Anthropozoologica

The anthropozoology of red deer. Archaeological, historical and ethnographic evidence

This thematic volume is the result of a seminar organized in October 2022 at the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle in Paris. Deer (Cervus) and humans (Homo) have had a close relationship since prehistoric times. This is particularly true of the red deer (Cervus elaphus Linnaeus, 1758), whose ancient origins and wide distribution across Europe and Asia have led it to play sometimes an important role in many human societies. This interaction has taken many different forms, mainly in the material sphere (subsistence strategies, technical systems and their associated products) and the symbolic sphere (mythological constructions and graphic representations). The contributions gathered in this volume aim to illustrate some of these expressions with cases chosen from the Palaeolithic to the present.