Until a few decades ago, the information on Roman livestock practices was obtained through written sources. But reconstructing them on the basis of ancient texts has proven to be insufficient. Fortunately, the study of the faunal remains recovered from Roman sites has now become standard. This has allowed to build up a robust corpus of archaeozoological data that has allowed to characterize the animal husbandry practices in different areas of the Roman Empire, establishing the real importance of this activity in to Roman economy and society.
In this research context, the PASTORA project takes a step forward. With this project we aim to investigate how and where animals were fed, as well as the food management systems used.
To achieve this, we will use an interdisciplinary approach. We will integrate to the information provided by the written sources, the information provided by the archaeozoology and the biogeochemistry. All this information will also be contextualised with the available paleoenvironmental record.
We will select wild (leporids and cervids) and domestic (sheep, goat, pig, cattle, horse and fowl) faunal remains from villas and rural settlements of the Hispania citerior province.
The results of this project will constitute a fundamental step in our knowledge of Roman livestock management, and in the current debate around the balance between agriculture, livestock and forest management.
Project Funded by Agencia Estatal de Investigación
