Subsistence strategies in the transition from the Late Antiquity to the Medieval period (fourth to fifth centuries): the case of the faunal assemblage Roman Villa of San Pelayo (Aldealengua, Salamanca, Spain)

Abstract

The study of archaeological remains from Late Antiquity in the Iberian Peninsula has developedsignificantly in recent years. However, interest has been directed primarily towards material culture,while biotic remains have been a secondary research topic. The present article analyses the faunalremains obtained in the excavations carried out in 2001 at the site of San Pelayo (Salamanca), asettlement interpreted as a Roman villa. The material found has been dated to the transition fromthe fourth to the fifth century, a period when the site had already lost its function as an aristocraticresidence. The faunal remains have been analysed from the anatomical, taxonomic, osteometric andtaphonomic perspectives in order to obtain information on the economy of the settlement. The analysisreveals that meat consumption came mainly from a livestock herd made up of sheep and goatsand, to a lesser extent, cattle and suidae. Other animal resources were acquired from wild mammals(red deer and rabbits), although hunting can be considered a secondary activity in San Pelayo. Thediet also included resources from areas near the site, such as birds, fish and molluscs. Finally, we havedocumented the use of animal bone and antler for the production of a bone industry; determiningthe operational processes involved in the transformation of these raw materials into objects.