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The archaeozoological remains found in the rescue excavation of the cave of Antiparos : the evidence of the finds from the prehistoric levels

Αρχαιολογικά χρονικά

• Ψάθη, Ελένη

The rescue excavation in the Antiparos cave has yielded an archaeozoological assemblage of large mammal remains from both historical and prehistoric levels. The latter date almost entirely to the Late-Final Neolithic. The study has focused on the prehistoric sample, in which the following taxa have been identified: Chis aries, Capra hircus, Capra cf. aegagrus. Bos sp, Sus domesticus, Dama dama, Oryctolagus cuniculus and Vulpes vulpes.Ovicaprids heavily dominate the said sample, with sheep and goats equally represented. Their anatomical representation suggests transport of whole carcasses to the cave for further exploitation, or even their enclosing in the cave. Mortality data show slaughteringprincipally of sub-adult and young adult animals, a practice aiming substantially at meat production. Wild goats, fallow deer, rabbits and foxes, which are thought to have been introduced to the island, were the alternative source of meat acquisition.Among these wild species, the presence of fallow deer is of great importance since the ecological needs of this cervid reveal the existence of forest areas on the island, at least during prehistoric times, although extinct today. Furthermore, the possible presence of fallow deer remains among the Geometric-Archaic sample may be related to the epigraphic evidence of the cult of Artemis in Antiparos cave.

• History and Archaeology

• Ανασκαφές (Αρχαιολογία)

σπήλαια, προϊστορία , Αντίπαρος

Περιέχει εικόνες, πίνακες και βιβλιογραφία