Animals cost and benefits. Production estimate methods and breeding strategies in the Bronze Age: the case of the via Ordiere village at Solarolo (RA)

Abstract

This work aims to provide a hypothetical estimate of the number of domestic animals that a Bronze Age village in northern Italy may have supported over a given period. For this purpose, it was decided to analyse in detail a selected sample of faunal remains from two distinct areas of the village via Ordiere in Solarolo (RA), one purely for settlement and the other marginal to the village, both spanning the Middle Bronze Age 2. The short time span (restricted to about 100 years of the settlement’s occupation) was further divided into four sub-phases of 25 years each. The analysis of the sub-phases has provided not only an accurate term of observation for the faunal data useful to determinate the minimum number of individuals (MNI) killed for each species, but also the basis for projecting the data to the entire settlement. From the analysis conducted, diversified exploitation forms of the different domestic species (cows, sheep, goats, and pigs) have emerged, allowing to postulate the role and importance that the different domestic resources had in the local economy, both in terms of productivity and costs, and their impact on the management of the territory. The projections of data led, in fact, to obtain the number of animals supposedly living at the same time in the settlement, while a simulation allowed to theorise the carrying capacity of the territory based on its extension and intended uses. Therefore, a methodological approach has been proposed to provide valuable data for the reconstruction of the population (animal and human) and to guide future methods for collecting and analysing the archaeological material during the excavation and the study phase. The contribution concludes by providing estimates of the presence of domestic animals useful for demographic reconstruction based on human food consumption.

Keywords

• solarolo
• bronze age
• archaeozoology
• demography
• meat yield
• carrying capacity