Amanda Semanko | University of Arizona (original) (raw)
Papers by Amanda Semanko
The 84th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, 2019
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual m... more This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Dogs, as the first domesticated species, have held a wide range of roles in human societies including hunting assistants, guardians, companions, and food sources. In this poster we will explore their ceremonial roles through a comparative analysis of the life histories of ritually deposited dogs. Specifically, we will compare Southwest dog burials to a late Pithouse Period (A.D. 550-1000) dog internment from Kipp Ruin, a multi-component Mogollon site on the Mimbres river of southwest New Mexico. These dog remains exhibit traces of human-caused physical trauma including skinning, bludgeoning, and dismemberment followed by ceremonial disposal. We will also contextualize the Kipp Ruin dog through morphological, chemical, and genetic testing to assess potential evidence of breed, coat type, fur color, diet, and possible migration of dogs with people across the region.
What does a dog burial from Kipp Ruin (LA 153645), a multi-component site (100 BC AD 1450) on the... more What does a dog burial from Kipp Ruin (LA 153645), a multi-component site (100 BC AD 1450) on the lower Mimbres River, reveal about prehistoric peoples of the American Southwest? Since dog (Canis familiaris) domestication from the gray wolf (Canis lupus) at least 16,000 years ago (Perri 2017; Perri et al. 2019), the parallel life histories developed between humans and dogs creates a unique opportunity to learn about prehistoric peoples by studying their dogs. In the American Southwest, burial context and skeletal evidence often indicate inclusion in ceremonial practices, such as interment in kivas, burial within human graves, or decapitation (e.g., Akins 1985; Lev-Tov 2014; Martin 1940; Roberts 1929). Dogs also served myriad everyday roles in human society, including as hunting companions and guardians of the home and crops (e.g., Brody 2004; Fugate 2010; Pferd 1987; Schwartz 1997). The Canine Surrogacy Approach postulates that dogs had similar diets to humans and accompanied them during moves, allowing us a glimpse into human dietary practices and population movement through analyses of carbon, nitrogen, and strontium isotopes from dogs (Guiry 2012, 2013). Archaeological and ethnographic studies contextualize the zooarchaeological and isotopic analyses of a Georgetown phase (AD 550-650) dog burial from Kipp Ruin. This multi-faceted investigation reveals the potential to learn substantial information about prehistoric human populations by studying their dogs.
The 84th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, 2019
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual m... more This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Dogs, as the first domesticated species, have held a wide range of roles in human societies including hunting assistants, guardians, companions, and food sources. In this poster we will explore their ceremonial roles through a comparative analysis of the life histories of ritually deposited dogs. Specifically, we will compare Southwest dog burials to a late Pithouse Period (A.D. 550-1000) dog internment from Kipp Ruin, a multi-component Mogollon site on the Mimbres river of southwest New Mexico. These dog remains exhibit traces of human-caused physical trauma including skinning, bludgeoning, and dismemberment followed by ceremonial disposal. We will also contextualize the Kipp Ruin dog through morphological, chemical, and genetic testing to assess potential evidence of breed, coat type, fur color, diet, and possible migration of dogs with people across the region.
What does a dog burial from Kipp Ruin (LA 153645), a multi-component site (100 BC AD 1450) on the... more What does a dog burial from Kipp Ruin (LA 153645), a multi-component site (100 BC AD 1450) on the lower Mimbres River, reveal about prehistoric peoples of the American Southwest? Since dog (Canis familiaris) domestication from the gray wolf (Canis lupus) at least 16,000 years ago (Perri 2017; Perri et al. 2019), the parallel life histories developed between humans and dogs creates a unique opportunity to learn about prehistoric peoples by studying their dogs. In the American Southwest, burial context and skeletal evidence often indicate inclusion in ceremonial practices, such as interment in kivas, burial within human graves, or decapitation (e.g., Akins 1985; Lev-Tov 2014; Martin 1940; Roberts 1929). Dogs also served myriad everyday roles in human society, including as hunting companions and guardians of the home and crops (e.g., Brody 2004; Fugate 2010; Pferd 1987; Schwartz 1997). The Canine Surrogacy Approach postulates that dogs had similar diets to humans and accompanied them during moves, allowing us a glimpse into human dietary practices and population movement through analyses of carbon, nitrogen, and strontium isotopes from dogs (Guiry 2012, 2013). Archaeological and ethnographic studies contextualize the zooarchaeological and isotopic analyses of a Georgetown phase (AD 550-650) dog burial from Kipp Ruin. This multi-faceted investigation reveals the potential to learn substantial information about prehistoric human populations by studying their dogs.