Financed by the Swiss National Science Foundation 5/18- (20180319)

The project

HumAnimAl is a unique interdisciplinary project that aims to provide new scientific data on the handling and care for animals – equids and dogs – by humans in the past. So far, we have only been able to study the human-animal relationship by means of written and iconographic sources (history) as well as individual studies on health conditions (archaeozoology). Analyses from other, mainly biochemical and medical disciplines, which allow much more precise results on individual topics such as feeding, health and living conditions, should, when combined with classical archaeological and historical methods, permit different points of view. In this context, new insights about the handling of animals in ancient times can provide a valuable contribution to current discussions about one of the oldest human alliances, which has endured for thousands of years.