Livestock Subsistence Strategies in the Middle and Late Bronze Age Lesser Poland

Abstract

ABSTRACT Polish archaeological studies of the last century concerning the development of the settlement network and economic changes in the Lusatian culture (1350–450 BC) in areas of southern Poland prompted the theory that in the initial phase of this culture in Lesser Poland, the economic strategies were the same as in the Upper Silesia, the area from which the settlers came. The cultivation of the native economic model was possible because the Lusatian population migrating from Silesia in the south-east to Lesser Poland settled in environmentally similar areas (loess). This theory was built on the basis of general environmental observations and analyses of the historical ceramic material. To check the validity of the aforementioned thesis, I have analysed a number of faunal materials obtained from three large Lusatian settlements located in loess areas near Krakow. Osteological material was subjected to a comprehensive analysis taking into account the species composition, in terms of anatomy as well as age, gender and animal morphology. The results obtained showed that in addition to environmental pressure, cultural considerations and breeding traditions also had a determinative influence on the choice of the economic pattern.