Concluding Remarks: Creatures of the Water

This chapter aims to bring together some of the cross-cutting themes that transcend the volume. The volume exposes humans’ enduring bond with aquatic life, from its essential role in sustaining early civilisations to its profound cultural significance. By integrating diverse scholarly perspectives, including archaeological, textual, and zooarchaeological analyses, this volume offers a holistic exploration of this intricate relationship through a number of case studies. The chapter uncovers some of the vivid tapestry of our interdependence with water creatures, as discussed in the contributions of the volume, but it also offers some new and fresh evidence from Mesopotamia to these shared themes.