“Side” matters: animal offerings at ancient Nemea

Abstract

As the locus of the Nemean games, Ancient Nemea was an important Greek cult and festival center, especially during the Archaic period (6th–5th century BC). Examination of excavated faunal materials deriving from “sacred” and “secular” contexts at the site yields clues about the distribution of meat to gods (such as Zeus, the patron deity of the area), to heroes (in this case Opheltes, on whose legendary death the Nemean Games were founded), and to the mortal officials, spectators, and athletes participating in the events at Nemea. As regards “sacrificial” assemblages, most of which consisted of bone remains of burnt offerings as collected from altars and other ritual-type contexts, the data indicate a preference for sheep as the standard sacrificial animal, but show a definite preference for the hind limb sections of the left side in the case of sacrifice to the hero Opheltes, as opposed to the god Zeus. “Secular” deposits show different trends, such as the presence of unburnt bones, or the remains of wild animals and fish, taxa not typically sacrificed in Greek antiquity. Examination of zooarchaeological remains from various contexts at the site, at one level, and across other sites, at a larger level, helps develop a larger more integrated picture of animal use in ancient Greek cult practices.