Beyond Domestication and Subsistence: A Call for a Decolonised Zooarchaeology

Abstract

The recent movement for the decolonisation of academia has, unsurprisingly, become the centre of much discourse within archaeology as a discipline. And it is completely warranted-archaeology, for all intents and purposes, has its origins rooted in the colonial expansion of Western/European nations, and is still struggling to address much of the problems that this destructive process has created: the repatriation of ancestors and artefacts, a booming trade of illegal antiquities, etc. However, sub-disciplines such as zooarchaeology, the study of animals within the archaeological record, have yet to be held under scrutiny. This paper argues that zooarchaeology, despite its presumed focus on non-human species, is indeed just as much of an anthropocentric discipline as any other field within archaeology, and requires a similar consideration of decolonisation. Research trends within zooarchaeology, such as the overt emphasis of functional and economical approaches to animal remains in the archaeological record, can be traced to a very Western/European capitalist reading of the past that perhaps obscures truths that may not adhere to the Western/European paradigm that much of archaeological interpretation utilises. In order to combat how entrenched colonialist ideals are within zooarchaeology, this paper suggests that the key to a decolonised approach lies within the paradigm in which we develop our interpretations, where Western/European animal-human relations are held as an unconscious standard by which all archaeological remains are held to and interpreted against. By adopting a wider worldview that is much more open to "unconventional" alternatives, perhaps zooarchaeologists can finally unlock the true potential of many of our bone assemblages.