Animals and animal husbandry

Author(s):  
Maaike Groot

This chapter gives a short overview of animal husbandry in Iron Age Europe. In this largely agrarian society, people depended on animals for food, transport, and labour. Although animal husbandry shows a high degree of variety, related to differences in climate, geography, and the complexity of society, broad geographical patterns are apparent in the proportions of different species, with cattle dominant on most sites in north-western Europe and sheep/goat at most Mediterranean sites. In some regions, communities were self-sufficient, while others included proto-urban sites and sanctuaries, which had to be supplied with food and sacrificial animals. Hunting was of little importance in terms of contribution to the diet, although an exception is found in eastern Spain. Animals not only played a vital role in the agrarian economy, but were also important in rituals, such as deposits in houses and funerary ritual, and animal sacrifice in sanctuaries.

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Angela Trentacoste ◽  
Ariadna Nieto-Espinet ◽  
Silvia Guimarães ◽  
Barbara Wilkens ◽  
Gabriella Petrucci ◽  
...  

AbstractThroughout the Western provinces of the Roman Empire, greater economic and political connectivity had a major impact on agricultural production, which grew in scale and specialisation after integration with the Roman state. However, uniquely in Western Europe, farming strategies in Italy began to evolve centuries before the Roman conquest, and many ‘Roman’ patterns associated with livestock size and the relative proportions of different taxa first emerged during the early and middle centuries of the first millennium BC. These changes imply a significant reorganisation of production strategies well before Roman hegemony, even in relatively marginal areas of Italy. Zooarchaeological studies have documented further significant changes to livestock production in Roman times, but the relationship between these developments and earlier trends remains unclear. Through analysis of zooarchaeological data for species representation and livestock biometry from lowland northern Italy (Po–Friulian Plain), this study investigates animal exploitation between the Bronze Age and Late Antiquity in order to characterise the influence of Roman political and economic organisation on animal husbandry. Results demonstrated subregional variation in species representation, and different trajectories in the biometric evolution of cattle, sheep and goats, compared to pigs. Initial steps established in the Iron Age towards a more complex and dynamic livestock economy were accelerated and further reconfigured in Roman times, facilitated by Roman economic organisation and the specialised and large-scale production systems within it. Zooarchaeological trends continued to progress over the Roman period, until further changes at the very end of the chronology considered here—around the sixth century AD—suggest another wave of change.


Author(s):  
Ajmer Singh ◽  
Rajender Kumar ◽  
Sanjay Kumar ◽  
Yash Pal

Animal husbandry plays a vital role in growth of agrarian economy in Haryana and role of livestock is very important for livelihood in the state (Haryana). Equine (Equidae) is a major component of livestock having its four sub groups i.e. horse, pony, donkey and mule. Equine is integral part of animal husbandry as well as agriculture found worldwide and equine power is known equal to engine power. Donkey and mule are major parts of equine family and mainly reared for load carrying, cart pulling and are used as pack animals in Haryana. A great decline has been observed in donkey population during last few years in the state. As per census done by DADF (GOI) donkey population was 63000 in 1997, 8000 in 2003, 4838 in 2007, 2903 in 2012 and 800 in 2019 the state. Similarly decline was also observed in mule population and as per census done by DADF (GOI) mule population was 35000 in 1997, 14000 in 2003, 10600 in 2007, 9009 in 2012 and 2499 in 2019 in Haryana. Mechanization, ignorance of policy makers and social taboo are major factors responsible for decline of population of these animals in Haryana.


2020 ◽  
Vol 75 (1) ◽  
pp. 255-272
Author(s):  
Anthony C. King

This paper is a survey of overall species counts from northern and central Hampshire sites, of Iron Age, Roman and early Saxon date, and their implications for chronological changes in animal husbandry and diet. Three zones, around Basingstoke, Andover, and central Hampshire, are compared with each other, and also with the Roman urban centres of Silchester and Winchester. The Andover region shows the greatest degree of continuity from Iron Age to Roman times and later, while the Basingstoke region has a pattern of change from sheep/goat dominated assemblages to ones with higher cattle numbers. This may be due to agricultural intensification, and an orientation of the animal economy in northern Hampshire more towards the Thames Valley and supply to Silchester, than an earlier 'Wessex pattern' more focussed on sheep and wool production.


Author(s):  
Detlef Pollack ◽  
Gergely Rosta

In recantation of his earlier approach, Peter L. Berger now claims: ‘The world today, with some exceptions […], is as furiously religious as it ever was, and in some places more so than ever.’ The most important exception that Berger refers to is Western Europe. The introduction to Part II provides an overview of the religious landscape in Western Europe. The data show that the current religious situation in the countries of Western Europe is in fact subject to considerable variation. It would therefore be erroneous to describe Western Europe as secularized. At the same time, the data reveal that there have been clear secularization tendencies over the last few decades. To grasp the diversity of religious tendencies, Part II deals with three cases: West Germany with moderate downward tendencies, Italy with a considerably high degree of stability, and the Netherlands displaying disproportionately strong secularizing tendencies.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martijn A. Wijnhoven

Mail armour (commonly mislabelled 'chainmail') was used for more than two millennia on the battlefield. After its invention in the Iron Age, mail rapidly spread all over Europe and beyond. The Roman army, keen on new military technology, soon adopted mail armour and used it successfully for centuries. Its history did not stop there and mail played a vital role in warfare during the Middle Ages up to the Early Modern Period. Given its long history, one would think mail is a well-documented material, but that is not the case. For the first time, this books lays a solid foundation for the understanding of mail armour and its context through time. It applies a long-term multi-dimensional approach to extract a wealth of as yet untapped information from archaeological, iconographic and written sources. This is complemented with technical insights on the mail maker’s chaîne opératoire.


2018 ◽  
Vol 81 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ron Kehati ◽  
Amit Dagan ◽  
Liora Kolska Horwitz
Keyword(s):  
Iron Age ◽  

Radiocarbon ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
pp. 831-838 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel van Willigen ◽  
Irka Hajdas ◽  
Georges Bonani

Understanding of processes that determined the expansion of farming and animal husbandry in south-western Europe is hampered by poor chronologies of the early Neolithic in this region. This paper presents new radiocarbon dates, which are used to construct such a chronological frame for a regional group of the most important culture of the early Neolithic in the western Mediterranean: the Cardial culture.


Antiquity ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 84 (325) ◽  
pp. 880-883
Author(s):  
N. James

Diffusion of Mediterranean traits to central and north-western Europe during the middle Iron Age is a topic well rehearsed now by three generations of archaeologists. The stimulating recent exhibition Golasecca at the Musée d’Archéologie nationale in France, showed that – funds permitting – plenty of scope remains for research.Elaborately made imports, at for instance the Heuneburg, Vix or Hochdorf, have been interpreted as evidence for how aristocrats adopted Greek and Etruscan styles to reinforce their status and regional power between about 600 and 400 BC. Art historians revealed how their bronzesmiths responded selectively to templates from not only states to the south but also eastern nomads. Archaeologists worked out how goods were brought up the Rhône valley by the enterprising Greeks of Marseille or by the northerners themselves exploiting that colony. The ‘trade’ is thought to have encouraged development of social complexity. More recently, to demonstrate the recipients’ ‘agency’, attention has focused on potters’ responses, adoption of coinage and writing and ‘feasts’ for chiefs to show off ‘prestigious’ exotica to rivals, clients or tributaries. Similar models of trade, ‘appropriation’ and sociopolitical development have been developed for the Late Pre-Roman Iron Age and the Roman Iron Age.


2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (117) ◽  
pp. 244-252
Author(s):  
M. Gýrsoı ◽  
◽  
K.M. Jetіbaev ◽  
B. Sızdıkov ◽  
M. Qoja ◽  
...  

The article discusses a new scientific concept made in the course of the excavation and the results of exploration at the archaeological complex of Shanshar-Asarshyk. It provides data on the existence of people during the Paleolithic and iron age and their occupation of sedentary animal husbandry and nomadic cattle breeding. The collected ceramics were analyzed from a macroscopic point of view and described. The found ceramic objects were compared with ceramic objects from other places and the corresponding conclusions were made. In addition, The Shanshar-Asarshyk settlement was compared with other cities in Central Asia and its architectural features and structure were revealed. With the help of the discovered material data, a predictive Dating of the monument was made. The article substantiates the necessity of conducting archeological excavations in the archaeological complex of Shanshar-Asarshyk. Мақалада Шаншар-Асаршық археологиялық кешенінде жүргізілген барлау нәтижелері мен қазба жұмыстары барысында жасалған жаңа ғылыми тұжырымдамалар сөз болады. Бұл жерде адамдардың палеолит және темір дәуірі кезінде өмір сүргені және отырықшы мал шаруашылығы мен көшпенді мал шаруашылығы кәсібімен айналысқандығы туралы деректер айтылады. Жиналған керамикалар макраскопиялық тұрғыдан сарапталып, талдау жүргізіліп, сипаттамасы жасалынды. Табылған керамикалық заттар басқа жердегі керамикалық заттармен салыстырылып, тұжырымдамалар жасалынды. Сонымен қатар Шаншар-Асаршық қалажұрты Орта Азиядағы басқа қалалармен салыстырылып, архитектуралық ерекшелігі мен құрылымы айқындалды. Табылған заттай деректер арқылы ескерткіштің болжамды мерзімдемесі жасалынды. Мақалада Шаншар-Асаршық археологиялық кешенінде археологиялық қазба жұмыстарының жүргізілу қажеттіліктері айтылды.


2017 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-91 ◽  
Author(s):  
John D. Bengtson

The hypothesis that the Basque language is genetically related to languages in the Caucasus region was developed in the 20th century by respected scholars including C. C. Uhlenbeck, Georges Dumézil, and René Lafon, but has recently fallen into disfavour. The author defends the Euskaro-Caucasian hypothesis in a refined model in which Basque (Euskara) is most closely related to the North Caucasian language family (but not “South Caucasian” = Kartvelian). It is maintained that this hypothesis is not only linguistically convincing, supported by hundreds of basic etymologies, sound correspondences, and shared morphology, but is also consistent with recent results in archaeology and human genetics. Among the Euskaro-Caucasian etymologies is a significant number involving small and large cattle, swine, dairying, grain and pulse crops, and tools and methods of processing crops. These lexical fields are consistent with the spread of agriculture and animal husbandry to Western Europe by means of colonisation by bearers of the Cardial (Impressed Ware) Culture who came from the Anatolian (or possibly Balkan) region, and spoke a language related to Proto-North Caucasian. The well-known genetic distinctiveness of the Basques is a result of centuries of low population size, genetic drift and endogamy, rather than purely Paleolithic ancestry. The present-day Basque people represent a genetic amalgam of the Cardial colonists with indigenous hunter-gatherers, but their Euskaro-Caucasian language is colonial, not indigenous, in origin. Basque is the sole remaining descendant of the Euskaro-Caucasian family in Western Europe, but there is evidence (in the form of substratum words) that this colonial language was formerly more widely spread in other nearby regions (Sardinia, parts of Iberia, France, the Alps, Italy, the Balkans, and perhaps beyond).


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