From Icon of Empire to National Emblem: New Evidence for the Fallow Deer of Barbuda

Authors

Sophia Perdikaris, The Graduate Center CUNY & Brooklyn College CUNY & Barbuda Research Complex,Follow
Allison Bain, Universite Laval
Sandrine Grouard, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle
Karis Baker, University of Durham
Edith Gonzalez, The Graduate Center CUNY & Brooklyn College CUNY & Barbuda Research Complex,
A. Rus Hoelzel, University of Durham
Holly Miller, University of Nottingham
Reaksha Persaud, The Graduate Center CUNY & Brooklyn College CUNY & Barbuda Research Complex,
Naomi Sykes, University of NottinghamFollow

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

5-28-2017

Citation

2017 The Author(s).

Comments

ENVIRONMENTAL ARCHAEOLOGY, 2018 VOL. 23, NO. 1, 47–55 https://doi.org/10.1080/14614103.2017.1349027

Abstract

Barbuda and Antigua’s national animal is the fallowdeer, Dama dama dama, a species native to the eastern Mediterranean that has been transported around the world by people during the last 8000 years. The timing and circumstances by which fallow deer came to be established on Barbuda are currently uncertain but, by examining documentary, osteological and genetic evidence, this paper will consider the validity of existing theories. It will review the dynamics of human–Dama relationships from the 1500s AD to the present day and consider how the meaning attached to this species has changed through time: from a symbol of colonial authority and dominance, to a ‘walking larder’ after the slave emancipation of 1834, and now an important part of the island’s economy and cultural heritage that requires careful management.