Hittite animal sacrifice. Integrating zooarchaeology and textual analysis

Abstract

In 2008, the disarticulated remains of a young male sheep skeleton deposited within a small Late Bronze Age pit were recovered at Kilise Tepe in south-central Turkey approximately 40 km inland from the Mediterranean coast. The pit, which exclusively contained the sheep skeleton, was located within a building whose size, design and artefactual contents indicate it was associated with ritual activity. The lack of disturbance to the pit and excellent state of preservation of the bones suggest elements that are missing were not originally deposited. The carcass was thoroughly dismembered, disarticulated and filleted prior to deposition. Contextual analysis of these skeletal remains provides a significant opportunity to move beyond the limits of textual analysis when studying Hittite animal sacrifice. By demonstrating the benefits of zooarchaeological analysis conducted in a context-specific fashion this paper offers the beginnings of a methodology for Anatolian specialists interested in examining ritual behaviour. More than a simple case study, this article combines two separate strands of archaeological evidence to investigate the complex issue of Hittite animal sacrifice.