Urban medieval and post-medieval zooarchaeology in the Basque Country: Meat supply and consumption

Abstract

Article:Grau-Sologestoa, I., Albarella, U. orcid.org/0000-0001-5092-0532 and Quirós Castillo, J.A. This manuscript is intended to be published in the "CEAEC" volume. Abstract: This paper examines the zooarchaeological evidence from six Basque towns (Bilbao, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Salvatierra-Agurain, Balmaseda, Orduña and Durango), and compares it with historical written sources. The key aims are a better understanding of urban diet, the provisioning of meat to towns, and the relationship between town and country, in the 12th to 18th centuries. Urban medieval and post-medievalTaxonomic frequencies, kill-off patterns, butchery practices and biometrical data are examined in a diachronic perspective. The results reveal that, although there are some signs of economic specialization, patterns of urban consumption remained fairly stable. It is suggested that the strict taxation and legislation for meat supply and the ownership of livestock by urban elites meant that urban demand for meat was too tightly regulated to bring about substantial changes in the mechanisms of livestock breeding and supply. The economic system appears to have mainly been geared towards the socio-economic needs of the countryside, despite the central role of some of the Basque towns in international trade.

Roman Tunisian dietary patterns as a feature ofRomanitas: An archaeozoological approach

“…Archaeozoological studies can reveal what species were raised for meat consumption, how old the animals were when slaughtered, how carcasses were processed and which body parts were most consumed. Archaeozoology can provide all these information for different civilizations (Ashby, 2002;Woolgar, 2010), for different settlements of the same civilization (Moses et al, 2019;Sologestoa, Albarella, & Quiros Castillo, 2016) and even for different occupants of a single settlement (Ervynck, Van Neer, & Jörg Schibler, 2003;MacKinnon, 2010;McCormick, 2002;van der Veen, 2003). It therefore reveals more than simply which animals were consumed.…”

New Trends in Iberian Zooarchaeology

“…. Sites marked with an * in Figure5were reviewed inGrau et al 2016 (where original references are provided), with the exception of El Campillo(Castaños and Castaños 2003-7), and Arganzón and Treviño, unpublished. …”