Flesh and bone: Unraveling the story of animal exploitation in the territory of present-day Serbia during Late Antiquity – an archaeozoological overview

Abstract

Previous archaeozoological research indicates that in the area of present-day Serbia during Late Antiquity (4th to the beginning of the 7th century AD), animal exploitation strategies and nutritional practices were primarily focused on the breeding of domestic animals, with hunting and fishing playing a secondary role. Alongside a few remains of species that were kept as pets, the predominant economically significant species – cattle, caprines, and pigs – are frequently found at archaeological sites. Biometric data reveals changes in the size of animals through time, indicating that animal husbandry experienced transformations. The degeneration of animal breeds can be attributed to general poverty and frequent conflicts in the region between “barbarian forces” and Eastern Roman Empire during the period in question. Other factors influencing the development of animal husbandry include population density, settlement size and duration, which dictated the demand for meat and the need for working animals based on agricultural practices. Unlike domestic animals, remains of the game are rare and primarily consist of frequently hunted species. While fishing was practiced by the inhabitants of the Late Antique settlements, fish remains are scarce, likely due to the manual collection of archaeofaunal remains. Despite the limited extent of archaeozoological research on the Late Antique settlements, the findings offer valuable insights into the methods of animal exploitation and indicate the presence of regional variations, particularly between Vojvodina and the territory south of the Sava and Danube rivers. This paper aims to provide insight into animal exploitation strategies in different settlement types by bringing together archaeozoological data. The comparisons of the relative distributions of their remains, their body part profiles, age and sex data, pathological changes, butchery marks between different archaeological sites, and site types will be used to explore plausible diachronic and contextual differences in animal exploitation strategies.