Tipos de cabañas ganaderas durante el Neolítico del País Vasco y zonas próximas

Abstract

The number of archaeological faunas that have been studied in the Basque Country has risen from 3 to 13 during the past twenty five years. To these, 13 additional ones from the neighbouring areas of Cantabria, Asturias, Aragón and Cataluña, and a further one from the Northern Spanish Meseta, have been integrated into a brief comparative analysis of Neolithic livestock in the area. This study evidences that the Neolithic sites from North Eastern Iberia can be divided into three major groups according to their mammal assemblages: (1) those devoid of domesticated animals, and where the wild ungulates constitute the major source of animal protein, (2) sites where the domestic livestock consists mainly of sheep and goat, with scarce bovine remains, and (3) sites where cattle is the dominant taxon.With an exception, the first and second categories appear in caves and shelters whereas the last group is associated with open air sites. The hypothesis put forward considers caves and shelters to focus on secondary and quite specific activities, such as sheep-cots or sheep-folds, that were complementary to those activities carried out at the open air settlements. To prove such a hypothesis it is argued that one would not only need to gather data from new sites but, above all, to manage to implement a more systematic program of analysis of archaeological faunas from this region.