Love and Death: Theoretical and Practical Examination of Human-Animal Relations in Creating Wild Animal Osteobiography

• Published in: Society & Animals
• Main Author: Hull, Emily H.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: Brill 2020
• Subjects: Sociology and Political Science; General Veterinary; caribou
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/15685306-bja10012; https://brill.com/view/journals/soan/31/1/article-p84_6.xml; https://brill.com/downloadpdf/journals/soan/31/1/article-p84_6.xml

Abstract Osteobiographies are a common form of presenting the archaeological analysis of the life history of an individual. This form of analysis, however, is usually reserved for human subjects. Writing an osteobiography of a nonhuman person is complicated by the lack of human understanding of animal thought and experience. Such analysis is further complicated when the subject is not a companion animal, and isolated from human funerary rituals which may shed light on the animal’s life. The skeletal remains of an injured wild caribou from Alberta who was collected as a museum specimen presents a unique opportunity to understand an individual animal’s life, as well presents an example of the complexities of human-animal relationships in an analytical setting. This study examines both the life of an extraordinary nonhuman person and the impact of reconstructing nonhuman life histories on the analyst.