Animal husbandry during Early and High Middle Ages in the Basque Country (Spain)

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Quaternary International xxx (2014) 1e11

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Animal husbandry during Early and High Middle Ages in the BasqueCountry (Spain)

Carmina Sirignano a, *, Idoia Grau Sologestoa b, Paola Ricci a, Maite Iris García-Collado b,Simona Altieri a, Juan Antonio Quir�os Castillo b, Carmine Lubritto a

a Second University of Naples, Department of Environmental Science and Technology (DiSTABiF) and CIRCE Lab, Via Vivaldi 43, I-81100, Caserta, Italyb University of Basque Country (UPV-EHU), Department of Geography, Prehistory and Archaeology, Calle F. Tom�as y Valiente s/n, E-01006, Vitoria-Gasteiz,Spain

a r t i c l e i n f o

Article history:Available online xxx

Keywords:Livestock managementFeeding practicesFoddering practicesAnimal palaeodietKill-off patternsStable isotopes

* Corresponding author.E-mail address: [email protected] (C. S

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a b s t r a c t

This work presents a preliminary approach to the characterization of animal husbandry practices in theprovince of �Alava (Basque Country) and Trevi~no (Burgos, Castilla y Le�on) during Early and High MiddleAges. The faunal remains recovered at the rural sites of Aistra (6the12th c.), Zornoztegi (4the12th c.),Zaballa (8the13th c.), Dulantzi (5the7th c.) and the castle of Trevi~no (10the11th c.) were analysed. Thezooarchaeological analysis, based on taxonomic identification, biometry and the study of the kill-offpatterns, was integrated with carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analysis performed on collagenextracted from fauna bones. Results indicate sedentary animal husbandry integrated with intensiveagriculture. Other bioarchaeological and palaeoenvironmental records were also considered in theinterpretation, suggesting short distance vertical transhumance. Important transformations of the hus-bandry patterns throughout the Middle Ages, which can be related to socioeconomic changes andmodifications of the landscape, were also verified.

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1. Introduction

Medieval animal husbandry in Spain is a complex topic that canbe tackled from different perspectives, such as documentary evi-dence or zooarchaeology. Available documentary evidence pro-vides a very partial insight into this research topic. Most writtensources deal with the management of large herds of animals,owned by the aristocracy and monasteries, but they rarely consti-tute a valuable source for analysing the reality of peasant com-munities. Documentary evidence is more numerous and moredetailed for the later periods of theMiddle Ages, but the limitationsare still huge for the first medieval centuries. Spanish traditionalhistoriography on medieval animal husbandry has mainly workedon three topics: the management of monastic herds, large scaleovine transhumance, and the provisioning of towns. These threepoints constitute true historiographical genres and have motivateda remarkable number of research efforts (Escalona, 2001; García deCort�azar and Martínez Sopena, 2003). Moreover, the study ofpeasant communities in the northern Iberian Peninsula, and more

irignano).

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, C., et al., Animal husbandryoi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2014.0

specifically in the Basque Country, has always been affected by twopreconceptions: on one hand, the predominance of pastoral andsemi-nomadic societies after the collapse of the Roman Empire anduntil High Middle Ages and, on the other, the idea that, from Pre-historic times, traditional societies were based on animal hus-bandry. In this context, this paper contributes to understand theevolution of animal husbandry practices along Early and HighMiddle Ages in the Basque Country, through the zooarchaeologicalanalysis of several fauna assemblages and the analysis of stableisotopes of a sample of these faunal remains, leaving aside suchhistoriographical paradigms.

Zooarchaeology is the archaeological discipline that studies theinteraction between humans and animals through the study ofanimal remains recovered in archaeological sites. Animals weregoods that had a social function in past societies, determined bycultural attributes that were originated by the possession, man-agement and distribution of livestock and animal by-products(O'Connor, 1992). Utilizing animal remains as evidence, zooarch-aeology can address a wide range of archaeological issues such asconsumption patterns and, in an indirect way, production systems(O'Connor, 2008; Reitz andWing, 2008). Some of themethodsmorecommonly used by zooarchaeologists to approach the study ofsubsistence strategies are taxonomic identification and analysis of

during Early and High Middle Ages in the Basque Country (Spain),5.042

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C. Sirignano et al. / Quaternary International xxx (2014) 1e112

the kill-off patterns of the main domestic animals. Multiple socio-economic aspects can be tackled through this ‘traditional’zooarchaeological research, while biomolecular archaeology rep-resents a tool for complementing and clarifying these topics.Studies which integrate zooarchaeological research and stableisotope analyses are still rare, but isotopic biogeochemistry appliedto zooarchaeology is a fast growing field (Birch, 2013). Stableisotope analysis has been recently incorporated to zooarchaeo-logical research, broadening its field of application and addingimportant information to research about animal feeding practicesand animal mobility, among other aspects.

Isotopic analysis of bone collagen has long been used as aquantitative technique for reconstructing archaeological humanand faunal diet. This analysis is based on the principle that foodsources contain different isotopic signatures that travel along thefood chain from food to consumers and from prey to predators(DeNiro and Epstein, 1978; Deniro and Epstein, 1981; Schoeningerand DeNiro, 1984; Schoeninger, 1985; Ambrose, 1991; Schwarcz,1991; Schwarcz and Schoeninger, 1991; Ambrose and Krigbaum,2003; Lee-Thorp, 2008 and others). When studying past humandietary patterns, faunal remains are usually used as references ofthe ecological baselines of the site, in order to allow comparisonsbetween different populations (Fuller et al., 2012). However, dietarypatterns of faunal remains are increasingly being studied to answerquestions specifically regarding animal husbandry practices andwild game management, rather than being relegated to compara-tive datasets for human diet (e.g. Madgwick et al., 2013; Stevens

Fig. 1. Location of the site

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et al., 2013). Research is often directed to the study of prehistoricor protohistorical sites (e.g. Casta~nos et al., 2014) or cover a widechronology, offering a diachronic picture of the evolution of hus-bandry practices (e.g. Richards et al., 2006; Fuller et al., 2012;Müldner et al., 2014). Nevertheless, in the last years there hasbeen a growing interest on applying this type of analysis to his-torical periods, such as the Middle Ages, when important changesin agricultural systems occurred. For example, a recent study hasfocused on specific questions about certain peculiar foragingpractices of medieval pigs (Hammond and O'Connor, 2013),confuting previous evidence about feeding pigs on domestic waste(Müldner and Richards, 2007). Elsewhere, zooarchaeological evi-dence, together with stable isotope analysis, is providing evidenceof significant changes during 14th c. towards more controlledbreeding and feeding practices in English pig husbandry (Hamiltonand Thomas, 2012). In the Iberian Peninsula, stable isotopes anal-ysis on animals frommedieval contexts is still rare. Instead of beinga research subject themselves, these data are generally derivedfrom the palaeodietary study of human assemblages and animaldiet is only considered as a crosscutting topic. The most significantworks, which are still unpublished, have covered medieval faunalremains from Madrid (García-Collado, 2012), Galicia (L�opez Costas,2012) and the Levant of the Iberian Peninsula (Mundee, 2010).

During the last few years this research group has been studyingfarming practices of medieval settlements within a larger projectaimed to the understanding of the complex agrarian productionsystems and the social organization of rural communities in the

s cited in this paper.


Table 3NISP and MNI at Zornoztegi (Agurain, �Alava) in different periods.

Zornoztegi Zornoztegi I(4the5th c.)

Zornoztegi II(8the10th c.)

Zornoztegi III(11the12th c.)

NISP MNI NISP MNI NISP MNI

Sheep/goat 402 24 32.5 2 49 5Cattle 222.5 9 143 4 29 2Pig 113.5 10 41 2 44.5 2Equids 4 1 21 1 6 1Dog 1 1 4 1 6 1Cat e e 63.5 3 9 1Galliformes 2 1 6 1 27 4Others 20.5 e 35 e 63 e

Table 4NISP and MNI at Zaballa (Iru~na de Oca, �Alava) in different periods.

Zaballa Zaballa I (8the10th c.) Zaballa II (10the13th c.)

C. Sirignano et al. / Quaternary International xxx (2014) 1e11 3

Basque Country (northwestern Spain) (Quir�os Castillo, 2012; Quir�osCastillo et al., 2013; Quir�os Castillo, 2014). Even though majorarchaeological projects have been conducted in this territory, pri-mary deposits are uncommon, and a large number of archae-ozoological assemblages have not been investigated. Moreover, theinterpretation of the evidence has traditionally been shaped byhistorical paradigms based on the contrast between (Roman)agrarian societies and (Early Medieval) livestock societies. Thecollapse of the Roman Empire is considered to have resulted in adeep economic regression, the end of agrarian activities, and thebeginning of the central role of animal husbandry. The aim of thispaper is to attempt a preliminary approach to animal husbandrypractices and livestock management in the Basque regionthroughout the Middle Ages, combining the zooarchaeologicalstudy of animal remains with stable isotope analysis. We analyseearly medieval economy in terms of social complexity and criticisesimplistic assessments based on the mere comparison between theRoman agrarian model and the early medieval husbandry activity.

NISP MNI NISP MNI

Sheep/goat 264.5 9 55 3Cattle 127 4 31 3Pig 131.5 4 76 3Equids 15 1 3 1Dog 123.75 3 2 1Cat e e e e

Galliformes 9 1 12 2Others 60 e 17.5 e

Table 5NISP and MNI at Dulantzi (Alegria, �Alava).

Dulantzi 5the7th c.

NISP MNI

Sheep/goat 50 4Cattle 11 1Pig 24 2Equids 1 1Dog 1 1Cat e e

2. Description of the sites

The faunal remains analysed in this paper were collected fromfive rural sites located in the southern area of the Basque Country(Aistra, Zornoztegi, Zaballa and Dulantzi) and its surroundings(Trevi~no). The location of the sites, as well as other geographicreferences mentioned in this paper, is shown in Fig. 1.

In chronological terms, these five sites are dated to the MiddleAges and span from 4th to 13th c. Therefore, these sites arerepresentative of both Early Middle Ages (5the10th), traditionallyknown as a period of simplified social structures and economicdecline, and High Middle Ages (11the13th), considered in contrastas a moment of sustained economic growth. The sampling carriedout at the sites of Dulantzi and Trevi~no is essentially representativeof single periods, Early and HighMiddle Ages, respectively, whereasother sites show heterogeneous chronological features. In suchcases, Roman numerals (increasing from older to more recent pe-riods) have been appended to the site name in order to highlightdifferent periods of the same site (eg. Aistra I, from 6th to 7thcentury, Aistra II from 8th to 9th century; see Tables 2, 3 and 4 forthe complete list).

Table 1Characteristics of the faunal assemblages.

Site N. fragments NISP Chronology

Aistra 6924 1447 6the12thZornoztegi 8858 1638 4the5th, 8the12thZaballa 9864 1150 8the13thDulantzi 1268 334 5the7thTrevi~no 581 101 10the11th

Table 2NISP and MNI at Aistra (Zalduondo, �Alava) in different periods.

Aistra Aistra I(6the7th c.)

Aistra II(8the9th c.)

Aistra III(10the12th c.)

NISP MNI NISP MNI NISP MNI

Sheep/goat 126 8 84 7 160 10Cattle 93.5 4 94 5 136.5 6Pig 136 4 76.5 5 112.5 5Equids 8 1 15 1 23 1Dog 1 1 4 1 5 1Cat e e e e e e

Galliformes 2 1 2 1 e e

Others 46 e 74.5 e 39.5 e


Galliformes 14 2Others 7.4 e

Four of these sites (Aistra, Zornoztegi, Zaballa and Dulantzi)are located in the �Alava Plain (Llanada Alavesa), an inland ter-ritory situated in the upper valley of the Ebro River, borderedby mountains between 800 and 1100 m above sea level. Duringthe Middle Ages, these elevated zones were covered by denseforests and mountainous summer pastures. From the HighMiddle Ages on, this territory was dominated by the city ofVitoria-Gasteiz, current capital of Basque Country, which islocated about 60 km from the coast. The fifth site (Trevi~no)analysed is situated in the homonymous county, which oc-cupies the Ayuda valley, a tributary of the Ebro River. Thisterritory is south of the �Alava Plain and currently belongs tothe province of Burgos.

Aistra (Zalduondo, �Alava), the first site considered here, wasfounded in the 6th c. near an unidentified Roman site and wasinhabited until the Late Middle Ages (Quir�os Castillo, 2011a). Thisdeserted village shows several indicators of the presence of hier-archical structures since its earliest phases. These include twolarge longhouses built between 7th and 9th c., a lyriforme belt


Table 6NISP and MNI at Trevi~no (Condado de Trevi~no, Burgos).

Trevi~no 10the11th c.

NISP MNI

Sheep/goat 40 2Cattle 14 1Pig 33 2Equids 1 1Dog 1 1Galliformes 8 1Others 4 e


buckle and other objects of self-adornment dated to the 7th c., andthe private church of San Juli�an and Santa Basilisa of Aistra, whichwas erected in the 10th c. and remains as one of the oldest ma-sonry medieval constructions in the Basque Country.

The village of Zornoztegi shows a different social structure.The site was occupied since the Late Roman period (4the5th c.)by a very small rural community, probably a farmstead thatseems to have been related to a larger rural community, stillundiscovered. The site was occupied during the 6th and 7th c.,but it was not until 8th c. that it became a proper village with astable community, which stayed on the hill until the mid-13th c.There were no signs of marked social differences inside thevillage, and the inhabitants were mainly peasants (Quir�osCastillo, 2011a).

The site of Dulantzi presents an interesting settlementsequence. A church and some domestic buildings were con-structed during the 6th c. Inside the church were found 19 graves,10 of them containing grave goods and weapons. As the analysis ofhuman stable isotopes has shown, most of these individuals wereof local origin (Ortega et al., 2013). The church was used until the11th c., but from the 8th c. on the burial area grew and expandedaround the building, becoming the cemetery of the peasantcommunity.

At the site of Zaballa, a complex occupation sequencewas found.This included the presence of a farm during 6th and 7th c., thefoundation of a large village in the 8th c., and the construction of aseigniorial monastery in the 10th c. The deep transformation of thelocal community into a society withmarked social differences and ahierarchical organization occurred between the 10th and 12th c.and is attested by archaeological evidence, such as the recon-struction of dietary patterns through stable isotope analysis(Lubritto et al., 2013), the discovery of a coin hoard, and other socialstatus markers.

The fortified village of Trevi~no (Condado de Trevi~no, Burgos)was founded in the 10th c. by secular lords who gathered agroup of farmers within a fortified enclosure, adjacent to aseigniorial fortified residence, following the pattern of theincastellamento (Quir�os Castillo, 2011b). During the 12th c., thefortified village was endowed with a church devoted to SantaMaría, and the original castle became a small town under royalrule.

3. Materials and methods

The methodology used for the zooarchaeological analysis isessentially the one explained by Davis (1992) and Albarella andDavis (1994), with some specifications that were outlined by GrauSologestoa (2009). The kill-off patterns of the domestic mammalswere analysed through the combination of two ageing methods:the teeth wear stage (as explained by Payne, 1973, 1987; Grant,1982; O'Connor, 1988) and the fusion stage of the epiphyses (ac-cording to Silver, 1963). On the other hand, the approximate age atslaughter of domestic fowl was calculated according to thesponginess of long bones.

Stable isotope ratio of carbon (C) is reported as 13C/12C, andnitrogen (N) stable isotope ratio is referred as 15N/14N. The relativedifference of the stable isotope ratio as compared to the ratio ofthe proper international primary standard is here given in deltanotation as d13C for C and d15N for N. d13C reflects mainly thephotosynthetic pathway of the plants that an animal eats or, incarnivores, the plants that are eaten by their prey. The mostcommon photosynthetic pathways are C3 and C4, so namedbecause the biochemical processes initially produce moleculesbearing three and four C atoms, respectively. Compared to eachothers, C3 plants are relatively depleted in 13C, in contrast with C4


plants, which are relatively 13C-enriched (O'Leary, 1981; Farquharet al., 1989). Bone collagen d15N values are closely related to pro-tein sources and they vary depending on the proportions of plantversus animal proteins, as well as with different terrestrial versusmarine protein sources intake proportions. N from the atmosphereenters the human food web through consumed plants and ani-mals. Many leguminous plants have symbiotic relationships withbacteria that fix nitrogen directly from the atmosphere (d15N ofatmospheric air is 0‰ by definition). Thus they are not enriched in15N (Schwarcz and Schoeninger, 1991). However, most non legu-minous plants obtain nitrogen from compounds in the soil andhave higher values of d15N than the atmosphere (Galloway et al.,2004). Either human or animal, the isotopic signature of an indi-vidual is enriched in its d15N in relation to the plants and animalseaten. In this way, consumers have d15N values from 2.2 to 3.4‰higher than their food sources (Fry, 2006). In marine ecosystems,vertebrates exhibit d15N values approximately 6e8‰ higher thanvertebrates from terrestrial environments because of the longerfood chains in the marine ecosystems. Summing up, d15N both inhuman and animal bone collagen provides information on thetrophic position of the individual (Minagawa and Wada, 1984;Schoeninger, 1985). However, manuring significantly raises d15Nin cereal grain and chaff. It has been demonstrated that humandiets with a major component of such grain would conventionallybe interpreted as indicating a largely animal-based diet or a mixedplant/animal diet. The intensity of this phenomenon depends onthe levels and the frequency of the manuring (Bogaard et al.,2007).

For the zooarchaeological investigation, all unearthed frag-ments were analysed. For the isotope analysis, the sampling pro-cedure was aimed to select faunal remains which have a timecorrelation with the human remains found at each site, carefullyattempting to avoid double sampling of the same specimen. Thepreservation status and the need to cover the heterogeneity ofeach site's population have also been leading factors in the se-lection strategy.

The collagen-extraction protocol followed a modified versionof the Longin method (1971). A fragment of bone was sampledfrom each specimen. The bone surface was abraded to removecontaminants and it was pulverized. Each sample was thenplaced in polypropylene test tubes and demineralised in asequence of acid attacks with hydrochloric acid (HCl) 0.6 M atambient temperature (20e25 �C), interrupted by one alkali attack(NaOH 0.1 M) 30 min long. Several rinses with de-ionized waterwere done after each step, before finally oven-drying the sam-ples. In some cases, an extra treatment known as “gelatinization”,was performed and the extract freeze-dried at �50 �C(Passariello et al., 2012; Lubritto et al., 2013 and referencestherein). In Table 9, collagen samples that were extracted as gelare shown with an asterisk (Table 9). A lab test conducted onanalogous samples has shown no significant bias introduced byusing either method.


Table 7Interpretation of the kill-off patterns.

Chronology Site Sheep/goats Cattle Pigs Equids Galliformes

Late Roman Zornoztegi I (4the5th c.) Wool Traction Reproduction þ meat Traction EggsEarly Middle Ages Aistra I (6the7th c.) Wool > meat Traction > meat Meat Traction (�)

Aistra II (8the9th c.) Meat > wool Traction Reproduction þ meat Traction (�)Zornoztegi II (8the10th c.) Wool Traction > meat > milk Reproduction þ meat Traction EggsZaballa I (8the10th c.) Wool > meat > milk Traction Meat Traction Meat > eggs

High Middle Ages Aistra III (10the12th c.) Wool > meat Traction > meat Meat Traction (�)Zornoztegi III (11the12th c.) Wool Traction Meat þ reproduction Traction EggsZaballa II (10the13th c.) Wool > meat Traction Meat Traction MeatTrevi~no (10the11th c.) Wool > meat Meat > traction Meat

Table 8NISP used for the analysis of the kill-off patterns in each period and site. F: Fused; U: Unfused; ad.: adult; juv.: juvenile; eld.: elderly.

N for epiphysary fusion N for wear stage

Sheep goats Cattle Pigs Equids Galliformes Sheep goats Cattle Pigs

F U F U F U F U Ad. Juv. <2 y >2 y juv. ad./eld. juv. ad./eld.

Late Roman Zornoztegi I (4the5th c.) 45 8 74 14 6 11 1 0 1 1 46 110 18 44 7 20Early Middle Ages Aistra I (6the7th c.) 9 2 36 1 5 29 2 1 (�) 11 27 4 5 22 7

Aistra II (8the9th c.) 5 4 14 1 5 2 6 0 (�) 10 18 6 17 2 19Zornoztegi II(8the10th c.) 4 0 45 31 2 0 1 2 4 2 3 2 10 15 3 5Zaballa I (8the10th c.) 14 19 18 2 3 4 4 0 4 5 14 19 1 6 4 0

High Middle Ages Aistra III (10the12th c.) 16 1 28 1 10 10 2 0 (�) 15 30 3 5 11 11Zornoztegi III (11the12th c.) 4 1 3 0 2 2 0 1 20 7 5 2 0 9 6 3Zaballa II (10the13th c.) 17 21 9 0 1 7 1 0 1 11 3 10 0 3 2 2Trevi~no (10the11th c.) 8 4 2 1 4 8 (�) 7 1 1 3 0 2 2 2

Table 9Stable isotopes on collagen extracted from selected fauna remains collected at eachsite. Last column show the chronology for each sample. The C:N atomic ratio hasbeen used as indicator of the collagen quality. Asterisks address samples measuredas “gel”, elemental mass fractions (in %) of collagen dry mass are also shown for eachsample.

Site Sample Taxon d13C d15N %N %C C:N Chronology

Aistra 1163* Canis �18.8 9.3 15.2 39.2 3.0 8e9thAistra 864* Ovis �21.5 4.6 15.2 40.7 3.1 10thAistra 825* Ovis �21.3 4.7 12.4 32.7 3.1 7thAistra 1174 Ovis �22.0 2.3 10.5 30.7 3.4 7e8thAistra 1207 Sus �21.7 4.4 8.1 23.6 3.4 6e7thAistra 1234 Sus �21.8 3.8 12.7 37.1 3.4 8e9thTrevi~no 4020 Canis �18.6 7.4 16.6 43.8 3.1 12e14thTrevi~no 5201 Ovis �19.8 5.9 14.9 43.0 3.4 10e13thTrevi~no 5215* Ovis �21.3 3.0 16.6 43.8 3.1 10e13thTrevi~no (M.10)3120* Rana �23.1 9.4 15.2 41.6 3.2 11e12thDulantzi 1* Bos �21.7 7.7 5.3 14.0 3.1 6e7thDulantzi 11* Bos �20.2 5.7 14.4 38.6 3.1 6the7thDulantzi 12* Bos �20.7 5.5 10.9 33.8 3.6 8e9thDulantzi 19* Bos �21.5 5.5 13.8 38.4 3.3 8e9thDulantzi 15* Bos �20.5 3.9 15.7 41.6 3.1 8the9thDulantzi 20* Bos dente �22.1 5.0 13.1 40.6 3.6 6e9thDulantzi 10* Capra �20.9 5.5 16.1 42.2 3.1 6e7thDulantzi 3* Ovis �21.2 6.3 11.2 30.7 3.2 6e7thDulantzi 13* Ovis �21.1 9.8 5.7 15.2 3.1 8e9thDulantzi 21* Ovis dente �20.6 8.0 15.1 39.7 3.1 6e9thDulantzi 4* Ovis/Capra �19.8 7.7 13.7 36.2 3.1 6e7thDulantzi 2* Sus �20.6 4.7 12.2 37.8 3.6 6e7thDulantzi 5* Sus �21.5 6.4 11.2 33.6 3.5 6e7thDulantzi 7* Sus �20.3 4.7 14.5 39.0 3.1 6e7thDulantzi 22* Sus �20.8 6.3 12.4 38.4 3.6 6e9thDulantzi 24* Sus �20.8 6.9 13.6 37.0 3.2 6e9thDulantzi 14* Sus �21.3 4.6 15.5 41.6 3.1 8e9thDulantzi 18* Sus �19.3 7.1 10.3 28.0 3.2 8e9thZaballa 6954 Anas �22.1 3.5 11.2 33.0 3.4 11e13thZaballa 6321* Bos �18.3 8.4 8.8 26.0 3.4 10thZaballa 3564 Bos �20.8 6.1 7.3 22.6 3.6 10e12th

Table 9 (continued )

Site Sample Taxon d13C d15N %N %C C:N Chronology

Zaballa 6954 Canis �19.7 9.4 15.5 42.1 3.2 10e13thZaballa 3996 Gallus �18.7 6.1 15.2 40.4 3.1 10thZaballa 4911* Gallus �19.9 3.6 11.8 34.2 3.4 10e13thZaballa 4912* Gallus �19.5 4.3 13.9 39.9 3.3 10e13thZaballa 6537 Ovis �20.6 4.7 12.1 35.5 3.4 10thZaballa 3992 Sus �19.1 7.5 15.4 41.8 3.2 10thZaballa 3806* Sus �19.7 7.5 18.5 47.5 3.0 10e12thZaballa 4904 Sus �19.4 6.4 13.3 38.7 3.4 10e13thZaballa T10e01* Sus �20.2 6.3 8.9 23.8 3.1 11thZaballa 3904* Sus �20.4 5.3 15.8 42.4 3.1 9thZornoztegi 1822 Bos �22.8 5.7 9.5 28.8 3.5 11e12thZornoztegi 4119 Bos �20.7 6.8 6.9 20.3 3.4 4e5thZornoztegi 1628 Bos �19.9 3.2 6.5 18.8 3.4 8e10thZornoztegi 1606 Equus �22.7 3.5 12.9 37.7 3.4 9e10thZornoztegi 1737 Gallus �15.8 7.4 12.4 37.9 3.6 8e12thZornoztegi 1662 Ovis �19.6 4.0 13.1 37.8 3.4 10e11thZornoztegi 1231 Ovis �20.9 6.1 14.9 42.7 3.3 13e14thZornoztegi 1626 Ovis �19.5 5.6 9.8 27.1 3.2 8e10th



Samples for isotope analyses were retained when extractedcollagen achieved a yield higher than 1% (Dobberstein et al., 2009)and an atomic C:N ratio between 2.9 and 3.6 (Table 9; DeNiro,1985;Pate, 1994; van Klinken, 1999). d15N and d13C were measuredconcurrently in continuous flow mode by an isotopic ratio massspectrometer (IRMS)Delta-Plus connectedviaCONFLOWII interfaceto another Flash EA 1112, all manufactured by Thermo Scientific.Samples were analysed according to the method first described byPreston andOwens (1985): burned in a single EA red-ox reactor heldat 1020 �C. The isotopicmeasurementswere calibrated based on themeasurement of standards, aiming to set their values on interna-tionally referenced scales (VPDB for C and Air for N) (Coplen, 2011).


Fig. 2. Relative frequencies (by NISP) of the main domestic animals. Aistra I, 6the7th c.; Aistra II, 8the9th c.; Aistra III, 10the12th c.; Zornoztegi I, 4the5th c.; Zornoztegi II, 8the10thc.; Zornoztegi III, 11the12th c.; Zaballa I, 8the10th c.; Zaballa II, 10the13th c.; Dulantzi, 5the7th c.


The reference materials used for d15N analysis were IAEA-N-2(ammonium sulphate, d15NAir ¼ 20.3 ± 0.2‰) and IAEA-N-1(ammonium sulphate, d15NAir ¼ 0.4 ± 0.2‰) (B€ohlke et al., 1993).The reference materials used for d13C analysis were IAEA-CH6 (su-crose, d13CVPDB ¼ �10.45 ± 0.03‰) and IAEA-CH3 (cellulose,d13CVPDB ¼ �24.72 ± 0.04‰) (Coplen et al., 2006). Typical precisionevaluated from repeatedmeasurements of the same sample is 0.1‰for d13C and0.2‰ for d15N.Uncertaintyestimates are standard errorsof the mean (S.E.M.), unless differently indicated.

4. Results

4.1. Zooarchaeological analysis

The animal bone assemblages from these sites were of differentsize (Table 1) and covered a wide chronological span. In this paper,only periods that provided a considerable amount of faunal re-mains -NISP (cattle þ sheep/goat þ pig) equal or larger than 100-were considered, with the exceptions of Dulantzi and Trevi~nowhich provided a smaller amount of faunal remains as a whole.Most of these fauna assemblages were found in domestic refuse,and domestic species predominated in them. The NISP (Number ofIdentified Specimens) and MNI (Minimum Number of Individuals),determined according to a well-established practice (O'Connor,2008), are shown for each site in the following tables: Aistra inTable 2, Zornoztegi in Table 3, Zaballa in Table 4, Dulantzi in Table 5,and Trevi~no in Table 6. Regarding domesticates, sheep/goat, cattle,and pig were the most common taxa. Among other taxa, remains ofequines were rare, and dogs and cats were also present, frequentlyas complete carcases. There was no evidence for the consumptionof these animals. Galliformes (domestic fowls) were scarce too, butthey appeared in most sites and periods.

The analysis of the relative frequencies of themain domestic taxa(sheep/goat, cattle and pig) provides some of the most interestingaspects for understanding animal husbandry practices in these sites,


always in combinationwith the kill-off patterns, which provide theevidence for comprehending the purpose of raising such livestock(see Table 7). In Fig. 2, the relative proportions (by NISP) of thesethreemain domestic taxa are compared between different sites andperiods, from Late Roman times to High Middle Ages.

Sheep/goats predominated in most sites, normally followed bycattle. Both taxa were generally slaughtered late at these sites,suggesting that secondary products (wool, milk, manure, andtraction power) were the main purposes for keeping livestock atthese rural sites. This is the case of Late Roman Zornoztegi and earlymedieval Zaballa, as well.

The only exception to the predominance of sheep/goats was earlymedieval Zornoztegi, where cattle were more frequent in theassemblage (both by NISP and MNI). The analysis of the kill-off pat-terns suggested that cattle were being slaughtered relatively young,for the production of meat and milk. At the same time, adults werekept for traction purposes. The peculiar case of Zornoztegi during theMiddle Ages may be related to the existence of a certain degree ofspecialized cattle husbandry that implied themobility of herds to themountains, to graze during the summer. Vertical transhumance isusually a response to negative environmental conditions for agricul-ture (such as poor soils) and is therefore a common strategy for themanagement of agricultural risks (Marston, 2011).

Another remark is necessary regardingFig. 2. It is evident that theproportion of pigs is relatively larger in the sites where there isarchaeological evidence for the presence of high status social groupsor marked internal social differences, such as early medieval Aistra,high medieval Zaballa, and high medieval Trevi~no.

The interpretation of the kill-off patterns for each site and periodis resumed inTable 7.Dulantziwasnot includedbecause the analysisof the kill-off patterns was inconclusive, due to the small size of theassemblage. The NISP that provided evidence for the analysis of thewear stage and of the fusion stage is shown in Table 8. Inmost cases,animals were raised for secondary products: sheep for wool, cattleandequines for traction, pigs for reproduction, anddomestic fowl for



egg production. However, eventually the meat of every animalwould be consumed when they were no longer useful. There are,however, certain differences between the sites analysed. Pig wasespecially frequent in settlements with strong internal social dif-ferences and meat production (and consumption) appears to havehad a more important role in such sites. This is the case of Aistra(especially during 8th and 9th c.), Zaballa, and Trevi~no.

4.2. Stable isotope analysis

Table 9 reports the results of the isotopic analysis, classifiedaccording to the taxa, the site and the chronology of the samples.The latter was established based on the stratigraphic sequences ofthe sites and available radiocarbon dates. A total of 49 samplesweresuccessfully analyzed: 18 of the samples were taken from Dulantzi,6 from Aistra, 13 from Zaballa, 4 from Trevi~no, and 8 from Zor-noztegi. The taxonomic distribution of the samples was as follows:11 cattle (Bos), 14 pigs (Sus), 14 sheep or goats (Ovis/Capra), 3 dogs(Canis), 4 chickens (Gallus), 1 horse (Equus), 1 duck (Anas), and 1frog (Rana). Tables 10 and 11 display the d13C and d15N averagevalues (arithmetic mean), respectively, of the major faunal groupsfrom all the five sites.Whenmore than two samples were available,standard deviation is also reported.

Table 10d13C mean values and standard deviations of the animal taxa analysed from each site. (L

d13C Sheep/goats Cattle

n x SD n x

Aistra 3 �21.6 0.4 0 e

Dulantzi 5 �20.7 0.6 6 �21.1Zaballa 1 �20.6 e 2 �19.6Zornoztegi 3 �20.0 0.8 3 �21.1Trevi~no 2 �20.6 e 0 e

Fig. 3. C and N isotopic composition of collagen in animal bones found at the five medievalperiods. Different symbols recall different sites (circles for Aistra, triangles for Trevi~no, asteriused for the different taxonomical categories group (pink for pigs, green for cattle, yellow fointerpretation of the references to colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the


Isotopic values of all fauna samples from all the sites werecompared to the mean value of the human population (Quir�osCastillo, 2012) from the same sites of the same sites and periods(Fig. 3), error bars are S.E.M. Fauna samples were represented withdifferent colours according to their taxonomic group. Differentsymbols were used for distinguishing the sites.

5. Discussion

The obtained data suggest that animal husbandry was inte-grated in early medieval �Alava with an intensive agriculture, and toa certain extent animal husbandry depended on agriculture (Fig. 2,Table 7). The kill-off patterns and the taxonomic frequencies showthat, with few exceptions, most animals were kept for labour(particularly cattle and equids) and to provide secondary products(sheep/goats). The main exceptions are those peasant communitieshighly dependent (Zornoztegi II) or of high status (Trevi~no, Aistra Iand II, Zaballa III), where these complex social organization wouldaffect and condition animal husbandry practices. On one hand, inZornoztegi II cattle were being kept for traction purposes, but alsofor meat production, given that a significant proportion was beingslaughtered early. In the sameway, the lack of pig posterior limbs inthis period suggests that animal husbandry practices in Zornoztegi

egend: n ¼ number of individuals, x ¼ average value, SD ¼ standard deviation).

Pigs Galliformes

SD n x SD n x SD

e 2 �21.8 e 0 e e

0.8 7 �20.7 0.7 0 e e

e 5 �19.8 0.5 3 �19.4 0.61.5 0 e e 1 �15.8 e

e 0 e e 0 e e

sites under investigation as compared to the human collagen from the same sites andsks for Zornoztegi, squares for Dulantzi and diamonds for Zaballa). Different colours arer fowls, brown for goat/sheep, red for dogs, light blue for human), as in the legend. (Forweb version of this article.)


Fig. 4. Diachronic evolution of pigs' diet as compared to herbivores' diet. Full circlesare for pigs and empty diamonds are for herbivores. Error bars are SEM.


were conditioned by the dependant character of the local com-munity, which needed to pay rents (Grau Sologestoa, 2014). On theother hand, at the castle of Trevi~no young animals predominatedand pigs also constituted an important proportion of the assem-blage. Therefore, it can be said that probably this seigniorial castlewas a centre for rent-seeking. Conversely, in the rural communitiesof Zaballa III or Aistra I and II, the limited importance of pigs, whichare very infrequent in early medieval Iberian Peninsula (Morales,1992), points to a diversity in animal husbandry practices andprobably also in the access and the management of the pastures.Harris (1985, pp. 87e89) has pointed out that raising pigs is moreexpensive than keeping ruminants and that, because of theiromnivorous diet, they were not very abundant in this period. Inshort, taxonomic frequencies and kill-off patterns show the co-existence of very different animal husbandry practices within thesame territory, conditioned by their social contexts.

Secondly, dietary patterns of domestic animals are also relevantfor the analysis of early medieval animal husbandry practices.Ruminants were mainly fed with C3 plants (Fig. 3, Table 10). In thissense, the mean isotopic values of sheep/goats(d13C �20.7 ± 0.2‰; d15N 5.6 ± 0.5‰) and cattle(d13C �20.8 ± 0.4‰; d15N 5.8 ± 0.5‰) present certain internalvariability as shown in Fig. 3 and Tables 10 and 11. This is acharacteristic that has already been reported in other analysescarried out in the Iberian Peninsula, such as in Galicia (L�opezCostas, 2012, pp. 374) and in the Levant (Mundee, 2010, pp. 217)and it can be explained as a result of the diversity of animalhusbandry strategies. However, unlike the cases from Galicia andthe eastern area, all the sites studied in this paper share a commonecological niche: no variability, for example, can be due to thepresence of marine pastures or can be related to different site-specific climatic conditions (such as dryness). Therefore, thisvariability can be explained through the different husbandrypractices adopted in each site, which might have changed overtime. Data dispersion within the same site seems to be comparablyhigh (Fig. 3, Tables 10 and 11), even though the limited sample sizedid not allow further statistical analysis. It can be suggested, forexample, that the variable nitrogen isotopic signature (Table 11) isconsistent with other evidence pointing to animals fed withmanured fodder as, for example, sheep and goats fromDulantzi.

Table 11d15N mean values and standard deviations of the animal taxa analysed from eachsite. (Legend: n ¼ number of individuals, x ¼ average value, SD ¼ standarddeviation).

d15N Sheep/goats Cattle Pigs Galliformes

n x SD n x SD n x SD n x SD

Aistra 3 3.9 1.4 0 e e 2 4.1 e 0 e e

Dulantzi 5 7.5 1.7 6 5.6 1.2 7 5.8 1.1 0 e e

Zaballa 1 4.7 e 2 7.3 e 5 6.6 0.9 3 4.7 1.3Zornoztegi 3 5.2 1.1 3 5.2 1.8 0 e e 1 7.4 e

Trevi~no 2 4.5 e 0 e e 0 e e 0 e e

The results of the isotopic analysis on pigs are also interesting.Fig. 3 shows the proximity of the isotopic signature of pigs'(d13C �20.5 ± 0.2‰; d15N 5.9 ± 0.3‰) and herbivores' diet(d13C �20.9 ± 0.2‰; d15N 5.5 ± 0.4‰). ANOVA test on the isotopiccomposition of these populations showed no significant differencesbetween them at Zaballa and Dulantzi, with p-values of 0.8 and 0.5respectively. It could be suggested that in general pigs were prob-ably kept free range, in forests. Nevertheless, as shown in Fig. 4,


there were diachronic differences: the specimens dated to 6the9thc. show lower d15N values (5.4 ± 0.4‰; n ¼ 10), compared to theones dated to 10the13th c. (6.9 ± 0.3‰; n ¼ 4), with the two dataset being statistically significantly different, as confirmed by a p-value equal to 0.03. In contrast, no significant difference could beseen among herbivores belonging to different time periods, andneither among pigs and herbivores dated to 6the9th c. This vari-ation can be explained as a result of keeping pigs in domestic spacesfrom approximately the 10th c. on, related to an increasing pressureon forests and communal lands that has also been observedthrough palaeoenvironmental analyses in �Alava (Corella et al.,2013). At this stage, no site provided enough samples to conductintra-site diachronic analysis: the 10 earlier medieval pigs weremostly from the site of Dulantzi (except 1 from Zaballa and 2 fromAistra), and all four of the high medieval pigs were from the site ofZaballa. Site to site comparison had, therefore, to be used to high-light general diachronic changes in pig husbandry. Comparisonbetween Zaballa and Dulantzi is sustained by their commongeographical and historical features, as their topographic andenvironmental conditions were similar and both played centralroles in the organization of their surrounding territories. However,it cannot be completely excluded that this clue of different practicein pig husbandry might also partially have been related to site-specific differences.

Domestic fowls were clearly fed also with C4 seeds(d13C �18.5 ± 0.9‰), perhaps millet, a cereal that has been iden-tified in some of the sites considered (Sopelana and Zapata, 2009;Sopelana, 2012). The cultivation of short-cycle cereals in �Alavaallowed peasant communities to diversify their production in orderto survive bad harvests (Halstead and O'Shea, 1989). The use of C4plants in animal feeding has also been documented in Galicia(L�opez Costas, 2012, pp. 377) and in the eastern area of the IberianPeninsula (Mundee, 2010). In addition, domestic fowls show d15Nvalues consistent with a low intake of animal proteins (Fig. 3),suggesting that they rarely consumed insects or invertebrateanimals.

Finally, the analysis of isotopic values in dog samples showsdietary patterns very similar to the human values. They wereprobably fed with domestic refuse.

The third main point of this discussion is that there was avery close relation between animal husbandry practices and land-scape articulation and transformations. The available palae-oenvironmental evidence, particularly data recovered at the Arreo



lake, the peat bog of Prados de Randulanda and the sites of Gasteizand Zaballa (P�erez Díaz et al., 2009; Hern�andez Beloqui, 2012;Corella et al., 2013) (Fig. 1) constitute important evidence of theimpact of animal husbandry activities on the changes of the land-scape. Although at the Lago de Arreo a reduction of animal hus-bandry is observable between 5th and 9th c. (Corella et al., 2013, pp.565), other evidence from the plateau of �Alava suggests that,starting from the 6th c., intensive animal husbandry was practicedin high altitudes, as at the peat bog of Prados de Randulanda (P�erezDíaz et al., 2009, pp. 117). This phenomenon can be interpreted as aresult of short distance vertical transhumance during the EarlyMiddle Ages, possibly caused by the high pressure on cultivatedlands in the valley and the lack of pastures to feed all domesticatesthroughout the year. The existence of a vertical transhumancesystem is confirmed by pastoral settlements dated between 9th and12th c. located in the Urbia Mountains (Urteaga et al., 1989; Urteagaet al., 1992e1993). These were used until recent times by herdscoming from the plateau of �Alava and from the valleys of Gipuzkoa,as shown in various ethnographic studies (Manterola, 2000, pp.505e550). This kind of settlement has also been identified in othermountainous areas in Basque Country, such as the Aralar Moun-tains, where several huts dated to the 6the11th c. were discovered(Agirre et al., 2003e2007; Moraza and Mujika, 2005). It is possiblethat some caves were also used for similar purposes (Quir�os Castilloand Alonso Martín, 2008). The zooarchaeological evidence recov-ered at the mountain huts of Aralar showed that these summerpastures were mainly used to feed cattle (Casta~nos, 2003e2007),while sheep/goat vertical transhumance was generalised only afterthe Late Middle Ages (Manterola, 2000). This seasonal mobility ofcattle herds is also coherent with the kill-off patterns observed atZornoztegi II, as most animals were slaughtered during the autumn(Grau Sologestoa, 2014).

6. Conclusions

Traditionally, the early medieval period, compared to the pre-ceding Roman period, has been interpreted in terms of decline andeconomic simplification, leading to the coining of the term DarkAges (Ward-Perkins, 2005). In places such as the Basque Country,where this primitivism and the denial of the Romanizationconstituted an ideological support to legitimate the distinctive legaland political features (fuerismo) in postmedieval and contemporarytimes (Ortiz de Urbina Montoya, 1996), the strong roots of theseapproaches are related to the existence of a historiography that hasdefended an economic systemwhere animal husbandry had amoreimportant role than agriculture, as part of simplistic social struc-tures (i.e. Barbero and Vigil, 1974; García de Cort�azar, 1981).Nowadays, these approaches have been overcome, thanks tonumerous archaeological research projects that have demonstratedthe existence of complex social relationships during the post-Roman period and also the predominance of peasant stable set-tlements dedicated to agricultural activities. The variable relevanceof animal proteins in human diet during the Early Middle Ages,demonstrated through the analysis of stable isotopes (Quir�osCastillo et al., 2012), has also been an important argument to thisdiscussion. In this way, the integrated study of the zooarchaeo-logical record and the isotopic analysis has allowed investigation ofthe complexity of the animal husbandry practices that were carriedout during the Early Middle Ages in �Alava.

Although sheep/goats predominated at these sites, a tendencyfor very similar proportions between the three main taxa (cattle,sheep/goat and pig) has been verified along the Alava plateauthroughout the Early and High Middle Ages. The mixed character ofanimal husbandry practices at medieval rural sites in the BasqueCountry is also reflected in the productive diversification that the


analysis of the kill-off patterns suggests. This type of animal hus-bandry is related to self-sufficient economy in which agriculturehad a more important role than animal husbandry, although bothactivities were important and perfectly integrated. Productivediversification, as a response to agricultural risk management(Marston, 2011), is a characteristic of self-sufficient peasant com-munities, but it also allowed them to produce some surplus in orderto pay rents or taxes and to participate in the local markets. Basedon archaeological evidence and palaeoenvironmental studies onlandscape evolution, it has also been possible to infer the mobilitypatterns of ruminants, based on short distance verticaltranshumance.

The dietary patterns established through isotopic markers areequally relevant to understand animal husbandry strategies. Thevariability in the isotopic signature of herbivores' diet (especiallycattle and sheep/goats) displays an articulated scenario of practices,with signs of close relation between agriculture and animal hus-bandry, such as examples of sheep/goats, which, possibly, couldhave been fed on manured fodder. Pigs were kept free range duringthe Early Middle Ages. However, during the High Middle Ages,when there was an increasing pressure on the territory, as shownby pollen analyses, pigs were fed on domestic refuse and probablymaintained in enclosures. The use of C4 short-cycle plants to feeddomestic fowl is also an indicator of the close link and integration ofintensive agriculture and animal husbandry from an early date.

Summing up, in contrast to the traditional Manichean discoursethat opposed agriculture vs. animal husbandry, medieval simplicityvs. Roman complexity, the available evidence suggests amuchmorearticulated scenario.

Acknowledgements

This study was financed by the Research Group in Heritage andCultural Landscapes IT315-10 funded by the Basque Governmentand the Research Project ‘Desigualdad en los paisajes medievalesdel norte peninsular: los marcadores arqueol�ogicos’ (HUM2012-32514) funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economic Affairs andCompetitiveness. The project was also financed by Regione Cam-paniae TEMASAV project. Maite Iris García-Collado is sponsored bythe Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports with a FPUpredoctoral grant (AP2010-5177). The authors acknowledge thewise opinion and the useful suggestions of an anonymous referee,which improved a previous version of this manuscript.

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Animal husbandry during Early and High Middle Ages in the Basque Country (Spain)

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