Cutting-Edge Insights into Butchering Technology and Practices

Subsistence on animals has played an important role in our biological evolution and societal development, from hunter-gatherers to complex state societies. Human-animal interaction ranges from scavenging to hunting to livestock production, wherein there is not only variability across the globe in what taxa are consumed, but in the ways people acquire, slaughter, and butcher animals.

Reconstructing butchering practices has traditionally relied on evaluating the types, patterns, and distribution of butchering marks. These marks offer insights into the raw materials and technology of butchering implements, as well as the degree of butchery specialisation. Additionally, when considered alongside taxonomic and skeletal element profiles, such data has the potential to further identify culture-specific approaches to carcass processing and preferred cuts which, in turn, can inform on dietary habits, as well as ritually-oriented activities (i.e., sacrifices).

Key technological advancements, including 3D microscopy, residue analysis, and artificial intelligence, have offered new perspectives on the study of butchering marks and trauma on bone surfaces. These tools help to distinguish between human-made modifications and natural damage, and can also provide new information on the identification of potential raw materials and tool functionality. These analyses and experiments could provide insights into whether butchery practices are shaped by cultural preferences and stylistic choices, or driven by technological advancements and tool functionality, as well as how these factors influence one another. While these innovations represent a dynamic frontier in archaeological research, assembling them to realize the full potential of butchering analyses has yet to be performed.

This Research Topic will showcase recent studies that explore the nature of animal butchering through the lens of ancient bone modification with an aim to better understand the practices and cultural implications surrounding human interactions with animal resources. In particular, this Research Topic welcomes submissions that (1) utilise novel techniques to analyse bone surface modifications and butchering marks, (2) evaluate the interpretations based on traditional approaches, and (3) explore the butchering technologies and practices among different cultures. It encourages submissions that employ interdisciplinary approaches, combining archaeological science with ethnographic, experimental, and computational methods. Ultimately, the collective submissions will demonstrate the importance of animal butchering as a multifaceted practice that transcends mere survival, reflecting broader social, technological, and symbolic frameworks within ancient communities.

We welcome original research, case studies, systematic reviews, case reports, and experimental methods submissions.


Areas to be covered in the Research Topic include:

-Reconstruction of butchering mark types

-Identification of raw materials and butchering implements

-Evaluation of bone surface modifications (e.g., gnawing, trampling)

-Exploration of cross-cultural butchering practices

-Assessment of potential butchery specialisation

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Classification
• Clinical Trial
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Classification
• Clinical Trial
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Review
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: ancient butchering practices, faunal remains, zooarchaeology

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.