Summary and conclusion: The convenience (and importance) of the osteozoological material from the fortified Řivnáč culture settlement at Kutná Hora - Denemark comes from the fact, that the settlement was almost completely excavated. This...
moreSummary and conclusion:
The convenience (and importance) of the osteozoological
material from the fortified Řivnáč culture settlement
at Kutná Hora - Denemark comes from the fact,
that the settlement was almost completely excavated.
This relatively rare situation provides a representative
sample covering all the various parts of the settlement,
which allows us to study its inner structure and research
subjects such as the taphonomic processes and
a balanced evaluation could be made on questions
concerning morphometry, demography, seasonality,
and economic and ritual use of animals. Also another
convenience of the material is that it was probably
deposited during a narrow time interval, i.e. only a few
years, and therefore represents unmixed context specifically
accumulated shortly before the reconstruction
of the settlement. The amount of material (3 444 bones
or bone fragments determined zoologically to species or
genus from total 15 611 bones/fragments) can be considered
as representative, however any extrapolation of
results onto whole Řivnáč culture has to encounter the
topographic, period and functional specificity of the
site. Comparative studies with other Baden and Řivnáč
culture sites, in Bohemia enables us to establish the
position of this site within the subsistence situation in
the region. Altogether they give relatively good evidence
concerning the breeding and hunting ratio during
the Baden-Řivnáč cultural period in Bohemia.
The site belongs to the later phase of the Řivnáč
culture (i.e. the final part of Baden-Řivnáč complex),
which is a period of possible socioeconomic crisis connected
perhaps with climatic change. If this is correct
then it could greatly influence breeding and hunting
activities, and consequently influence the final bone
assemblage. The higher ratio of hunted animals here
than on other Řivnáč sites and than in earlier periods
in Bohemia could reflect this critical state.
Population characteristics (especially the shape of
the survivorship curves, i.e. kill-off patterns) normally
depend on the use of domestic animals. With the presumption
that there was no rapid change in the herd
size and that certain age categories were not imported/
exported to/from the settlement, the curves for
cattle and sheep/goat can then be interpreted as the
combined use of primary (meat, fat, skin, etc.) and
secondary (labour and/or wool and/or milk) products.
However, the stock reduction or import/export could
take place, possibly due to presumed instable situation.
If the rapid reduction of the stock really took
place here, the younger categories would have been
emphasised in our mortality curves, as is usual in
catastrophe mortality curve (sensu Lyman 1994). Logically,
in this case the original (i.e. before the reduction)
subsistence in Kutná Hora - Denemark would have
been orientated mostly on secondary products; which
is a chracteristic feature of the developed farming.
No noticeable disproportions were found in the natural
anatomical parts of both domestic and wild animals.
This indicates that site was not supplied with
selected body parts only. And the presence of mature
and old domestic animals indicates that the site did
not represent a special social class, supplied only with
animals of higher meat quality (i.e. calves and lambs).
This means that breeding activities are probable, directly
on the site or in its vicinity.
Pig is traditionally a source of primary products (as
visible from mortality curves). The slaughter and/or hunting
of it was undertaken more often in winter as shown
by kill-off data. The use of cattle for labour was not reliably
ascertained by population characteristics or by pathology
on phalanges (usually explained as the result of
overloading), but it cannot be excluded and is probable.
The status of horses, of which bones were found in various
contexts and form 1.2 % of determined finds, is not
clear. If it was a domesticant, which is probable, considering
the function and location of the settlement has to
be taken into account since this animal requires much
more attention than for example pig or dog.
The high ratio of hunted animals can be also a reflection
of the marginal position of the site within the
settlement region of the Řivnáč period and therefore
closer contact with the non-domestic ‘wild’ environment.
The non-standard high ratio of aurochs could be
an indication that this environment is convenient for
local domestication or, more probably, for crossbreeding
with domestic cattle. This hypothesis is supported
by some arguments based mainly on osteometric analysis.
The work on recent DNA by Götherström et al. (2005)
suggests occasional mating of domestic females with
wild males. The presented site could be one of such
places, possibly with an intentional management. However
confirming these activities would require further
analysis using genetic methods for example.
The quantity of Common Frog (Rana temporaria)
bones found in Kutná Hora - Denemark, some of which
were burnt, is quite rare within a European archaeological
context and altogether unique in Central Europe.
This find gives a persuasive argument for the intensive
consumption frogs and suggests therefore, that not only
large and medium large size animals were hunted. The
study of the biology of the frogs indicates, that they
had to be gathered in March or April, which therefore
also gives a time for the infilling of feature 36 where the
bones were deposited. This can then be extended further
to indicate the time when the settlement was completely
remodelled (i.e. the end of first building stage)
connected with the infilling of the sunken features.
The find of a Dalmatian Pelican (Pelecanus crispus)
bone is unusual and “exotic” in Bohemia, at the present
time this species is not resident here. Also this
specimen is the only one found in an archaeological
context in Bohemia, therefore this degree of rarity
could suggest that it is an imported gift or trade item
for example. However its natural appearance in the
Eneolithic period is also not impossible.
Also very unusual is find of the traumatic pathology,
a healing/healed amputation or dislocated fracture
above the knee joint of a hind limb of a larger mammal,
probably red deer. With such a severe handicap, such
an individual would have found it difficult, if not
impossible, to survive in the wild.
Absence of horncores can be connected with ritual,
religious or cult practices, as can the greater part of
a canine skeleton from pit 124 with a number of butchery marks, which was also probably skinned. An
assemblage of burnt human bones, including part of
pathological skull, may also be ranked to this category,
but it could be also a result of cleansing activities.
The size and body proportions of the dog from pit
124 are similar to a medium sized Schnauzer or
a Norwegian harrier. The horse bone assemblage corresponds
with individuals slightly larger than a Przewalski
horse and could all be of a single breed (population).
Quantification shows that the main meat supplier
among domestic animals was cattle. Pig is also relatively
often represented. Sheep/goat (sheep absolutely
dominates over goat) was of less significance. The fragmentation
state of the bones shows that the bodies of
the animals were intensively economically used. Most
fragments are the remnants of human sustenance.
Horse bones are fragmented and scattered as are some
of the finds of dog. The use of horses and dogs for food
is probable but not absolutely confirmed. The most
hunted species among wild animals, in descending
quantitative order, were: wild pig, aurochs, red deer,
beaver and roe deer. The exceptionally high beaver
ratio supported by several quantification methods is
not a normal situation. Mammals’ hunting was aimed
at mainly adult individuals. Sporadic finds of birds
(Tetrao urogallus, Pelecanus crispus, Corvus corone/frugilegus),
turtle (Emys orbicularis) and fish (Abramis
brama, Leuciscus cephalus, Perca fluviatilis, Anquilla
anguilla), indicate, that these groups were not as
important to the human diet as mammals were.
The large and variable assemblage of bone artefacts
provides evidence for the further economic use of
the material. Among them, tools from wild boar males
tusks, pendants from carnivoras canines and tool
used for leather tanning (feat. 36) are of particular
interest.