The symposium will focus on the influence of animals as cultural identifiers in ancient societies from the perspective of a wide array of disciplines ranging from archaeozoology to art history. The symposium is divided into five sections that include presentations by approximately 45 international experts:

1. Methodological considerations and innovative approaches
2. Animals in everyday life
3. Health care and therapy of medical disorders
4. Animal domestication: biological and cultural implications
5. Animals and their role in rituals, symbolism and cosmology