humanities Article A Landscape without Nonhuman Primates? The Case of the Barbary Macaque, Macaca sylvanus, (Linnaeus, 1758) and Its Interaction with Humans throughout Recorded Time Cecilia Veracini Centre of Public and Political Administration, Institute of Social and Political Sciences, University of Lisbon, 1300-663 Lisboa, Portugal;
[email protected] Received: 30 June 2020; Accepted: 6 August 2020; Published: 25 August 2020 Abstract: Cultural and physical landscapes can be regarded as a result of the interaction among humans, nonhumans and a vast array of ecological factors. Nonhuman primates are our closest relatives and play a role in many cultural manifestations of mankind. Therefore interface between humans and other primates can create complex social and ecological spaces, new physical and cultural landscapes. This work, based on historical, artistic, archaeozoological, anthropological and biological data aims to review the history of the interactions between humans and the Barbary macaque since Antiquity. Adopting a cross-disciplinary approach, it will explore the Barbary macaque/human interface across history, with special emphasis on the cultural impact and influence this species has had on the different Mediterranean civilizations. Keywords: history; natural history; ethnoprimatology; primate lore; trade; conservation 1. Introduction Human–nonhuman animal interactions have constituted a fundamental connection in all societies throughout history (Pastoureau 2001; Kalof and Resl 2007). Studies of animals in past and contemporary societies have shown that perception of nature relates to human self-perception in several ways. “The animal world provides a rich thesaurus for the expression of fundamental social, moral-religious and cosmological ideas because animals are linked to human aspiration affectively, aesthetically, and intellectually” (Sterckx 2002, p.