Kernavės XIV - XVII a. zooarcheologinė medžiaga

• Main Author: Jonkus, Dovydas
• Other Authors: Piličiauskienė, Giedrė
• Format: Bachelor Thesis
• Language: Lithuanian; English
• Published: Institutional Repository of Vilnius University 2018
• Subjects: Lied; Alces alces
• Online Access: http://vu.oai.elaba.lt/documents/35408244.pdf; http://vu.lvb.lt/VU:ELABAETD35408244&prefLang=en_US

SUMMARY Zooarchaeological Material from the 14th–17th centuries in Kernavė In the studies of human lifestyle an important role is not only played by archeological data, but by zooarcheological material as well. Kernavė is one of the most researched archeological objects in Lithuania. The results of the research add to the existing data and provide more room for interpretation. The goal of this paper is to reconstruct the rural lifestyle of the inhabitants of the town Kernavė with the help of the osteological material of the XIV–XVII centuries, which was collected through the archeological research of the year 2013. The following steps were carried out through the archeological analysis: the identification of bones as well as the determination of species, the estimation of the minimum number of individuals (MNI) and a comparison to the determining number of identified specimens (NISP). Both domesticated and wild animals were grouped according to their proportions, their age, gender, height as well as the skeletal parts, which were grouped according to their meat value. The presented and summarised attained results were compared to the upper and lower town osteological material of the XIII–XIV century Kernavė, which had already been researched previously. No significant differences were noticed. All the investigated objects showed that the composition of domesticated species was similar and that the amount of wild animals was minimal. However, a slight trend was found. The material of the lower Kernavė town showed relatively more remnants of smaller animals (pigs (Sus scrofa domesticus), sheeps (Ovis aries), goats (Capra hircus), while the upper town showed remnants of cattle. This trend continues when analysing wild animals. The material of the lower town showed remnants of red deer (Cervus elaphus) and wild boars (Sus scrofa), while the upper part showed findings of aurochs (Bos primigenius), bison (Bos bonasus) as well as elk (Alces alces). These slight alterations can be explained by the fact that the residence of the lord lied in the upper part of the town Kernavė, where larger animals were raised and hunted as they were more efficient because of the larger amount of meat as a resource. After evaluating and comparing the skeletal parts it was found that no significant differences could be seen. Skeletal parts of all 3 categories were found (lower, middle, upper), yet the groups of middle and upper value meat managed to stand out which, in turn, is linked to waste from a table, which result from the final consumption of meat.