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Gaining traction on cattle exploitation: zooarchaeological evidence from the Neolithic Western Balkans

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 December 2018

Jane S. Gaastra Open the ORCID record for Jane S. Gaastra [Opens in a new window] ,
Haskel J. Greenfield  and
M. Vander Linden Open the ORCID record for M. Vander Linden [Opens in a new window]
Jane S. Gaastra*
Affiliation:
University College London, Institute of Archaeology, 31–34 Gordon Square, London WC1H 0PY, UK
Haskel J. Greenfield
Affiliation:
University of Manitoba, Department of Anthropology, 432 Fletcher Argue Building, 15 Chancellor Circle, Winnipeg, MB R3T 2N2, Canada
M. Vander Linden
Affiliation:
University of Cambridge, Department of Archaeology, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3DZ, UK
*
*Author for correspondence (Email: [email protected])
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Abstract

The study of the exploitation of animals for traction in prehistoric Europe has been linked to the ‘secondary products revolution’. Such an approach, however, leaves little scope for identification of the less specialised exploitation of animals for traction during the European Neolithic. This study presents zooarchaeological evidence—in the form of sub-pathological alterations to cattle foot bones—for the exploitation of cattle for the occasional pulling of heavy loads, or ‘light’ traction. The analysis and systematic comparison of material from 11 Neolithic sites in the Western Balkans (c. 6100–4500 cal BC) provides the earliest direct evidence for the use of cattle for such a purpose.

Keywords

BalkansNeolithictractionpathologydomestic cattle
Type
Research
Information
Antiquity , Volume 92 , Issue 366 , December 2018 , pp. 1462 - 1477
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd, 2018 

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