Hunting during the Late Iron Age in the Region of the South Pannonian Danube Valley

Abstract

During the human history, hunting has been an important economic and social activity, requiring various techniques and hunting equipment. In the literature discussing the Late Iron Age of the South Pannonian Danube valley, the hunting strategies and the importance and meaning of wild animals are rarely discussed. In order to better understand this aspect of life, this paper reconsiders the already existing archaeo-zoological data on wild animals from the settlements, as well as the objects usually interpreted as hunting equipment, as indicators of the hunting strategies, the mode of usage and the social role of wild animals, along with the potential status differences among the settlements of the Late La Tène period.

On the grounds of the acquired data, it may be concluded that hunting was a regular activity in the majority of the Late La Tène settlements in the South Pannonian Danube valley. The differences in the frequency of wild animals in the settlements in Bačka and Banat, compared to the ones in Srem, may be interpreted as the consequence of differing economic/social strategies, and not as a sign of marked differences in the availability of resources. The results have shown that the high percentage of game animals is not restricted solely to the fortified settlements. However, the traces of aurochs and brown bear, registered only in the fortified settlements, as well as the preference towards hunting large wild boar males registered at Židovar, may be the indicators of the groups of inhabitants with higher social and economic capacities situated in the fortified sites. Although on the central European sites of the same period the high frequency of wild animals is not a common trait, on a number of spatially close sites in Romania a similar archaeo-zoological situation is registered and interpreted as the indicator of the presence of the elites. This interpretation is plausible, but it should also be taken into account that in the case of the settlements analyzed in this paper other potential causes may be cited, such as the times of crisis and the decrease in the number of the domesticated animals. This interpretation is plausible, but it should also be taken into account that in the case of the settlements analyzed in this paper other potential causes may be cited, such as the times of crisis and the decrease in the number of the domesticated animals visible in the archaeo-zoological assemblages. It is necessary, however, to bear in mind that the registered archaeo-zoological situation need not be explained by the same reasons on all the sites. Namely, although the period in question spans just over one century, the Late La Tène is the time of dynamic and perpetually changing internal and external relations, causing the changes in the subsistence strategies as well. The data on the hunting equipment is very scarce. Since very few finds are associated to these activities, it is necessary to conduct more detailed specialized studies, not only of the metal objects, but also of the ones made of other material, that may be associated to the hunting practices (e.g. net weights, bone and lithic projectiles).