Where did the herds go? Combining zooarchaeological and isotopic data to examine animal management in ancient Thessaly (Greece)

Historians and archaeologists have been debating the scale of animal husbandry in ancient Greece for decades. This study contributes to the debate by examining Classical and Hellenistic faunal assemblages from Magoula Plataniotki, New Halos, and Pherae through non-destructive zooarchaeological metho...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inPloS one Vol. 19; no. 10; p. e0299788
Main Authors Filioglou, Dimitris, Valenzuela-Lamas, Silvia, Patterson, William P, Pena, Leopoldo D, Presslee, Samantha, Timsic, Sandra, Huertas, Antonio Delgado, Prummel, Wietske, Çakirlar, Canan
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States Public Library of Science 22.10.2024
Subjects
3rd century
Animal culture
Animal husbandry
Animal Husbandry - history
Animal Husbandry - methods
Animal models
Animals
Archaeology
Archaeology - methods
Biology and Life Sciences
Carbon 13
Carbon Isotopes - analysis
Centuries
Earth Sciences
Economic models
Ethnography
Farming
Fertility
Greece
Greece, Ancient
Greek civilization
Hellenistic
History
History, Ancient
Livestock
Livestock industry
Management
Medicine and Health Sciences
Mountains
Nondestructive testing
Pastoralism
Political power
Strontium 87
Greece
Greece, Ancient
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:Historians and archaeologists have been debating the scale of animal husbandry in ancient Greece for decades. This study contributes to the debate by examining Classical and Hellenistic faunal assemblages from Magoula Plataniotki, New Halos, and Pherae through non-destructive zooarchaeological methods and a multi-isotopic (87Sr/86Sr, δ13C, and δ18O) approach. Zooarchaeological data suggest that small-scale sedentary animal husbandry focused on caprine production in Magoula Plataniotiki and New Halos, and small-scale and semi-specialised animal husbandry was practised in Pherae. Isotopic data show both sedentary and mobile management of livestock in all sites, indicating different levels of production intensity and variety of goals. Based on our results, we propose an economic model whereby semi-specialised and small-scale animal husbandry co-existed, confirming mixed husbandry models for ancient Greece.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
content type line 23
Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0299788