The funerary sacrifice of animals during the predynastic period

"Two principal categories of animal burial have been identified for the predynastic period, those animals buried in human graves and those buried independently within the confines of human cemeteries. This study is an attempt to marshal all the available contextual evidence for the independent animal burials, with the intention of providing a cultural framework within which interpretations for such burials may be adequately evaluated. Explanations for the independent animal burials may be formulated within two distinct interpretive frameworks. One assumes a religiously symbolic significance for the species that occur. The other assumes the burials were an aspect of mortuary practices and suggests the possibility of differing species-specific intent for the burials..."