Dear all,
I'm a historian with an (amateur's) interest in archaeozoology.
In the Tübinger Atlas des Vorderen Orients (Tübingen Atlas of the Near East) I came across an article by Prof. Kinzelbach on the occurence of the leopard in classical antiquity
("Distribution of selected large vertebrates and their decline in historical times - Large cats (genus panthera)", in: Tübinger Atlas des Vorderen Orients, A VI, 13.1., 22nd instalment, 1991). Mr. Kinzelbach is a Professor of biology with a special interest in archaeozoology at Rostock University.
According to Prof. Kinzelbach the leopard was to be found in antique times on Cyprus and the Dodecanes (but not in mainland Greece). The literature cited in the article didn't include any reference to the above mentioned area. I therefore asked Prof. Kinzelbach (via e-mail) on which sources / archaeological evidence his hypothesis was based.
Responding to my mails from 07.12.04 and 12.01.05 Prof. Kinzelbach told me that he was not able to answer my question in near future due to the vast amount of work he was occupied with. Since then I have not received a reply.
According to Xenophon leopards occured in Greece in antiquity. In his book Kynegetikos (On the hunting with hounds) Xenophon mentions that not only lions but also leopards were to be found in northern Greece and Thrace ("in the Pangaion mountains" and "along the river Kittos") (Xenophon, Cyn. 11,1). German philologist Otto Keller, who has written an monography in 2 volumes "Die antike Tierwelt" (Antique Fauna) (Leipzig 1909-1913), considers this information to be wrong (Keller, Antike Tierwelt, vlm I: mammalia, Leipzig 1909, p. 35) .
Leopards occured in north-western Asia minor even in the 20th century. Quite a number of leopard remains were found in Greek and Scythian settlements in western Ukraine (Olbia, Zalesie, Verkhnie Panivtsy). Is it realististic to assume that this species has not reached south-east Europe?
Is there anything to add to the information given by Keller due to research or new discoveries?
Perhaps someone with a special interest in the Holocene vertebrate fauna of Greece (including the Aegean Islands) would be so kind as to answer my questions (or to suggest literature on this topic).
Many thanks in advance
Tim
Tim Schmidt, M.A.
Sybelstr. 4a
D- 35037 Marburg / Lahn
