Shahr‐i Sokhta (Iran)

Datos Bibliográficos

ID7809902
AutoresClaudia Minniti (0000-0003-0913-7954, Dept. of Beni Culturali University of Salento Lecce Italy, autor de correspondencia), Seyed Mansour Seyed Sajjadi (Director of Archaeological Expedition of Shahr‐i Sokhta & Dahan‐ye Gholaman Iranian Center for Archaeological Research Tehran Iran)
Año2019
Volumen29
Número4
Páginas538-548
Fecha de publicación2019-07-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaInternational Journal of Osteoarchaeology (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1047-482X • E-ISSN: 1099-1212
EditorialWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1002/oa.2750
OpenAlexW2922178398
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas5
Referencias citadas22

Shahr‐i Sokhta (Iran) was an important urban settlement in the Near East between the end of the fourth millennium and the beginning of the second millennium BC. It entertained trade and cultural relations with ancient sites and cultures on the Indus Plain, southern shores of the Persian Gulf and of the Oman Sea, Southwest Iran, and Central Asia. The recent discovery of a rhesus macaque ( Macaca mulatta ) burial in the cemetery of site shed new light on the exploitation of monkeys in antiquity. A young rhesus macaque—around 5 years old at death—was buried in the necropolis according to the same funerary practices used for human infants. The monkey was buried in a simple pit, together with an unpainted pear‐shaped beaker. Both its femurs were pathological, due to a sort of dystrophic calcification of the tendon or muscle insertion, that may suggest the macaque was kept in captivity and died due to physical stress. No non‐human primate species is native of Iran; rhesus macaques inhabit parts of southern and south‐eastern regions of Central Asia. A possible provenance from the Indus valley of the macaque found at Shahr‐i Sokhta can be hypothesized. Although findings of monkey remains are rare, iconographic and written sources widely testify that non‐human primates were imported to the Near East in the fourth‐to‐second millennium BC as luxury animals and symbols of power, often as gifts for the elite. This discovery represents one of the earliest examples of monkeys being kept as pets

Ancient history · Archaeology · Biology · Geography · Indus · Macaque · Primate · Amphibian and Reptile Biology · History · Primate Behavior and Ecology · Wildlife Ecology and Conservation · Ecology · Paleontology