Animal Resources in the Economy of the Noua Culture (Bronze Age) Communities: case study on the settlement at Crasnaleuca (Botosani County, Romania)

During the excavations carried out in 1992-1994 at Crasnaleuca settlement (Botosani County, Romania) were found materials coming from the Bronze Age (Noua Culture). The archaeozoological sample consists of 2656 remains, of which four belong to the birds, two to the fish, and the rest to the mammals (2650). The presence of mammal remains illustrates two important activities of the Crasnaleuca population: hunting and animal husbandry. Most of the mammals remains belong to the domestic species (93.7%); in this group, cattle (Bos taurus) has the highest representation (50.4% of the identified mammal remains), followed by sheep/goat (Ovis aries/Capra hircus) – 25.3% and pig (Sus domesticus) – 9.3%. Other identified species of domestic mammals are horse (Equus caballus) and dog (Canis domesticus). Wild mammal remains do not have a significant frequency (6.3%), which indicated that hunting was not an important occupation for the inhabitants at Crasnaleuca. Identified species are red deer (Cervus elaphus), wild boar (Sus scrofa), roe deer (Capreolus capreolus), hare (Lepus europaeus); red deer and wild boar have the highest proportion in the group of wild mammals

Daily Life in the <i>Limesgebiet</i>: Archaeozoological Evidence on Animal Resource Exploitation in Lower Danubian Sites of 2nd–6th Centuries AD

Roman Limesgebiet was both a border between the Greco–Roman world and barbaricum, but also the contact area between these two parts of the ancient oicumene. In Moesia Inferior, this area was established after the Roman conquest in the 1st century AD, in order to defend the Danube border. This article analyses segments of the cultural landscape development in the Roman Danube limes: e.g., the animal resources of subsistence as a paleoeconomy component and reconstruction of the environmental context in the area. The settlements under archaeozoological study are: Sacidava, Capidava, Dinogetia, Noviodunum, Aegyssus, and Halmyris. The settlements have exploited a relatively large faunal spectrum, with taxa of 19 mammals being identified. Animal husbandry had a major importance in paleoeconomy and was focused on cattle, sheep/goat, and pig; other domestic species are horse, donkey, dog, and cat. The hunting is of small importance, according to the frequency of animal remains, and the forest species are dominant. Red deer and wild boar are present in all assemblages, and they are the dominant wild species in terms of frequency; roe deer, hare, wolf, aurochs, fox, beaver, badger, Eurasian otter, and pine marten have been also identified. Aquatic resources are represented by molluscs and fish

Farming Beginning in Southwestern Transylvania (Romania). Subsistence Strategies in Mureş Valley during the Early Neolithic

Early Neolithic communities penetrated in southwestern Transylvania and were established in the Mureș Valley where they found suitable territories for domestic animal herds and probably plant cultivation. The present study tries to answer questions related to the beginnings of the neolithisation in this area, from an interdisciplinary perspective, valuing archeozoologically and archeobotanically the Starčevo-Criș site of Soimuș-Teleghi (Hunedoara County), dating to the 7th–6th millennium BC. Animal skeletal remains and phytoliths are the proxies analysed in this paper, offering data about the palaeoeconomy and palaeoenvironment of the Early Neolithic settlement. In the archaeozoological samples, the remains coming from domestic mammals are the most frequent, being identified as cattle (Bos taurus), sheep/goat (Ovis aries/Capra hircus), pig (Sus domesticus), and dog (Canis familiaris). The fact that pig remains are almost absent in the samples is significant, suggesting a mobility of the evaluated communities. The skeletal remains of wild mammal species are rare, belonging to red deer (Cervus elaphus), roe deer (Capreolus capreolus), aurochs (Bos primigenius), wild boar (Sus scrofa), and polecat (Mustela putorius). The strong dominance of grasses is attested through the phytoliths’ assemblages. ELONGATE DENDRITIC phytoliths are well represented. This morphotype, which originates from the inflorescence or the husk of Poaceae, is most likely derived from cultivated plants (cereals such as wheat, barley, etc.). Archaeozoological and archaeobotanical data resulting from this study suggest an open environment around the Early Neolithic settlement, where communities of the Starčevo-Criș culture mainly raised herds of cattle and sheep/goat. Sporadically, hunting and gathering molluscs were practised by the inhabitants, as indicated by archaeozoological results