Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jasrep The magic of improbable appendages: Deer antler objects in the archaeological record of the American South Tanya M. Peres a, ⁎ , Heidi Altman b a Department of Anthropology, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306, United States b Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Georgia Southern University, P.O. Box 8051, Carroll Building, Rm. 1003, Statesboro, GA 30460, United States ARTICLE INFO Keywords: Ethnozooarchaeology Hunting amulet Antler Velvet Cherokee Deer ABSTRACT In the American South white-tailed deer remains are recovered in abundance from late prehistoric archae- ological sites and have been used to identify numerous social and cultural phenomena including status based differences in food consumption, feasting, inter-site transport of foodstuffs, and regional variation in subsistence strategies. Meat, marrow, bone, antler, and hide were important physical contributions of deer to the daily lives of southeastern native peoples. However, deer also play(ed) an important role in self-identity and social structure (Deer clan). In this paper we bring together multiple lines of evidence to offer a nuanced interpretation of white- tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) antler objects recovered from Native American archaeological sites in the pre- European Southeastern United States in the traditional homelands of the Cherokees of the American South. We review the importance of the culturally appropriate interactions with deer as taught in deer hunting lore and taboos recorded in ethnographic and ethnohistoric sources. With this understanding, we then identify the ma- terial manifestations of deer hunting amulets from several archaeological sites in our study area. Ultimately our study of antler objects shows that combining indigenous knowledge with material studies gives us new insights into how humans perceived and interacted with the animals that lived in their shared environment, and fosters new interpretations of material culture. 1. Introduction At least since Hallowell's (1960) ethnographic work among the Ojibwe, anthropologists have noted that some indigenous hunting groups perceive animals as other-than-human persons. The construction of these non-human animals as people who have agency, morals, and responsibilities forces anthropologists to look beyond the human-an- imal boundary to understand that culture and nature are not mutually exclusive domains of knowing the world (Choyke, 2010; Overton and Hamilakis, 2013; Russell, 2012). In these relationships, interactions between humans and animals were mediated by socially proscribed actions, thoughts, and material culture. These interactions, when con- ducted properly according to culturally-specific beliefs, allowed for the agency of the animals to be validated, and in turn resulted in hunting success for the human. While many of the actions and thoughts of hunters do not survive in the archaeological record, the material culture associated with hunting success often does preserve, especially in the form of hunting amulets (Hill, 2011). Data generated from archae- ological excavations in conjunction with ethnographic and linguistic records can be analyzed for patterns in the artifact data to uncover the relationships between humans and animals that move us beyond sub- sistence-only based interpretations. Past human-animal relationships are most effectively studied through an ethnozooarchaeological lens. We bring together multiple lines of evidence to offer a nuanced inter- pretation of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) antler objects recovered from Mississippian and Early Historic period sites that are situated in the traditional homelands of the Cherokee Indians of the American South. Ultimately our study of antler objects shows that combining indigenous knowledge with material studies gives us new insights into how humans perceived and interacted with the animals that lived in their shared environment, and fosters new interpretations of material culture. Numerous anthropological studies have focused on hunting groups, both in the past and present. These studies explore the themes of food sharing and exchange, the symbolic nature of human-animal relations, sexual division of labor, social and political structure, and the use of hunting magic, among others (Jones O'Day et al., 2004). Typically the study of human-animal relations is based on either a functionalist ecological approach - where animals exist and are classified in terms of their caloric input to human diets, or on a symbolic approach - where https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2017.10.028 Received 30 April 2017; Received in revised form 20 October 2017; Accepted 22 October 2017 ⁎ Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: Tanya.Peres@fsu.edu (T.M. Peres), haltman@georgiasouthern.edu (H. Altman). Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports xxx (xxxx) xxx–xxx 2352-409X/ © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Please cite this article as: Peres, T.M., Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports (2017), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2017.10.028