Animal Indoor Penning in the Eastern Pyrenees: The Case-study of Late Iron Age Tossal de Baltarga, Cerdanya

Abstract

ABSTRACTOver the last decades, micro-archaeological and ethnoarchaeological approaches have demonstrated the importance of animal dung deposits for reconstructing past human lifeways, primarily within caves and rock-shelters. The case study of Tossal de Baltarga (eastern Pyrenees) provides evidence from simultaneous storage and penning, along with the in situ remains in anatomical connection of several ovicaprines and a horse within a building destroyed by fire, dating to the second half of the third century BC. The current study provides new evidence for animal management and organisation of space at the site through examination in micromorphological thin-section and integrated phytolith and dung spherulite analyses. Micromorphological results reveal spatial variations in dung accumulation, possibly related to differences in the use of space. Phytolith records further provide insights into herbivorous regimes, dominated by a range of grass matter suggested to derive from fodder and/or grazing through the penning lifetime. This integrated approach contributes to the understanding of depositional pathways and taphonomy of penning deposits within built environments, critical for the reconstruction of activity areas and practices related to animal management, foddering/grazing patterns, site formation processes, concepts of space within the settlement, health and the complexity of interactions between people and animals in mountain areas.KEYWORDS: Iron ageEastern Pyreneeslivestock penningmicromorphologyphytolithsdung spherulites AcknowledgementsThis research has received funding from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (PID2021-122879OB-I00), and the Generalitat de Catalunya, ARQ001SOL-109-2022 (437 CU00050, PATCA-3).Disclosure StatementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Additional informationFundingThis work was supported by Generalitat de Catalunya: [Grant Number ARQ001SOL-109-2022 (437 CU00050, PATCA-3)]; Agency for Management of University and Research Grants (AGAUR): [Grant Number 2021SGR 501]; Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation: [Grant Number PID2021-122879OB-I00].Notes on contributorsMarta PortilloDr Marta Portillo is a tenured scientist at the Spanish National Research Council (IMF-CSIC) specialised in phytoliths and calcitic microfossils in integration with geoarchaeological methods, as well as with experimental and ethnoarchaeological approaches. Her research focuses on human-environment interactions and cultural, economic and technological innovations in the Western Mediterranean and the Near East. She served on the board of the International Phytolith Society (IPS). She is the coordinator of the Archaeology of Social Dynamics Research Group at the IMF-CSIC (2021SGR 501).Joaquim Sisa-López de PabloDr Joaquim Sisa-López de Pablo received his Ph.D. at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB). He is a geoarchaeologist specialised in soil micromorphology. His research focuses on the study of architecture and the built environment and its implications regarding human–environment interrelations and living conditions in the Western Mediterranean and Southwest Asia.Joan OllerDr Joan Oller is a lecturer in ancient history at the UAB. He is a specialist in landscape archaeology and the study of the Ancient Roman territory. He has mainly studied these subjects from an archaeological perspective and is the director of different archaeological sites and projects in Spain, for instance in the Catalan Pyrenees and the Roman cities of La Mesa (Burgos) and Colonia Augusta Firma Astigi (Sevilla). He is also the director of the Sikait Project, an archaeological concession in the Egyptian Eastern Desert.Jordi MoreraDr Jordi Morera is an associate lecturer in ancient history at the UAB. He is a specialist in the Iberian period and the Romanisation, especially of the Catalan Pyrenees. He has mainly studied these issues through archaeological research programmes in several sites and he has been the director of the study of different Roman villas in Catalonia.Oriol OlestiDr Oriol Olesti is a senior lecturer in ancient history at the UAB and an associate lecturer at the Open University of Catalonia (UOC, Master of Ancient Mediterranean Cultures). He was a visiting scholar at the Classics Faculty, University of Oxford. He is currently the director of two Spanish and Catalan research projects and the former director of fifteen. His research focuses on the study of Ancient landscapes as historical documents to understand the relationships between Ancient societies and their territories and resources in Hispania, and also in southern France, Morocco and Syria.