Pet Cemetery: 2000-year-old Cemetery for Pets Discovered in Egypt

 

Figure 1: Cat wearing a collar buried at the pet cemetery at Berenice (Source: M. Osypinska)

Today people often have strong attachments to their pets.  This is seen in the language people use to refer to them (e.g., “fur babies”), the multimillion dollar pet food, clothing, and accessories industries, memes, pet animal social media accounts, and more.  For a long time people believed that this was a more recent phenomenon, but research is demonstrating that was not actually the case.  Today’s blog post will share the results of a decade’s worth of research concerning what may be the world’s oldest pet cemetery.

 

The port site of Berenice was a Roman period stronghold that served as a trading center for much of the Mediterranean.  Various imported and exported goods, including ivory, fabrics, and other high status items from India, the Middle East, and Europe, passed through this city, delighting residents far and wide.  Unexpectedly, however, scholars discovered something else at this site: potentially the world’s oldest pet cemetery.

 

Initially, an archaeological team led by Marta Osypinska and her colleagues at the Polish Academy of Sciences initially discovered a trash dump outside of the city walls.  As they excavated further they discovered the remains of hundreds of cats.  A fellow scholar at another institution wrote off the discovery, assuming it was an extension of the trash dump, but Osypinska and her team wanted to be certain.  This led to a ten-year excavation and analysis that ultimately yielded 585 deceased animals, including cats, dogs, a small sampling of macaques, and one piglet.  

 

Figure 2: Dog buried under a ceramic pot at the pet cemetery of Berenice (Source. M. Osypinska)

 

 

The dogs and cats were adorned with collars (Figure 1) and necklaces.  Their bodies were carefully placed on mats or under pottery (Figure 2), further demonstrating that this was not a trash dump.  Further analysis of the animals’ remains showed that they died from natural (e.g., old age or disease) and accidental (e.g., traumas from falls) causes.  Many lived long beyond a time when they would have been able to care for themselves as evidence by toothless animals and animals with healed injuries that rendered them incapable of meeting their daily nutritional needs.

 

As the evidence came together Osypinska and her team reached the conclusion that these animals were well taken care of and potentially loved by their human counterparts.  They may very well have been treated similarly to modern day pets, demonstrating that humans have had a long history of caring from animals outside of utilitarian purposes.  Some scholars are hesitant to make this declaration, however.  They cite the presence of the cemetery at a port city as potential evidence that these animals were used for utilitarian purposes: they may have protected the imported and exported goods from vermin, pests, or thieves.  This may have rendered them indispensable and cherished above other animals, such as farm animals. 

 

While it remains unclear why specifically the residents at Berenice cared so much for these animals they were cared for differently than animals used solely for agricultural purposes.  Ultimately, this 2000 year old cemetery is not just the first evidence of a pet cemetery, but it broadens our understanding of human-animal relationships throughout human history.

 

References

Geggel, L. (2021, March 8). World's oldest 'pet cemetery' discovered in ancient Egypt. Live Science.

Grimm, D. (2021, February 26). Graves of nearly 600 cats and dogs in ancient Egypt may be world's oldest pet cemetery. Science.

 Osypinska, M., Skibniewski, M., & Osypinski, P. (2020). Ancient Pets. The health, diet and diversity of cats, dogs and monkeys from the Red Sea port of Berenice (Egypt) in the 1^st-2^nd centuries AD. World Archaeology, 52(4), 639–653. https://doi.org/10.1080/00438243.2020.1870545

Anthropologist Profile: Dr. Daniel Lieberman, Professor of Human Evolutionary Biology

Dr. Daniel Liberman (Source: Julian J. Giordano)

 

“Live long and prosper,” is a famous saying spoken by the Star Trek character, Mr. Spock (played by the late, great Leonard Nimoy).  This idiom appropriately encapsulates a dominant value in American and many Western cultures: the desire to live a long life but not let the ravages of age show or rob one of their youth.  This is very much seen through the various aspects of popular culture, such as anti-aging creams, young models in advertisements, the “30 Under 30” tributes, and more.  Americans and Western cultural groups are obsessed with staying young, but there has never been an “acceptable” answer on how best to do that.  This is where the work of Dr. Daniel Lieberman comes in.  Today’s blog post is dedicated to exploring his research and how it helps us better understand how humans evolved to become who we are, as a species, today but also how we can achieve the famous adage spoken by Spock.

 

Dr. Daniel Lieberman is a self-proclaimed evolutionary biologist who has several academic posts at Harvard University.  He is a Professor in the Department of Human Evolutionary Biology and the Edwin M. Lerner II Professor of Biological Sciences at Harvard University. His primary research focus has been on understanding human physiology and anatomy, specifically from an evolutionary perspective.  His research not only concerns how we became who we are in a biological sense, but he also seeks answer questions concerning human health, injuries, and disease.  He, too, wants to live a long time, but unlike so many he does not fear aging.  He worries about being unhealthy and unable to continue doing what he loves, and he argues that the best way to avoid that outcome is to remain physically active throughout one’s lifetime. 

 

He recognizes that humans are unique in various ways, including our expanded head size, our ability to walk on two legs, and the longevity of humans compared to other nonhuman primates.  This latter point (about humans living long past their biological reproductivity) has been a driver in much of his research concerning human health.  Since humans live a long time, far long than other nonhuman primates, it is important to figure out ways to capitalize on that extended lifespan, and to ensure it is lived in the healthiest ways possible.  Liberman’s work is based in the fields medicine, exercise, morphology and locomotion, and evolutionary theory, and from these he believes he has solved the mystery to living a long and happy life: daily physical activity.

 

This conclusion is not revolutionary by any means.  Medical professionals for decades have advocated for people to be more physically active, but Lieberman’s cross cultural studies of humans in foraging and agriculturally based societies across the globe really drives home this point.  He has consistently found that foragers outlive agriculturalists by years.  Again, this is not a new point as bioarchaeologists have also documented that agriculturalists tend to be unhealthier than foragers, but they argue it was for different reasons.  Lieberman argues that the defining difference between foragers and agriculturalists is the amount of physical activity they engage in.  He has found that individuals who are more active, and not necessarily elite athlete level, live longer and healthier lives than those who are more sedentary.  Active people also suffer fewer degenerative declines compared to sedentary individuals, including in unexpected health areas such as incidents of Alzheimer's disease (a degenerative brain disease that leads to memory loss and loss in cognitive function over time). 

 

Lieberman believes so strongly in this work that he feels compelled not just to share his research with his colleagues (fellow scholars) but also with the public.  He takes just as much pride in publishing in high impact journals as he does writing for the public.  He has authored several books that are available and accessible to the general public, and he always welcomes the opportunity to talk to the public through interviews (e.g., podcasts, YouTube videos, newspaper articles, and more).  This is because he believes his work is not just a public health issue but a social, educational, and political issue.  Society must understand what he is doing to change the social norms that view exercise as a necessary evil and recognize that any physical activity, be it as simple as walking more, has profound benefits.  Also, by doing so people can achieve what they have sought for generations: the ability to live longer and healthier lives.

 

Bibliography

Liberman, D. (2020). Exercised: Why Something We Never Evolved to Do Is Healthy and Rewarding. Pantheon Books.

Lieberman, D. (2023). Episode 206: Daniel Lieberman: The Evolution of Human Exercise. (G. LaBlanc, Interviewer)

Lieberman, D. (2026). Daniel E Lieberman, Edwin M. Lerner II Professor of Biological Sciences; Professor, Department of Human Evolutionary Biology; Affiliate, Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology. Retrieved from Harvard University: https://heb.fas.harvard.edu/people/daniel-e-lieberman

Zeldin, D. (2024, February 16). Daniel E. Lieberman ’86 on Extending ‘Healthspan’, Scientific Humor, and Running Barefoot Along the Charles. The Crimson.

 

Spotlight on Students: Origins and Meanings of American Idioms

This post highlights the work required of my SA 202: Introduction to Anthropology students. Students were given the opportunity to research and identify the origins and meanings of a specific American phrase that they selected. Several students were given the opportunity to have their exemplary work featured on the blog, and the students who provided permission have their work featured here in this and the following blog posts. Please show your appreciation for their work through the comments. 

Flower Girl (Source: Mindy Weiss Party Consultants)

 

By: Samiyah Murphy

The phrase I chose was Flower Girl. I chose this phrase because it reminds me of weddings where a little girl walks down the aisle with flowers and she is called the Flower Girl. My definition of Flower Girl based off what I know about it is a little girl, between the ages of 4-8, who is designated the Flower Girl for a wedding. Usually, they pick a close family member to walk down the aisle with flowers, tossing them on the ground.

The history behind "Flower Girl" is interesting because after doing research I learned that the tradition actually comes from ancient Roman wedding ceremonies. Back in the Roman times, little girls would walk down the aisle with a basket of wheat or flowers during the wedding to symbolize good luck for the couple and blessing the marriage. In the present-day Flower Girl means something a little different; it is an innocent thing and adds a sweet visual to the wedding.

The meaning of the phrase and role attached to it changed over time because weddings became less focused on survival and family lineage and more about the romance and celebration. The meaning of Flower Girl really changed because society started viewing marriage differently as emotional and symbolic rather practical. Additionally, the role has stopped being so serious and less focused on keeping family lines together and more focused on visual storytelling and sentimental. One fun fact the presence of Flower Girl is her presence connects the past to the future, symbolizing hope to the future children they will have.

· Encyclopedia Britannica – Wedding Traditions https://www.britannica.com/topic/wedding-ceremony

· Smithsonian Magazine – History of Wedding Traditions https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/why-do-bridesmaids-wear-matching-dresses-180968776/