Πέρα από τις θερμίδες: Γεύματα και συναντήσεις στο νεολιθικό σπήλαιο της Δράκαινας (Κεφαλονιά, Ιόνια νησιά)

Eleni Kotzabopoulou In Κ. Soueref, E. Kotzabopoulou, K. Liampi, S. P. Morris & J. K. Papadopoulos 2017 (eds), Σπείρα. Επιστημονική συνάντηση προς τιμήν της Αγγέλικας Ντούζουγλη και του Κωνσταντίνου Ζάχου, Athens: 153-168.

In line with the recent reorientation of zooarchaeological theory and practice, which places overdue emphasis on issues of social consumption, rather than solely economic production, this paper focuses on the Late Neolithic macromammal remains from Drakaina cave on Cephalonia island in the Ionian Sea. In spite of a complex and less than ideal taphonomic overprint, the sheep/goat sample, the most prolific in the assemblage, is herein analysed by means of a set of methodologies that aim to unravel its constitutive characters beyond dietary returns. Also, the symbolic aspect of hunting large mammals (e.g. deer) receives consideration. It is, thus, tentatively argued that differing strategies of carcass transportation are attested pointing, along with other variables, to the use of the cave by restricted in number and/or social identity groups. The focus on consumption is discussed in relation to the discontinuous use and the role of the site in the social landscape, as well as within the wider debate on cave use(s) in the Neolithic of Greece. In sum, the Drakaina faunal assemblage more than underscores the interpretative restrictions of the long standing mechanistic domestic model and adds to the diversity, for instance in meaning, purpose, practice and scale, of such locales.