This week Lídia Colominas is in Belgrade (Serbia) presenting a collaborative work (ICAC, Bucknell University, UAB) on aristocracy and animals in the Roman residence of els Munts (Tarragona) at the ICAZ- 4th RPWG Conference https://bioarchlab.rs/icaz-4thrpwg/
Abstract:
“Aristocracy and animals: A glimpse of human diet and animal and animal products supply systems in the Roman residence of els Munts (Tarragona, north-east of the Iberian Peninsula)”
Lídia Colominas1, Katie Tardio2, Rosa Soler1, Rubén de la Fuente Seoane3, M. Eulàlia Subirà4
1. Institut Català d’Arqueologia Clàssica (Tarragona)
2. Bucknell University (Lewisburg, PA, USA)
3. Unitat d’Antropologia Biològica, Dpt, BABVE. Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (Bellaterra).
4. GREAB. Unitat d’Antropologia Biològica, Dpt, BABVE. Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (Bellaterra)
The Vil·la dels Munts was an opulent aristocratic residence, located only 12 km from Tarraco, capital of Hispania Tarraconensis. This villa had a long life from its beginnings in the 2nd century BC to its abandonment at the end of the 7th century AD, and it is said to have housed many distinguished figures, including the Emperor Hadrian on his visit to Tarraco at the end of the 122. The wealth and luxury surrounding this villa allow for a unique examination of both elite culture within the villa and its links to Tarraco.
To do this, we studied 725 faunal remains (NISP) dating from the 2nd to the 5th century AD, a time period in which important social, economic and political changes occurred at the villa and in the region. Carbon and nitrogen isotope (δ13C/δ15N) analyses of bone collagen from 63 specimens from 11 different species were also performed.
These studies have allowed us to document changes in the human meat diet during this time period, with a predominance of suckling pigs in 3rd century AD. Conversely, cattle became more abundant in the Late Roman period, probably signalling a shift to a more agriculturally intensive economy at the villa. The data have also shed light on animal and animal products supply systems developed at the villa, with a prominent role of fallow dear throughout the time period studied here.
Lídia Colominas is a Ramón y Cajal fellow with the project Roman expansion and acculturations at both sides of the Mediterranean: searching for patterns, rates and singularities through archaeozoology. (RYC-2019-026732-I) funded by MICIU/AEI /10.13039/501100011033 and by “FSE invierte en tu futuro”.
