History of Animal Husbandry

The current article presents the archaeological and archaeozoological evidence about the exploitation and utility of sheep wool for garments in Austria and its neighbouring countries. For this aim, the finds of sheep bone and textiles will be discussed, combined and evaluated in order to gain insights into the history of sheep, and especially its economic exploitation. The finds derive mainly from sites in Austria from the Neolithic to the Roman period. In present day, cattle and pigs are by far the most common farm animals in Austria; the wild forms of both species have/had their natural habitat here. Nevertheless, the archaeozoological and archaeological results show that sheep have gained a place in the cultural history of Austria too. To name one example, textiles from Hallstatt salt mine indicate that sheep wool products played a very important role in Central Europe as early as the Middle Bronze Age.

After cattle, sheep were in Austrians prehistory the most relevant domesticated animals, but their relevance shifted between periods in which the human subsistence based on sheep and periods with minor importance. Possible reasons for these dynamics from the Neolithic to the Roman period are investigated. Another focus of the study is directed to the different products of sheep and in particular the emergence of woolly sheep. Using the Logarithmic Size Index (LSI) technique on previously published morphometrical data we found no indication of an introduction of a larger, foreign kind of woolly sheep as assumed hitherto. From Middle Neolithic to Germanic settlements of the Roman period hardly any differences in size of sheep can be determined. Only in Roman period a statistically highly significant larger sheep breed occurred. At least in Austria but presumably in most European regions the development of sheep with woolly fleece seems to have been a multiple and independent event produced by human selection. The larger sheep recorded in Roman periods were very probably introduced from Roman stocks. Zusammenfassung Nach den Rindern waren Schafe in Österreichs Vorgeschichte meist die wirtschaftlich zweit-wichtigsten Haustiere. Ihre Bedeutung schwankte allerdings im Laufe der Zeit von Perioden, in denen die menschliche Nahrungsökonomie ganz wesentlich auf der Schafhaltung beruhte, bis zu Zeiten von untergeordneterer Relevanz. Ausgehend von morphometrischen Untersu-chungen bereits publizierter Knochenmaße mittels Logarithmic Size Index (LSI) werden mög-liche Gründe für diese Unterschiede und Veränderungen vom Neolithikum bis zur Römischen Kaiserzeit diskutiert. Ein weiterer Schwerpunkt des Beitrags liegt auf den unterschiedlichen

Dear colleagues,

We are glad to invite you the attend the “Second International Congress on the Anthropology of Salt”, organized between the 12th and 16th of October 2017 in Los Cabos, Mexico — http://saluniversalis.com

Themes — http://saluniversalis.com/themes
Presentations are invited on any of the following open themes: Salt and Gastronomy, Salt and Medicine, Shamanism, magic, esoterism and witchcraft, Art and salt, Tourism and salt, Religion Rituals and salt, Ecotourism and salt, Salt and science, Salt, astronomy and NASA, Economy and salt, History and salt, Prehistory and salt, Lexicon and vocabulary of salt, Toponymy, Literature and salt, Salt inheritance, Archaeology and salt, Salt, Art rock and petroglyphs, Sal and technology, Health and medicine, Salt and industry, Salt and ancient costumes, Salt and indigenous culture, Salt and university education, Salt palaeontology, Salt and artcraft, Salt and environment, Microbial carpets and salt, Salt and biology, Salt and geology, Salt, beauty, cosmetics and make up, Cinema, music and arts of salt, Photography and salt, Salt and tanning leather, The Encyclopedia of Salt, etc.

Key dates — http://saluniversalis.com/important-dates
– session/workshops proposals submission: 1 January–31 March 2017
– session/workshops proposals: notification of acceptance: 1–16 April 2017
– individual contribution: submission: 17 April–31 July 2017
– individual contribution: notification of acceptance: 1–10 July 2017

Please print and share this call with anyone who might be interested in attending, and this includes not only anthropologists and archaeologists, but also historians, geographers, linguists, etc. You can find more information on the event on its dedicated webpage: http://saluniversalis.com


The Organizing Committee

El análisis arqueológico del altiplano en torno a las ciudades de Baza o Huéscar y el área en torno al Campo de Zafarraya y la ciudad de Vélez Málaga, ha permitido abrir un enfoque que, hasta la fecha, sólo había sido perfilado a partir del estudio de las fuentes escritas. Ambos espacios, situados en extremos opuestos del surco Intrabético, que actuó como eje territorial del reino nazarí de Granada, han arrojado luz sobre la actividad ganadera y su importancia en el periodo final de al-Andalus. Las marcadas diferencias entre ambos, en cuanto a características físicas y huellas antropológicas y arqueológicas, ponen de manifiesto, nuevamente, la complejidad de una sociedad cuya relación con el medio físico marca la pauta de su propio desarrollo.
[ENGLISH]: The archaeological analysis of the plateau around the cities of Baza or Huéscar and the area around Campo de Zafarraya and the city of Vélez-Málaga has allowed an approach that, until now, had only been outlined from the study of the written sources. Both spaces, located at opposite ends of the «Surco Intrabetico» (Intrabetic Basin), which acted as a territorial axis of the Nasrid kingdom of Granada, have shed light on livestock activity and its importance in the final period of al-Andalus. The marked differences between the two territories, in terms of physical characteristics and anthropological and archaeological footprints, reveal the complexity of a society whose relationship with the physical environment marks its own development.

Call for Papers

THIRD INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS ON THE ANTHROPOLOGY OF SALT
12–15 September 2018, Salinas de Añana, Basque Country, Spain

vallesalado.com/congressalt


Dear colleagues,

We are glad to invite you the attend the “Third International Congress on the Anthropology of Salt”, organized between the 12th and 15th of  September 2018, in Salinas de Añana, Basque Country, Spain — vallesalado.com/congressalt

Please print and share this call with anyone who might be interested in attending, and this includes not only anthropologists and archaeologists, but also historians, geographers, linguists, and specialists from any domain researching common salt.

You can find more information on the event on its dedicated webpage:  vallesalado.com/congressalt [ENG] / vallesalado.com/congresosal [ESP]


The Scientific Committee