An Ethnoarchaeological Study of Turtles in Bengal and Odisha: Subsistence, Ritual, and Symbolism

Nibedita Naskar1*, Pankaj Goyal1, and Shubha Majumder2

Turtles have occupied an enduring place in the subsistence, ritual, and symbolic landscapes of eastern India. This paper explores the social zooarchaeology of turtles in West Bengal and Odisha through an ethnoarchaeological approach that integrates archaeofaunal assemblages from multiple sites with iconographic evidence and present-day ritual practices. Archaeofaunal remains of freshwater turtles are widely reported from habitation sites across both regions, with particularly frequent occurrences in the coastal and deltaic zones of Bengal and the riverine–coastal tracts of Odisha. The zooarchaeological evidence is further contextualised through terracotta plaques, tablets, and related material culture depicting turtles from archaeological contexts in Bengal and Odisha. These representations highlight the symbolic significance of turtles, commonly associated with water, fertility, stability, and cosmological order. Ethnographic observations from present-day communities in both regions reveal strong continuities in belief and practice, where turtles remain embedded in ritual performances, folk traditions, and sacred landscapes, particularly in coastal and riverine settings. Taken together – archaeofaunal, iconographic, and ethnographic evidence, it allows a more contextual interpretation of turtle remains, situating their use within broader patterns of subsistence practice, ritual behaviour, and cultural continuity in Bengal and Odisha.