The Study of Fish Remains from the Late Roman Era from Argamum, Tulcea County

Abstract

The studied fish remains come from the excavations carried out by the Ștefan Honcu archaeologist between 2017 and 2020 within the Argamum archaeological site. The study methodology consisted mainly of anatomical and taxonomic identifications based on archaeozoological atlases, quantification of the data, taphonomical evaluation, osteometry, size and weight estimation, and energy yield estimation. The archaeozoological material represents food waste. The only osteological remains registered with butchering marks was a fragment of a caudal vertebra from Silurus glanis (catfish). The studied material consists of 72 fish remains coming from carp – 28 fragments, catfish – 19 remains and the rest of 25 fragments couldn`t be identified up to species level. The faunal material is dated as follows: second half of the V century level – 9 remains, 4 remains from carp, a fragment from catfish and 4 fragments from unidentifiable fish; first half of the VI century – 17 osteological remains coming from carp – 7 remains, catfish – 8 remains and two unidentified fragments; second half of the VI century were discovered the most fish remains – 41 osteological fragments; late VI – early VII century – 5 fragments, 2 remains coming from carp and 3 remains from catfish. Most of the carp individuals range between 60-80 cm and 80-100 cm. For catfish, most of the individuals have sizes between 220 -240 cm. Based on the estimated amount of meat for each species, the energy yield (kcal) was calculated, the assemblages dated to the VI century being the richest.