Dama International: fallow deer (Dama dama dama) and European society 4000 BC - AD 1600

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Visit any stately home and you will find a herd of European fallow deer (Dama dama dama). These elegant animals are one of natural history's puzzles because, despite their name, they are not of European origin: they are native to Turkey from where people have gradually transported them around the globe. The distribution of fallow deer is thus a direct record of human population movements, trade and ideology with the potential to provide cultural evidence of the highest quality and relevance for a range of disciplines and audiences.There are many publications devoted to fallow deer but these largely recycle 'received wisdom'. In fact, astonishingly little is known about fallow deer; their history is obfuscated by ambiguous linguistic, textual, iconographic and archaeological evidence. To rectify this situation we carried out a pilot study, The Fallow Deer Project, whose results have challenged established theories about the species' history and provided new insights into Roman, Anglo-Saxon and Norman society. It also highlighted the scarcity of scientific work on fallow deer and demonstrated how a new dataset will enable us to explore some of the highest-profile issues in European archaeology: e.g. the nature and spread of the Neolithic in the eastern Mediterranean and the structure and worldview of societies in the Bronze Age Aegean, Iron Age Greece and Gaul, and the Roman, Byzantine, Islamic and Norman Empires.To realise this potential, our transdisciplinary team will employ methods proven by our pilot study - e.g. the integration of archaeology, history, geography and anthropology with genetics, stable isotope analysis and osteological research - to answer the following questions:1) Were fallow deer domesticated? Domestication is a high-profile topic but it has been overlooked in relation to D. d. dama. Interestingly, unlike cattle, sheep or horses, fallow deer provide no milk, wool or traction to warrant their maintenance, yet most archaeological Dama lived into old age - what prompted different human groups to form close, long-term relationships with this species?2) Under what circumstances were fallow deer established across Europe? Fallow deer translocation seemingly began in the Neolithic and by the Bronze Age they were established throughout the Aegean. They appear to have held a magico-religious status that endured into the Iron Age and Roman period, when their bones were traded as holy relics. This trade has confused understanding of Dama biogeography but our research indicates that the Romans established the species across Europe. We now need to clarify how, from where and why these animals/body parts were transported. 3) Did the collapse of the Roman Empire cause extirpation of fallow deer? Evidence for fallow deer is scarce in early medieval Europe; however, they may have been present but simply not exploited by people. The results of this question will be considered further in questions 4 and 5. 4) Did the Normans reintroduce fallow deer via Islamic influence?The idea that fallow deer, the Arabic concept of parks and new hunting rituals were exported from the Norman Kingdom of Sicily is based on circumstantial evidence. We will examine all available data from the Islamic and Christian medieval world either to confirm existing beliefs and provide insights into the culture-contact of this period, or to indicate that Roman Dama populations endured in pre-Norman Europe, necessitating a re-assessment of the Norman Conquest's impact. 5) How do human-Dama relationships reveal worldview?It has been shown repeatedly that the relationship between humans and wild animals reflects a society's structure and beliefs. Certainly wherever fallow deer were translocated, they were incorporated into expressions of socio-cultural identity and ideology. We will explore how different human groups negotiated status, gender, religious and cultural beliefs through interactions with fallow deer.