Szczątki zwierzęce ze stanowisk Kazimierza Wielka 3, 5 i 13, woj. świętokrzyskie – wyniki analizy archeozoologicznej / Animal remains from the Kazimierza Wielka 3, 5 and 13 sites, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship – results of archaeozoological analysis
by Jarosław Wilczyński 
, Sylwia Pospuła , Krzysztof Wertz
DOI: 10.33547/ODA-SAH.13.Kaz.11
In: Małgorzata Byrska-Fudali, Radosław Czerniak, Paweł Jarosz (eds) 2024. Archeologia na obwodnicy Kazimierzy Wielkiej: od śladów wczesnych rolników po starszą epokę brązu w dolinie Nidzicy (Ocalone Dziedzictwo Archeologiczne 13), pp. 321–347. Pękowice – Kraków: Wydawnictwo Profil-Archeo.
This study of animal remains pertains to materials obtained during archaeological excavations conducted at sites 3, 5, and 13 in town of Kazimierza Wielka (south Poland). These rescue excavations were associated with the construction of the Kazimierza Wielka bypass. A total of 2.468 animal remains were uncovered during the investigations, consisting mainly of bones and teeth from various species of vertebrate. Within the excavated area of the sites, several phases of use were identified, correspondingto Neolithic and Bronze Age settlements. Additionally, some animal remains found in the fills of features
without datable materials or with diverse chronology were categorized as having indeterminate chronology. The most numerous and valuable faunal assemblages were associated with the Linear Pottery culture, Funnel Beaker culture, and Mierzanowice culture. These findings enabled the tracking of changes in animal husbandry practices among prehistoric communities that inhabited these sites. The entire bone material collected during the archaeological research was analysed following current archaeozoological standards. This included determining the species and identifying anatomical elements. The analysis also described the state of preservation of the animal remains and any marks resulting from human activities (e.g., cut marks, chop marks, burning) or animal activity (e.g., gnawing). The assemblages from the studied sites were dominated by the bones and teeth of five domestic species: cattle, goat/sheep, pig, and dog. There was a small representation of horse remains. In addition to domestic species, a few remains of wild animals were recovered, primarily river mussel shells and elements of the European pond turtle skeleton. Noteworthy is the very low representation of wild mammal remains, with exceptions such as the remains of a European polecat and a wildcat found in features associated with the Mierzanowice culture. Bone tools and antler implements were relatively rare at the three sites. The presence of all skeletal parts of domestic animals and human-induced modifications, such as cut marks or burning, indicates that a significant portion of the material represents post-consumption waste. Items that do not fall into this category include the few bone and antler tools, remains of domestic animals (e.g., cattle in the Corded Ware culture and horse in the Trzciniec culture), and small carnivores (e.g., wildcat and European polecat in the Mierzanowice culture), which are better interpreted as animal deposits. It can be inferred that domestic animals were slaughtered directly at the site, as indicated by the presence of low-consumption-value remains such as distal limb parts. Animal carcasses were processed at the site, including skinning, butchering (evidenced by cut marks), and consumption (indicated by filleting marks and occasional charring). In the Linear Pottery culture assemblage, almost exclusively the bones and teeth of domestic animals were described. Strikingly, apart from a few river mussel shells, there were no wild animal remains in the material. Cattle bones and teeth dominate, exclusively from mature individuals. The absence of juvenile remains may suggest that cattle at Kazimierza Wielka sites were primarily raised for meat production. However, it cannot be ruled out that younger individuals were slaughtered and consumed outside the settlement. The Funnel Beaker culture materials provided a rich osteological collection, mainly consisting of domestic animal remains: cattle, goat/sheep, and pig. Notably, the proportion of small ruminants and pigs is the highest among all cultures represented at the studied sites. Similarly high proportions of pigs and small ruminants have been observed at other Funnel Beaker culture settlements in Lesser Poland. This may indicate a balanced animal husbandry economy that did not rely on a single dominant species but instead involved maintaining herds of various species near the settlement. This assumption is well illustrated by the calculated minimum number of individuals, which is similar across domestic species. Like the Bronocice settlement, the Funnel Beaker culture materials also show a low proportion of wild mammal remains, including red deer, wild boar, and brown bear. The faunal remains from Mierzanowice Culture contexts are numerous, comprising mainly bones and teeth of five domestic species: cattle, goat/sheep, pig, and dog. The proportion of horse remains is very low, similar to other Mierzanowice Culture settlements in Lesser Poland. However, it is notable that two horse metatarsal bones were found within a burial pit. The high proportion of dog remains in the Mierzanowice Culture materials is also noteworthy, primarily in the form of two deposits containing the skeletons of individual
animals. This differs from other Mierzanowice sites in Lesser Poland, where dog remains often represent post-consumption waste and sometimes bear butchery marks (e.g., Szarbia, site 7, Kazimierza Wielka, site 12). The presence of small carnivore skeletons, such as wildcat and European polecat, in the fills of Mierzanowice Culture pits is also noteworthy. The Trzciniec Culture materials differ from the other assemblages described here primarily due to the presence of a horse skeleton found in the fill of one
of the settlement pits. The remains of other species are too scarce to draw conclusions about their significance to the community occupying this site. Based on the proportions of remains from various
species, it can be concluded that the economy of the Neolithic and Bronze Age communities inhabiting the sites in Kazimierza Wielka was based primarily on animal husbandry. Cattle played the most important
role, as evidenced by their dominance in all assemblages. Hunting was marginal and essentially limited to exploiting aquatic environments, as indicated by the presence of river mussel shells and pond turtle remains. The exceptionally low representation of wild animal remains is striking, with the Mierzanowice Culture materials being an exception. However, even among the wild animal remains from this assemblage, small species like pond turtle, wildcat, and European polecat predominate. Across all assemblages, from the early Neolithic to the Bronze Age, remains of large ungulates—such as elk, red deer, and roe deer—are almost entirely absent, despite their frequent presence at other sites.