Aspekte der Tiernutzung in römischer Zeit am Beispiel der Mikroregion von Pergamon in Kleinasien

Abstract

Around 12,400 animal bones and molluscs from the Banquet Hall of Pergamon have been analysed, dating to the early and late Imperial period. Due to the degree of fragmentation, it can be seen that a large proportion of the animal remains are nutrition and slaughtering waste. In addition an antler was found, which was processed as raw material by handcrafting. Most of the bone remains can be assigned to domestic mammals, followed by wild mammals, fish and birds. Bones of sheep and goats are the most common finds. Slaughter age distribution and sex ratios of the domestic mammals indicate that the animals were kept in rural settlements around the city. However dairy farming of sheep and goats in the city seems possible. The even distribution of the skeletal remains over the skeleton shows that the animals came to the city alive and were only slaughtered on site. The wide range of wild animal species found in the Banquet Hall points to an environment rich in vegetation in the Roman Imperial period. A cross-regional comparison of the use of domestic mammals shows that the order of the domestic mammal species and the husbandry strategies vary at the sites.