Archaeofauna from an Early Iron Age (900 − 500 BCE) village in Central Iberia: the role of meat consumption and secondary products in an extended household at Cerro de San Vicente (Salamanca, Spain)

Abstract This paper presents the results of the archaeozoological analysis of more than 5,000 bone remains in a domestic context in the village of Cerro de San Vicente (Salamanca, Spain). One of the objectives is to infer the use of domesticates and meat consumption in a multi-dwelling compound arranged around a central courtyard dating from c. 650 − 500 BCE and interpreted as the neighbourhood of a well-off virilocal corporate group, which yield numerous indications of intensely ritualised maintenance, festive and commensal activities. The study of the fauna is approached here from a taxonomic, anatomical and taphonomic perspective, and the target depositional contexts were several middens and the occupation layers infilling domestic structures. The results indicate the predominance of the consumption of adult sheep and goats, adult bovids and the slaughter of adult pigs, consistent with husbandry strategies focused on secondary products. This investigation draws attention to the high proportion of bone remains from game species such as deer compared to domestic species. Selective slaughter of young individuals, as well as the sporadic consumption of chelonians, equids and probably dogs, are spatially associated with a domestic sanctuary, suggesting special commensal or ritual consumption.