Sheesh! Even Livestock Follows Cope's Rule

The paper on Zooarchaeology 'Livestock management in Spain from Roman to post-medieval times: a biometrical analysis of cattle, sheep/goat and pig' by the researcher of the Department of Geography, Prehistory and Archaeology of the UPV/EHU-University of the Basque Country Idoia Grau-Sologestoa, appeared recently in the Journal of Archaeological Science. The study shows successive changes in the size of domestic animals over time relating to changes in the landscape and production systems.

Zooarchaeology is a discipline that studies the relationship between human beings and animals throughout history. To do this, zooarchaelogists study the remains of animals found in archaeological sites. This discipline studies questions relating to livestock husbandry, food or the ritual use of animals, among other things.

The paper 'Livestock management in Spain from Roman to post-medieval times: a biometrical analysis of cattle, sheep/goat and pig' is the outcome of the PhD research work conducted by Idoia Grau-Sologestoa and completed in 2014 at the UPV/EHU, and has been published recently in the prestigious Journal of Archaeological Science which specialises in archaeology.

It is an analysis of metric data taken from the remains of domestic animals (cows, sheep and pigs) salvaged on archaeological sites across the Iberian Peninsula. The measurements analysed (numbering over 2,500) come from 41 archaeological sites dating between the Roman era and today, since the 1st century BCE until the 21st century. Many of these sites are located in the Basque Country, but also in Aragón, Castilla y León, Catalonia, Madrid, Murcia, Navarre, Valencia and the south of Portugal.

The study shows successive changes in the size of domestic animals over time relating to changes in the landscape and production systems. "The increase in animal size is normally linked to improvements of an environmental type (for example to new ways of feeding) or of a genetic type (for example, by importing larger animals). Larger domestic animal size entails a number of economic advantages with an increase in meat production or traction strength. What is more, improved domestic animals tend to grow faster which helps to increase their productivity," explained Idoia Grau.

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