Animal and human bone remains from a multicultural site in Bożejewice, site 58, Mogilno district

Abstract

The article contains the results of archaeozoological studies of remains discovered during rescue excavations at a multiphase settlement inhabited by peoples of several pre- historic cultures and in the Late Middle Ages. Since the most numerous homogeneous assemblage was discovered in a settlement inhabited by the Lusatian culture, the obvious goal of this article was to present the archaeozoological data obtained from it, then explain their cultural significance and compare them to records of other non-fortified settlements.

The data in the article consists of NISP (Number of identified specimens) of species and anatomical composition. Slaughter age was assessed mainly based on upper and lower dentition and the degree of epiphysis fusion. Where possible, the sex of the animals was determined. Bone measurements were made according to Angela von den Driesch, and the height of the withers was calculated by V.I. Calkin and Manfred Teichert.

In each chronological-cultural taxa, the most frequent are domesticated mammals, mainly cattle. It can, therefore, be assumed that the keeping of livestock by prehistoric

societies was the economic activity to which subsequent groups of people inhabiting the site paid the greatest importance, which was common in agricultural societies since the Neolithic. Different bones were used as a common and easily accessible raw material for making items.

The presence and high percentage of remains belonging to cattle, pigs, sheep and goats in Lusitanian culture indicates that societies of the culture obtained meat, fat and animal by-products primarily through breeding. An important feature of the examined collection is the presence of fish remains. The species composition and the small size of the pike allow the thesis that fishing was practiced in small and shallow lakes with an extensive shoreline, characterized by a significant degree of eutrophication.

Comparative data of animal taxa and their NISP are presented in Table 18. The longest list of taxa was established for collections exceeding 500 NISP. It most often consists of livestock, game mammals, birds and fish, and even reptiles, represented by the European pond turtle. The collection from Bruszczewo was assumed to be a representative model of fauna of economic importance for the Lusatian culture. It consists of 23 taxa belonging to mammals, birds, the European pond turtle and fish. Such a list leads to the conclusion that there was a wide spectrum of exploitation of natural fauna resources. NISP predominance of domestic mammals over free-living ones indicates the model of agriculture established since the Neolithic. In it, cattle usually played a key role, followed by small ruminants and pigs. Cattle were probably the most valued species, since their remains are numerous at most sites. Hence, in Bożejewice, subsistence economy was very similar. The low number of remains of only three game species in Bożejewice is due to the small number of NISP. It is more likely that if there were more remains, similarly to Bruszczewo, the list of this group would be much longer. At that time, a characteristic feature of the prehistoric agriculture societies, and therefore not only the Lusatian ones, was the opportunistic exploitation of natural fauna resources.

Among the animal remains, human specimens were observed in three features (130, 146 and 313). Based on a review of such cases from other sites of the Lusatian culture and analogies from the early Middle Ages, it was concluded that the human remains found in Bożejewice should be treated as the result of both cultural and post-depositional processes. They should, therefore, be subjected not only to archaeological contextual analysis but also to AMS 14C dating their deposition. It should also be noted that they were found not only in features attributed to the Lusatian culture population (features 130 and 146), but also in one of the features (313), which was dug into a destroyed skeletal burial of the Trzciniec culture. Therefore, the remains from features 130 and 146 may also be the result of depositional processes, e.g., destruction of older skeletal burials.