Daily Food Consumption in a Rural Roman Villa: Excavations at Lički Ribnik, Croatia

Archaeozoology of Classical antiquity in Croatia

“…Recent discovery and excavations of the villa at Lički Ribnik near Gospić revealed a large sample of archaeobotanical remains and only a handful of animal bones, originating from the kitchen area. However, even this extremely poor faunal assemblage fits well with others in the region: only cattle and sheep are determined, while their remains bore traces of butchery and burning, indicating some specific patterns of food preparation (Reed et al 2019).…”

Carbonized cereals from the Udbina – Gradina site and the overview of evidence of crop cultivation in the medieval and post-medieval periods in Croatia

“…As already mentioned, Lika is characterized by longer and harsher winters than those in the Pannonian area, and karst fields, such as Krbavsko polje, often flood in the spring after the snow melts, which can be disastrous for more demanding crops such as wheat. A larger amount of millet was found at the Roman site of Lički Ribnik (Reed et al 2019), and stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis of human bones found south of Lički Ribnik confirms a significant amount of C4-plants in human diet and/ or animal feed during the Iron Age, Roman Times and Early Middle Age (Lightfoot et al 2012;Reed et al 2019), which shows that this cereal was also grown in Lika.…”