In human history food has not been only a mean of support and an outcome of economic strategies, ... more In human history food has not been only a mean of support and an outcome of economic strategies, but an expression of behaviour, values and ethic rules as well. Food habits show cultural options, reflect ideology and power structure, they are elements of familiar and political aggregation and therefore they are constitutive parts of the community and the social identity. The food system is a communication code that delivers different values and meanings, it is an instrument of self-description and cultural exchange. From the written sources the Greek society, during the identity creation process, appears to be featured by a constant will to self-portraying as civilized, in opposition of barbarity. But, while studying the eating habits of the ancient people, we need to consider, in addition to the written sources \u2013 often influenced by different elements \u2013 the archaeozoological analysis. The archaeozoological analysis of the faunal remains coming from the Greek colony of Leontini and from Monte Catalfaro \u2013 a native settlement in its inland \u2013 has proven sure enough that in the archaic-classic period the boundary between the "civilized" Greeks and "barbarian" natives was not so distinct and clear, instead has revealed the presence of elements of exchange and cultural integration
in L. GRASSO, F. CARUSO. R. GIGLI PATANÈ (a cura di), Sikelikà Hierà. Approcci multidisciplinari allo studio del sacro nella Sicilia greca, Atti del convegno di studi, Catania 11-12 giugno 2010, 2020
in A. MASTROCINQUE, C.M. MARCHETTI, R. SCAVONE (a cura di), Grumentum and Roman cities in Southern Italy, Grumento e le città romane nell’Italia meridionale, in BAR-International Series, 2016
This article presents the zooarchaeological study of animal remains brought to light in the so-ca... more This article presents the zooarchaeological study of animal remains brought to light in the so-called “Lucanian house” and in the sector S of Grumentum during the archaeological investigation of the University of Verona in 2010. The archaeozoological analysis allowed us to know some aspects of the ancient Roman town from the Republican period to the Late Antiquity. A few bones pertain to the earliest phases (2nd-1st B.C.) of the Lucanian house, and this can depend either on the restricted width of the trench or on the diet of the ancient Romans in this area. Before the Imperial Age, in fact, they normally consumed cereals, vegetables, cheese, and only a small quantity of flesh, mostly during some festivals and the related sacrifices. The main domestic mammals are represented, and especially caprine livestock, but also cattle and pigs. Goats, sheep and cattle were bred for secondary products: sheep for wool and milk, the second for ploughing. Caprine livestock was exploited for wool and cheese, two very important products in ancient Lucania, as we are also told by different sources and archaeological studies. These results confirm the data ascertained by previous analyses of contemporary animal bones from Temple D and the Forum of Grumentum. The animal bones from sector S come from the latest phase (6th-7th cent. A.D. ) of a residential building and pertain to a totally different situation. The zooarcheological study shows that in the Late Antiquity the animal breeding in Grumentum aimed at producing both secondaries products and meat. The majority of caprine remains and the scarce amount of cattle (butchered during their subadult age) could be seen as a sign of a agricultural crisis, which previewed a decrease of farmed land and an increase of breeding for the production of wool and cheese. The diet was based mainly on pig’s meat, and pigs were the most numerous animals in Lucania, to whom one could add the boars, hunted in the Lucanian woods. These results confirm that the consumption of meat was higher in the Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Age than in the previous periods, and this trend has been noticed in other zones of Grumentum and other sites of Lucania, as well, where a general increase of animal bones and a change in the documented species (a prevalence of pigs and caprine animals) are evident. Many were the historical and cultural factors which caused this change of the Roman diet and the increase of meat consumption: the agricultural crisis, the increasingly numerous uncultivated fields, the diffusion of pastoralism, the Christianization, and the contacts with Germanic peoples.
in R. BRANCATO, G. BUSACCA, M. MASSIMINO (a cura di), Archeologi in progress. Il cantiere dell’archeologia di domani, in Atti del V Convegno Nazionale dei Giovani Archeologi, Catania, 23-26 maggio 2013, 2015
in G. GUARDUCCI- S. VALENTINI (a cura di), Il futuro nell’archeologia. Il contributo dei giovani ricercatori, Atti del IV Convegno Nazionale dei Giovani Archeologi, Tuscania (VT), 12-15 maggio 2011, 2012
in P. PENSABENE- C. SFAMENI (a cura di), La villa restaurata e i nuovi studi sull’edilizia abitativa tardo antica nel Mediterraneo, Atti del convegno internazionale del Centro Interuniversitario di Studi sull’Edilizia abitativa tardoantica nel Mediterraneo (Piazza Armerina, 7-10 Novembre 2012), 2014
in L. BOMBARDIERI, A. D’AGOSTINO, G. GUARDUCCI, V. ORSI, S. VALENTINI (a cura di), SOMA 2012, Identity and Connectivity, Proceeding of 16th Symposium of Mediterranean Archaeology ,Florence, 1-3 Marzo 2012, BAR-International Series 2581, 2013
In human history food has not been only a mean of support and an outcome of economic strategies, ... more In human history food has not been only a mean of support and an outcome of economic strategies, but an expression of behaviour, values and ethic rules as well. Food habits show cultural options, reflect ideology and power structure, they are elements of familiar and political aggregation and therefore they are constitutive parts of the community and the social identity. The food system is a communication code that delivers different values and meanings, it is an instrument of self-description and cultural exchange. From the written sources the Greek society, during the identity creation process, appears to be featured by a constant will to self-portraying as civilized, in opposition of barbarity. But, while studying the eating habits of the ancient people, we need to consider, in addition to the written sources \u2013 often influenced by different elements \u2013 the archaeozoological analysis. The archaeozoological analysis of the faunal remains coming from the Greek colony of Leontini and from Monte Catalfaro \u2013 a native settlement in its inland \u2013 has proven sure enough that in the archaic-classic period the boundary between the "civilized" Greeks and "barbarian" natives was not so distinct and clear, instead has revealed the presence of elements of exchange and cultural integration
in L. GRASSO, F. CARUSO. R. GIGLI PATANÈ (a cura di), Sikelikà Hierà. Approcci multidisciplinari allo studio del sacro nella Sicilia greca, Atti del convegno di studi, Catania 11-12 giugno 2010, 2020
in A. MASTROCINQUE, C.M. MARCHETTI, R. SCAVONE (a cura di), Grumentum and Roman cities in Southern Italy, Grumento e le città romane nell’Italia meridionale, in BAR-International Series, 2016
This article presents the zooarchaeological study of animal remains brought to light in the so-ca... more This article presents the zooarchaeological study of animal remains brought to light in the so-called “Lucanian house” and in the sector S of Grumentum during the archaeological investigation of the University of Verona in 2010. The archaeozoological analysis allowed us to know some aspects of the ancient Roman town from the Republican period to the Late Antiquity. A few bones pertain to the earliest phases (2nd-1st B.C.) of the Lucanian house, and this can depend either on the restricted width of the trench or on the diet of the ancient Romans in this area. Before the Imperial Age, in fact, they normally consumed cereals, vegetables, cheese, and only a small quantity of flesh, mostly during some festivals and the related sacrifices. The main domestic mammals are represented, and especially caprine livestock, but also cattle and pigs. Goats, sheep and cattle were bred for secondary products: sheep for wool and milk, the second for ploughing. Caprine livestock was exploited for wool and cheese, two very important products in ancient Lucania, as we are also told by different sources and archaeological studies. These results confirm the data ascertained by previous analyses of contemporary animal bones from Temple D and the Forum of Grumentum. The animal bones from sector S come from the latest phase (6th-7th cent. A.D. ) of a residential building and pertain to a totally different situation. The zooarcheological study shows that in the Late Antiquity the animal breeding in Grumentum aimed at producing both secondaries products and meat. The majority of caprine remains and the scarce amount of cattle (butchered during their subadult age) could be seen as a sign of a agricultural crisis, which previewed a decrease of farmed land and an increase of breeding for the production of wool and cheese. The diet was based mainly on pig’s meat, and pigs were the most numerous animals in Lucania, to whom one could add the boars, hunted in the Lucanian woods. These results confirm that the consumption of meat was higher in the Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Age than in the previous periods, and this trend has been noticed in other zones of Grumentum and other sites of Lucania, as well, where a general increase of animal bones and a change in the documented species (a prevalence of pigs and caprine animals) are evident. Many were the historical and cultural factors which caused this change of the Roman diet and the increase of meat consumption: the agricultural crisis, the increasingly numerous uncultivated fields, the diffusion of pastoralism, the Christianization, and the contacts with Germanic peoples.
in R. BRANCATO, G. BUSACCA, M. MASSIMINO (a cura di), Archeologi in progress. Il cantiere dell’archeologia di domani, in Atti del V Convegno Nazionale dei Giovani Archeologi, Catania, 23-26 maggio 2013, 2015
in G. GUARDUCCI- S. VALENTINI (a cura di), Il futuro nell’archeologia. Il contributo dei giovani ricercatori, Atti del IV Convegno Nazionale dei Giovani Archeologi, Tuscania (VT), 12-15 maggio 2011, 2012
in P. PENSABENE- C. SFAMENI (a cura di), La villa restaurata e i nuovi studi sull’edilizia abitativa tardo antica nel Mediterraneo, Atti del convegno internazionale del Centro Interuniversitario di Studi sull’Edilizia abitativa tardoantica nel Mediterraneo (Piazza Armerina, 7-10 Novembre 2012), 2014
in L. BOMBARDIERI, A. D’AGOSTINO, G. GUARDUCCI, V. ORSI, S. VALENTINI (a cura di), SOMA 2012, Identity and Connectivity, Proceeding of 16th Symposium of Mediterranean Archaeology ,Florence, 1-3 Marzo 2012, BAR-International Series 2581, 2013
Uploads
A few bones pertain to the earliest phases (2nd-1st B.C.) of the Lucanian house, and this can depend either on the restricted width of the trench or on the diet of the ancient Romans in this area. Before the Imperial Age, in fact, they normally consumed cereals, vegetables, cheese, and only a small quantity of flesh, mostly during some festivals and the related sacrifices. The main domestic mammals are represented, and especially caprine livestock, but also cattle and pigs. Goats, sheep and cattle were bred for secondary products: sheep for wool and milk, the second for ploughing. Caprine livestock was exploited for wool and cheese, two very important products in ancient Lucania, as we are also told by different sources and archaeological studies. These results confirm the data ascertained by previous analyses of contemporary animal bones from Temple D and the Forum of Grumentum.
The animal bones from sector S come from the latest phase (6th-7th cent. A.D. ) of a residential building and pertain to a totally different situation. The zooarcheological study shows that in the Late Antiquity the animal breeding in Grumentum aimed at producing both secondaries products and meat. The majority of caprine remains and the scarce amount of cattle (butchered during their subadult age) could be seen as a sign of a agricultural crisis, which previewed a decrease of farmed land and an increase of breeding for the production of wool and cheese. The diet was based mainly on pig’s meat, and pigs were the most numerous animals in Lucania, to whom one could add the boars, hunted in the Lucanian woods.
These results confirm that the consumption of meat was higher in the Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Age than in the previous periods, and this trend has been noticed in other zones of Grumentum and other sites of Lucania, as well, where a general increase of animal bones and a change in the documented species (a prevalence of pigs and caprine animals) are evident.
Many were the historical and cultural factors which caused this change of the Roman diet and the increase of meat consumption: the agricultural crisis, the increasingly numerous uncultivated fields, the diffusion of pastoralism, the Christianization, and the contacts with Germanic peoples.
A few bones pertain to the earliest phases (2nd-1st B.C.) of the Lucanian house, and this can depend either on the restricted width of the trench or on the diet of the ancient Romans in this area. Before the Imperial Age, in fact, they normally consumed cereals, vegetables, cheese, and only a small quantity of flesh, mostly during some festivals and the related sacrifices. The main domestic mammals are represented, and especially caprine livestock, but also cattle and pigs. Goats, sheep and cattle were bred for secondary products: sheep for wool and milk, the second for ploughing. Caprine livestock was exploited for wool and cheese, two very important products in ancient Lucania, as we are also told by different sources and archaeological studies. These results confirm the data ascertained by previous analyses of contemporary animal bones from Temple D and the Forum of Grumentum.
The animal bones from sector S come from the latest phase (6th-7th cent. A.D. ) of a residential building and pertain to a totally different situation. The zooarcheological study shows that in the Late Antiquity the animal breeding in Grumentum aimed at producing both secondaries products and meat. The majority of caprine remains and the scarce amount of cattle (butchered during their subadult age) could be seen as a sign of a agricultural crisis, which previewed a decrease of farmed land and an increase of breeding for the production of wool and cheese. The diet was based mainly on pig’s meat, and pigs were the most numerous animals in Lucania, to whom one could add the boars, hunted in the Lucanian woods.
These results confirm that the consumption of meat was higher in the Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Age than in the previous periods, and this trend has been noticed in other zones of Grumentum and other sites of Lucania, as well, where a general increase of animal bones and a change in the documented species (a prevalence of pigs and caprine animals) are evident.
Many were the historical and cultural factors which caused this change of the Roman diet and the increase of meat consumption: the agricultural crisis, the increasingly numerous uncultivated fields, the diffusion of pastoralism, the Christianization, and the contacts with Germanic peoples.