On the Fauna of the Hillfort of Tiasty, Verkhnedvinsky District, Vitebsk Region, Based on the Results of Excavations in 1981 and 2019
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24852/2587-6112.2023.1.70.77Keywords:
archaeozoology, Belarus, Dnieper-Dvina culture, hillforts, animal husbandry, hunting, identification of osteological material, faunistic remains, 1st – 4th centuries AD.Abstract
The data on faunal remains discovered during excavations at the hillfort of Tiasty (Marylina Gora) in the Verkhnedvinsk district of the Vitebsk region in 1981 and 2019 are published in the article. Most part of the osteological material is highly fragmented. There are traces of cutting tools and dog bites characteristic of kitchen remains on many fragments, some of the bones were subjected with thermal treatment. The population of the Tiasty hillfort was dominated by animal husbandry, especially by cattle, which was used not only for meat, but also for milk. The remains of the domestic pig were the second largest part of osteological material. The percentage of bone remains of cattle and domestic pigs found in the hillfort of Tiasty is higher than at other settlements of the early Iron Age in the territory of Northern Belarus. The remains of small cattle and horses, on the contrary, are atypically few, in comparison with other monuments of the north of Belarus and adjacent territories. The inhabitants of the settlement preferred to hunt for large ungulates – elk and deer, but also hunted wild boar, roe deer, beaver, marten and bear, that correlates with hunting at other sites of the forest zone.
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