Archaeozoological Studies on the Golden Horde Urban and Rural Settlements as a Source for Reconstruction of Economic Processes

Abstract

Archaeozoological studies, carried out according to the methodological scheme of the Institute of Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, analyzed collections of animal bone remains from excavations of nine cities and six rural settlements of the Golden Horde state. The main finds in these collections were bones of domestic ungulates with traces of meat cutting. The study found that the main meat product for residents of cities and settlements was beef; lamb and horse meat played a significantly smaller role in meat menu. Cow and bull hides were the main export goods of the Golden Horde, so cattle were bred in large numbers in rural settlements. The role of nomads in the economy of the state was revealed by the analysis of bone finds, discovered in cities in craft districts. In bone accumulations the set of species is common, but the leading role in the osteological spectrum belonged to small cattle. The anatomical set recorded a large number of individual bones from large and small cattle, which is possible only with mass slaughter of cattle. In one of the clusters, the fact of slaughtering horses for hides was established. In the economy of the Golden Horde, nomads played the role of suppliers of their animals to the cities - sheep and horses periodically and mainly for the production of hides.

Keywords

• archaeozoology
• golden horde
• medieval cities
• rural settlements
• nomads
• meat products
• cattle breeding
• accumulations of bone remains
• hide processing