Innovation and Intensification: The Use of Cattle in the Roman Rhine Region

Abstract

ABSTRACT This paper examines the role of cattle in the Roman economy acrossthe region of the river Rhine (the Netherlands, western and south-western Germany, eastern France, and northern and eastern Switzerland). This large region marked the northern frontier of the Roman Empire. Taxonomic data (over 606,000 animal remains – cattle, sheep/goat and pig) are considered, and biometrical data (nearly 15,000 cattle bone measurements) are analysed through the log-ratio – or LSI-technique, in order to look at broad changes in cattle husbandry over time (from the Late Iron Age to the Late Roman period) and across different regions. The results show the central role of cattle in the Roman economy in this frontier region, in the context of increased agricultural production and urban demand for meat and raw products, as well as the efforts put on improving and intensifying cattle husbandry.