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Livestock as an indicator of socioeconomic changes in Medieval Prague (Czech Republic)

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Abstract

The continuity of occupation at the settlement of Prague, Czech Republic, from the ninth to fourteenth centuries makes it a good case study for investigating the evolution of animal husbandry practices during the Early and High Middle Ages. Previous archaeozoological work shows that people’s dietary behaviour in Prague underwent a transformation at the beginning of the High Middle Ages (thirteenth century). This change has been attributed to large-scale socioeconomic transformations, which may have affected animal management practices. Stable carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) isotope analysis of the tooth dentine collagen of livestock (cattle, domestic pigs, sheep and goats) from three different areas in Prague (the Lesser Town, Prague Castle and the Old Town) presented in this study provides support for this hypothesis. The range of stable isotope values increased over time, which may, in addition to a farm-household model, indicate a more advanced system of livestock supply–for example, through urban markets–and may also be explained by more diversified breeding conditions in the town and its surroundings. The results show an increase in the δ15N values in pig diet over time and suggest that their management changed. This difference may have been caused by increased animal protein intake or higher δ15N value of the dietary sources. It has also been corroborated that the root dentine collagen of High Medieval cattle has slightly higher average δ15N values when compared to cattle from the earlier period, which could be related to gradual changes in landscape utilization and soil processing, such as fertilization.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Tereza Šálková for botanical consultation and Jaromír Kovárník for preparation of Fig. 1 and Anton Baer, Allastair Millar and Petra Maříková Vlčková for linguistic advice. The authors thank both of the reviewers for their valuable comments leading to the improvement of this paper.

Funding

The research project was supported by the Czech Science Foundation (GA ČR) under Grant 18-10003S and the Grant Agency of Charles University (GAUK project No. 20817).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Archaeobotany and Palaeoecology, Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, Na Zlaté stoce 3, CZ-370 05, České Budějovice, Czech Republic

    Lenka Kovačiková, Olga Trojánková, Petr Starec, Petr Meduna & Petr Limburský

  2. Department of Archaeology, Faculty of Arts, Charles University, Celetná 20, CZ-116 36, Praha 1, Czech Republic

    Lenka Kovačiková & Olga Trojánková

  3. Institute of Archaeology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, v.v.i., Letenská 4, CZ-118 01, Praha 1, Czech Republic

    Olga Trojánková & Petr Limburský

  4. The City of Prague Museum, Kožná 1, CZ-110 00, Praha 1, Czech Republic

    Petr Starec

  5. Centre for Theoretical Study, Charles University, Husova 4, CZ-110 00, Praha 1, Czech Republic

    Petr Meduna

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  1. Lenka Kovačiková
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  2. Olga Trojánková
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  3. Petr Starec
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  4. Petr Meduna
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Correspondence to Lenka Kovačiková.

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Kovačiková, L., Trojánková, O., Starec, P. et al. Livestock as an indicator of socioeconomic changes in Medieval Prague (Czech Republic). Archaeol Anthropol Sci 12, 283 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-020-01229-5

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