Livestock for Sale

The civitas Batavorum was a settlement on the north-western frontier of the Roman Empire, and it is now the site of numerous archaeological excavations. This book offers the most up-to-date look yet at what has been discovered, using the newest archaeological techniques, about the town and its economy, its military importance, and the religious and domestic buildings it held. It will be essential reading for anyone studying the economy of the Roman provincial countryside or the details of food supply for the Roman army and town.

Maaike Groot specialises in zooarchaeology and lectures at the Archaeological Centre of the VU University Amsterdam.

FOREWORD 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Framework, scope and research questions 1.2 The Dutch River Area in the Roman period 1.3 Economic networks and food provisioning 1.4 Farming in a market economy 2 ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES: BACKGROUND 2.1 Data and methods 2.2 Classification of sites 2.3 Site background 3 ZOOARCHAEOLOGICAL BACKGROUND 3.1 Species proportions 3.2 Age and sex 3.3 Skeletal elements 3.4 Butchery 3.5 Biometrical analysis 4 METHODS 4.1 Taphonomy 4.2 Species proportions 4.3 Mortality profiles 4.4 Skeletal elements 4.5 Butchery 4.6 Biometrical analysis 4.7 Archaeobotany 5 rRURAL SETTLEMENTS: ANIMAL HUSBANDRY AND CONSUMPTION 5.1 Farming in the Late Iron Age 5.2 Taphonomy 5.3 Species proportions 5.4 Exploitation of livestock 5.5 Skeletal element distribution 5.6 Butchery 5.7 Biometrical analysis 5.8 Arable farming 5.9 Discussion 6 CONSUMERS: URBAN, MILITARY AND TEMPLE SITES 6.1 Taphonomy 6.2 Military sites 6.3 Urban/military sites 6.4 Urban sites 6.5 Temples 6.6 Discussion 7 INTERACTION BETWEEN PRODUCERS AND CONSUMERS 7.1 Species proportions 7.2 Exploitation of livestock 7.3 Skeletal elements: leather and joints of meat 7.4 Butchery 7.5 Biometrics 7.6 Archaeobotany 7.7 Discussion 8 FINAL THOUGHTS 8.1 Food supply 8.2 Changes in farming 8.3 Scale of production 8.4 What did the Romans do for us? Exploitation versus opportunity BIBLIOGRAPHY INDEX