Hostname: page-component-89b8bd64d-n8gtw Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-05-14T05:58:31.725Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Missing sheep: on the meaning and wider significance of 0 in Knossos sheep records1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 September 2013

Paul Halstead
Affiliation:
University of Sheffield

Abstract

According to Linear B texts from Knossos, the sheep which the palace kept for wool were far too numerous to have been reared from recorded flocks of breeding ewes. The wool flocks are dominated by castrated males (wethers) but also include ewes, yearlings, old sheep and ‘deficits’. Following Killen, deficits often occur as round numbers and so represent sheep not returned to the palace rather than losses through natural deaths. Moreover, most flocks have no deficits, implying that inevitable losses were made up by the herders to whom the flocks were entrusted. This paper examines the association of different categories of sheep among the wool flocks and the nature of legible amendments to texts. It is argued that ewes, yearlings and old sheep were all substituted for wethers, which herders removed in large numbers, perhaps for feasting or sacrifice. Herders were thus responsible for both culling and replacing palatial wool sheep, while the palace was primarily concerned with the collection of wool.

Information

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © The Council, British School at Athens 1999

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable