Norbert Benecke (born 22 March 1954 in Osterburg,

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

) is a German archaeozoologist.

Academic history

Norbert Benecke studied

biology Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, History of life, origin, evolution, and ...

at the Universität Halle from 1974 through 1978. In that latter year, he was awarded the title Diplom-Biologe. In 1979, he became a "scientific worker" (''wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter'') at the Zentralinstitut für Alte Geschichte und Archäologie of the Akademie der Wissenschaften der DDR. Benecke received his

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

in 1984 in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

on faunal remains at the early Medieval settlement of

Ralswiek Ralswiek is a municipality in the Vorpommern-Rügen district, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the n ...

on the island of

Rügen Rügen (; Rani: ''Rȯjana'', ''Rāna''; , ) is Germany's largest island. It is located off the Pomeranian coast in the Baltic Sea and belongs to the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The "gateway" to Rügen island is the Hanseatic ci ...

. Starting in 1992, he was Docent for

archaeozoology Zooarchaeology or archaeozoology merges the disciplines of zoology and archaeology, focusing on the analysis of animal remains within archaeological sites. This field, managed by specialists known as zooarchaeologists or faunal analysts, examines ...

(''Referent für Archäozoologie'') at the

Deutsches Archäologisches Institut The German Archaeological Institute (, ''DAI'') is a research institute in the field of archaeology (and other related fields). The DAI is a "federal agency" under the Federal Foreign Office of Germany. Status, tasks and goals The Institute c ...

(DAI) in Berlin, and from 2003 until retiring in 2020, he was the Director of the Natural Sciences Department at the DAI. https://www.archaeobiocenter.uni-muenchen.de/personen/wiss_beirat/benecke/index.html Benecke's foci are on the use of the animal world in various

ecosystems An ecosystem (or ecological system) is a system formed by Organism, organisms in interaction with their Biophysical environment, environment. The Biotic material, biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and en ...

during the

Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...

through the

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

as well as

animal domestication The domestication of vertebrates is the mutual relationship between vertebrate animals, including birds and mammals, and the humans who influence their care and reproduction. Charles Darwin recognized a small number of traits that made domestica ...

Publications

* ''Die Entwicklung der Haustierhaltung im südlichen Ostseeraum.'' Museum für Ur- u. Frühgeschichte Thüringens, Weimar 1986 (= Beiträge zur Archäozoologie 5, = Weimarer Monographien zur Ur- und Frühgeschichte 18). * ''Der Mensch und seine Haustiere. Die Geschichte einer jahrtausendealten Beziehung.'' Theiss, Stuttgart 1994 ISBN 3-8062-1105-1.

References

*''Lexikon der DDR-Historiker. Biographien und Bibliographien zu den Geschichtswissenschaftlern aus der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik.'' Saur, München 2006, ISBN 3-598-11673-X, P. 126. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Benecke, Norbert 1954 births Living people