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Gospodarowanie zwierzętami na osadzie otwartej kultury łużyckiej w Grzybianach koło Legnicy, stanowisko 1, woj. dolnośląskie

100%

Piątkowska-Małecka J., Anc K., Chormańska A., Gągała M., Kaczyńska J., Kur A.

Światowit

2009-2010

vol. Tom VIII (XLIX), fasc. B

49-67

The site in Grzybiany is situated in the south-east part of a peninsula on Lake Koskowickie. It was excavated in the 1960s and 1970s. An open settlement was then unearthed. It was inhabited by people of the Lusatian Culture from the turn of the 11th and 10th c. BC (Ha B-D). It was most prosperous in Ha C when it had an active bronze workshop. The osteological material from thirteen plots and three layers was analysed by students from the Institute of Archaeology, the University of Warsaw, under the supervision of Prof. Alicja Lasota-Moskalewska. The aim of this paper is to present and interpret the results of these examinations. 9008 post-consumptional bone fragments were found. over 80% of them were identified anatomically and zoologically, which means that they were in good condition. Most bone remains belonged to mammals; there were also several bone fragments which belonged to birds and fish. As far as mammals are concerned, breeding animals prevailed, much fewer bone fragments belonged to wild animals (4.1%). In the second of the above-mentioned groups, such species as deer, elk, wild boar and roe deer were better represented, while aurochs and/or bison, bear, badger, beaver, wolf and hare were less common. The percentage of wild animal remains was the same in all chronological phases. Mature animals were mostly hunted. People hunted them to get some additional meat and obtain bones to produce various objects. Breeding animals included cattle (50.5%), sheep and goat (24.5%), and pig (17.2%). Horse and dog remains were much less common (7.3 and 0.5%, respectively). Zoological analysis of the osteological material from all three chronological phases shows that the percentage of cattle remains decreased with time from 58.9% to 48.5% of all breeding animals. At the same time the percentage of small ruminant bone remains grew from 19.8% to 29.0%. The percentage of pig, horse and dog bone remains did not change considerably with time and was 15.5%, 7.3% and 0.5%, respectively. It indicates that the economic change was slow and it was connected with a shift from agricultural to pasturage economy, caused either by a climate change or by the degradation of the environment due to intensive land cultivation and metallurgical activity. The percentage of slaughtered young cattle was stable and oscillated around 5%. It means that useful features of living animals were exploited: cattle provided milk and manure and were also used as draught animals. The cattle were mainly of the Bos taurus brachyceros type. They were small and medium-sized individuals, with the withers height ranging from 95 to 125 cm. Few individuals represented the Bos taurus primigenius type. They were bigger and their withers height was around 150 cm. Big individuals may have been the result of selective breeding or they may have been imported. It is also possible that they were obtained by crossing cattle with aurochs. Small ruminants were the second largest group of breeding animals. In Ha C and Ha D the bone remains of young small ruminants constituted 4% of the material. Sheep and goats provided not only meat, but also milk and skin; sheep were additionally the source of wool for making clothes. In Ha D the percentage of slaughtered young individuals reached almost 10% which suggests that small ruminant breeding was definitely meat-oriented at that time. Goats bred in the settlement were of small type and their withers height was between 58 and 67 cm. The percentage of pig bone remains was around 15% and did not change with time. In Ha B the percentage of slaughtered young animals was low (5.0%). Pigs were then kept long for reproduction and in order to get pork fat. In Ha C and Ha D the percentage of pig bone fragments increased considerably and reached over 35%, as pig breeding became meat-oriented. The pig withers height oscillated between 60 and 80 cm. Several bones represented a transitional type between domesticated pig and wild boar. The presence of these two types may indicate both closed and open breeding. The percentage of horse bone remains in all chronological phases was around 7%. In Ha B the percentage of horse bone remains belonging to young individuals was quite high and reached 5%. It may have been the result of horse meat consumption, as signs of cutting and chopping were found on the bones. In Ha C and Ha D the percentage of bone fragments belonging to young horses was about 1%. At that time useful features of living animals were important, since they served as pack and draught animals. The horses bred in the settlement were small and medium-sized, with the withers height ranging from 110 to 140 cm. The analysis of the anatomical distribution of the breeding animal bone remains shows that all skeleton elements were represented. Meat jointing and consumption took place within the settled area. In Ha B and Ha C the bone remains of all species consisted mainly of less valuable head parts and proximal parts of the forelimb and hind limb, whereas vertebrae, ribs and digital bones were less common. It implies that people who inhabited the settlement were rather poor and ate considerable amount of brawn and finely chopped proximal parts of the forelimb and hind limb. In Ha D head parts were still in surplus and there was a substantial shortage of vertebrae and ribs. The percentage of proximal parts of the forelimb and hind limb was average. It can be concluded that the animal economy of the Lusatian Culture community inhabiting the open settlement on Koskowickie Lake was dominated by breeding and occasionally complemented by hunting and fishing. Cattle were mainly bred but their role decreased with time. Cattle breeding was supplemented with two species ofsmall ruminants whose percentage rose steadily. Pig and horse constituted only a small percentage of all breeding animals.

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1 Światowit

1 Anc K.

1 Chormańska A.

1 Gągała M.

1 Kaczyńska J.

1 Kur A.

1 Piątkowska-Małecka J.

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Gospodarowanie zwierzętami na osadzie otwartej kultury łużyckiej w Grzybianach koło Legnicy, stanowisko 1, woj. dolnośląskie