The aim of this study is to identify the preferred animal species at Byzantine city of Amorium and accordingly to find the spatial relationship between context and the purpose of animal use such as dietary habits, workshop activities, possible socioeconomic differentiation and subsistence economy as well as the ecology of Amorium environment. The animal bones were examined in order to determine their species. The identified animal bones were assessed by calculating the frequencies of the each species. Thus, which species were the most essential for the diet, and the basic aims of the animal economy, could be determined. In addition to domestic animals, the wild fauna was also studied to answer the question of which species were chosen for exploitation and whether or not wild sources were of considerable portion, gathered by fishing and hunting. For the spatial analysis, the species compositions as well as the skeletal representation tables of each assemblage of each different context were studied. The species composition appeared similar amongst most of the contexts but the skeletal representation tables gave more information on the use of species, especially allowing the separation of contexts containing domestic refuse and the contexts that had an overwhelming proportion of bones elements that could have been used for industrial activities (bone working).

Animal bones found on archaeological sites can be connected to the economic structures of the society and what activities the humans performed. During the Merovingian Period and the Viking Age on the island of Gotland there are several sites that have been difficult to interpret. One of these sites is Signallottan which has several finds that are connected to iron working but also a lot of cremated animal bones. The proposed study investigates how the animal bones are connected to the site and what purpose they had. The study also compares the site to other archaeological sites to see how they differ. This will be achieved by analyzing the animal remains found at the site. The material consists of roughly 56 kilograms of bones that were excavated during 2018 and is currently stored in the osteological laboratory in Visby, Sweden. This study leaves some questions open but most likely Signallottan has only had one main purpose. What this purpose is, is still unknown and needs further research.

Cremated bones from animals has been recovered in conjunction with a number of hearths in Visby, Gotland. This find has started a controversial discussion in the archeological field regarding usage of bones as a supplement in iron working. Archeological investigations often tend to overlook the information that could be gained from osteological materials. Animal bones can give us insight and contribute with new perspectives on economics, diet, livestock and much more. The aim of this bachelor is therefore to look closer at the relations between bones and iron working and to establish if the bones were used to enhance the phosphorus levels of the iron. This will be achieved by analyzing cremated bones from the archeological site Visby RAÄ 230. The material will also be compared with previous studies regarding iron working.

The goal of this work was to determinate and analyse osteological material from an archeological site, which was dated from high Middle Ages to early modern period. Then, the results were compared to other literature engaging in similarly dated localities.

This thesis presents the results from a osteological analysis and a GIS-study aimed to examinedifferences in the located animal bones in different areas of the excavation site of Ajvde. The osteological material came from five excavated square meters on the site and was comparedwith osteological results from other researchers from different areas to create overview and try tosee differences between the areas. The GIS-study took data from all animal bone material excavated on the site, a total of about 2300kilos, and presented them in maps of spatial distribution for each layer (pictures 4, 5, 6 & appendixpicture 1) to see if there were any clusters of activity and changes between the layers. The dating ofthe culture layer and the burial field (pictures 7 & 8) were presented in maps to see if they could becorrelated with what was seen with the animal bones. Pictures of different shorelines were alsopresented (picture 9) to compare with the results that were seen in the changes of animal bones fromdifferent layers. The results of the GIS-study have shown that the activity on the site have moved over time alongthe hight differences of the land. The earlier layers show activity only on the higher elevation butlater moves down, and in the upper layers activity have been all over the excavated area. Clusters ofanimal bones were seen in the so called “black areas” of the sites (shown in picture 2) but also otherareas contained a lot of animal bones. The results of the osteological analysis have shown that there are differences in what species arefound in different areas. The most common are seal, wild boar/pig and fish. And the main differenceare shown between what are found within the black areas and outside. The bone material frominside the black areas are much more fragmented and contained more wild boar/pig bones, andoutside the black areas more bones from seal and fish were found in less fragmented condition (seepicture 10). The bone parts found from wild boar/pig were mostly cranium, teeth and bones fromthe feet, while there were all parts of the body found from seals. It is thereafter discussed that seal and fish may have been the common foods for the Ajvideinhabitants, which is also confirmed by C13-results, and the wild boar/pig may have been a morevaluable resource, not just as food at events like feasts, but also as material for tools. The black areas are discussed as maybe ritual areas for preparation for feasts in connection to burialceremonies, but this is something that needs more research to determine. The continuity of the blackareas are also discussed, but this also needs more research to know anything for certain. / Den här uppsatsen presenterar en sammanställning av osteologiska analyser och en GIS-studie medavsikten att undersöka skillnader i djurbensmaterialet på olika områden av utgrävningsytan påAjvide. Det osteologiska materialet kom från fem utgrävda kvadratmeter och jämfördes med andraosteologers resultat från andra områden på platsen för att skapa en översiktsbild av de olikaområdena och försöka se om det fanns skillnader. GIS-studien tog data från allt dokumenterat djurbensmaterial från utgrävningarna, totalt 2,3 ton, ochpresenterades i spridningskartor för varje lager (bild 4, 5 & 6) för att se om det fannskoncentrationer av aktivitet och förändringar mellan lagren. Dateringar från kulturlagret ochgravarna (bild 7 & 8) presenterades i kartor för att se de kunde kopplas samman med vad som sågs ispridningen av djurbensmaterialet. Strandlinjemodelleringar skapades också (bild 9) för att jämföramed resultaten från spridningskartorna över djurbensmaterialet. Resultatet från GIS-studien visade att aktiviteten på platsen har förflyttat sig över tid längs medhöjdskillnaderna i landskapet. De djupaste lagren visar enbart på aktivitet på de högre nivåerna,men i de övre lagren har detta förflyttats neråt och spritt sig över hela utgrävningsområdet. Storakoncetrationer av djurben kunde ses i de såkallade "svarta ytorna" men det fanns även mycketdjurben utanför dessa områden. De osteologiska resultaten visade att det fanns skillnader i vilka arter som påträffats på de olikaområdena. De vanligaste arterna var säl, svin och fisk. Den största skillnaden var vad som återfannsinom de svarta ytorna jämfört med utanför. Benmaterialet inom de svarta ytorna var mycket merfragmenterat och innehöll mer svinben, och utanför de svarta ytorna återfanns mer ben från säl ochfisk som även var betydligt mindre fragmenterade (se bild 10). Benelementen som återfanns frånsvin var mestadels kranium, tänder och fotben, medan samtliga kroppsdelar från säl påträffades. Det diskuteras därefter att säl och fisk kan ha varit den vardagliga födan för Ajvidebefolkningen,vilket också bekräftast av C13-resultat, och därmed enbart behandlats som matavfall, medan svinenkan varit en mer värdefull resurs, inte bara som mat vid exempelvis festmåltider, men även sommaterial till redskapstillverkning. De svarta ytorna diskuteras som möjliga platser för förberedelser för gravceremonier eller vid slaktvid festmåltider, men detta är något som behöver undersökas vidare för att avgöra. De svartaytornas kontinuitet och användning över tid diskuterades också, men behöver även det ytterligareundersökning och dateringar för att kartläggas.

Tierknochenfunde mit jeweils etwa 350 bestimmbaren Fragmenten aus vier mittelalterlichen und frühneuzeitlichen Gruben- und Grabenanlagen Güstrows (Mecklenburg-Vorpommern) werden vorgestellt. Sie weisen sämtlich einen hohen Anteil an Schlacht- und Speiseresten auf, gleichzeitig finden sich in ihnen aber auch Teilskelette deponierter oder hineingefallender Tiere, nicht zuletzt zahlreiche Föten. Kulturgeschichtlich bemerkenswerte Funde sind mehrere zu Spielgeräten umgearbeitete Rinderphalangen.

The crematory funerary rites practiced by those living in parts of mainland Britain during the first millennium AD included burning complete or parts of animals on the pyre. This thesis highlights the potential for archaeozoological analysis of faunal pyre goods using assemblages from the first millennium AD as a dataset. Experimental study and the integration of current research from a number of disciplines is used to suggest that although pyrolysis and cremation practices fragment and distort burnt bone assemblages, careful analysis can reveal a wealth of data leading to the interpretation of various forms of pyre good. The results of the author's analysis of material from the sites of Brougham, Cumbria, St. Stephen's, Hertfordshire, Castleford, West Yorkshire and Heath Wood, Derbyshire are combined with data from other published cemeteries to suggest a series of chronological and regional continuities in the use of animals but with a distinct change at the start of the Early Medieval period. The results from Brougham are particularly significant as they alter preconceived views on the utilisation of animals in Romano-British funerary practice. Cremation burials in first millennium AD Britain are shown to include the burnt remains of predominantly domestic taxa with occasional wild species. The pyre goods are interpreted as representing food offerings, companions, amulets, gaming items and sacrifices. This thesis demonstrates that cremated animal bone should not be disregarded but rather valued as source of archaeozoological data, and a significant functional tool for interpreting past funerary behaviour and animal utilisation.

For this thesis the animal bones collected from the archaeological excavations at the ancient site of Burgaz have been analyzed for the study of animal exploitation, human diet, social differentiation and the environment of Burgaz and Dat&ccedil / a during the Classical Period. Comparison of the results with evidence from other sites to determine the extent to which there might have been local trends in animal husbandry. Because this kind of a research is not common among archaeologists specialising in the classical period the methodology and each process of the laboratory work has been set out. Burgaz/Dat&ccedil / a is a coastal settlement but sea products do not have an important place in the human diet of the Dat&ccedil / a Burgaz inhabitants. After analysis of the Burgaz bones it was determined that domestic cattle, sheep/goat, pig, horse, donkey and dog were present alongside wild goat, wild pig, fallow deer, red deer, roe deer, badger and birds as well as fish and shellfish from the sea. More than half of the bones that were identified, 220 of 430, come from floor filling levels beneath floors. It was understood that these bones were in filling materials that were brought from dump site(s). Among these bones were some worked cattle bones which have close parallels with Roman period finds at Sagalassos. Because of most of identified bones come from filling levels beneath floors it was not possible to reach definite conclusions about social hierarchy at ancient Burgaz. Sheep/goat and cattle were kept for their secondary products, such as milk, wool and power. They were slaughtered in their old age by experienced people and played an important place in diet of the Burgaz inhabitants. Pigs, on the other hand, were slaughtered when young. From the wild species found in the Classical and Hellenistic Periods it can be said that the Dat&ccedil / a environment was diverse enough to accommodate a range of wild animals whose habitat indicates the existence of forested areas (with large leafed and coniferous trees) as well as of meadows and grasslands.

The study of early Greek sacrificial rituals is an under-researched field, as previous scholarship has focused in Late Archaic and Classical Greece to understand and reconstruct Greek sacrifice. This thesis is an attempt to complement our knowledge of early Greek sacrificial practices, which are defined here as thysia, holocaust and moirocaust, focusing in the 8th and 7th century Peloponnese. To achieve this goal, all available archaeological and zooarchaeological evidence from the sanctuaries at Olympia, Isthmia, Nikoleika, Mt. Lykaion and Asea, is incorporated. It is argued that the reconstructed sacrificial norm of thysia is not reflected in the early Peloponnesian evidence and a re-evaluation of Greek sacrifice, at least for the Late Geometric–Early Archaic period, is suggested. The second aspect this thesis is to explore social competition in the given chronological and geographical framework through Greek sacrificial rituals. A new theory based on the notion of visibility is applied, according to which the sacrificer aims to promote themself and earn social capital through direct and indirect visibility achieved from the regular performance of sacrificial rites. It is suggested that the level of visibility in sacrifice is dependent on four parameters: sacrificial ritual and meals, sacrificial investment, sacrificial installation and the status of the sanctuary. / Tidig grekisk offerritual är ett understuderat område, då forskare framför allt fokuserat på det senarkaiska och klassiska Grekland för att förstå och rekonstruera grekisk offerpraktik. Denna uppsats är ett försök att utöka vår kunskap om tidiga grekiska offer, som här definieras som thysia, holokauster och moirokauster, med fokus på 700- och 600-talen på Peloponnesos. För att uppfylla detta syfte studeras all tillgängligt arkeologiskt och animalosteologiskt material från helgedomarna i Olympia, Isthmia, Nikoleika, Lykaionberget och Asea. Uppsatsen hävdar att den antagna normen för djuroffer i form av thysia inte återspeglas i det tidiga materialet från Peloponnesos och att det därför bör det ske en omvärdering av grekiskt offerbruk, åtminstone vad gäller den sengeometriska och tidigarkaiska perioden. Vidare utforskar uppsatsen hur social konkurrens uttrycktes genom offerritual inom samma period och geografiska område. Här appliceras en ny teori baserad på visibilitet. Enligt denna strävar den som offrar att framhäva sig själv och förvärva socialt kapital genom den direkta eller indirekta visibilitet som erhålls från att regelbundet genomföra offerritualer. Fyra parametrar avgör visibilitetens genomslagskraft: ritualen och de efterföljande måltiderna, investeringen i själva offret, installationer för offrets praktiska genomförande och helgedomens status.

Uppsatsen utgår ifrån en analys av 20 kilo animalosteologiskt material från kvarteret Gruvan 3 i Jönköping, vilket har daterats till medel- och stormaktstid (1000–1600 e.Kr.). Syftet har varit att undersöka förändringar i djurhållning och eventuella aktiviteter (kopplade till djurbenshantering), som ägt rum på platsen. Under analysarbetet har art och benelement bedömts. Osteologiska metoder för ålder, kön och mankhöjd har tillämpats i den mån detta varit möjligt på slaktdjuren i materialet, det vill säga nötkreatur (Bos taurus), får/get (Ovis aries/Capra hircus) och svin (Sus domesticus). Studien har visat att det förekommer vissa skillnader i artfördelning mellan slaktdjuren under periodens olika faser. Nöt har dock varit mest frekvent förekommande följt av får/get och gris. Resultatet av den osteologiska analysen har uppvisat stora likheter med andra tidigare undersökta medeltida stadsmaterial, när det gäller ålder, kön och mankhöjd hos djuren. Materialet från senare halvan av den undersökta tidsperioden har innehållit en större mängd bearbetade benfragment, vilka tolkats vara hantverksspill. / This paper is based on a study of 20 kilo animal bones, which were recovered from an excavation in 1994 in the quarter of Gruvan 3, Jönköping. The purpose of this essay was to investigate changes in animal husbandry and activity, related to animal bones, at the site during the period from AD 1000–1600. Osteological methods have been used to determine age, gender and height of the most common domestic animals, which are cattle (Bos taurus), sheep/goat (Ovis aries/Capra hircus) and pig (Sus domesticus). Some differences have been seen in the distribution of the domestic animals in the material from different time periods. Cattle has been the most common animal followed by sheep/goat and pig. The osteological material has also shown similarities with other materials from medieval Swedish towns based on the age, gender and height of cattle, sheep/goat and pig. The material from the later part of the investigated period has contained an increasing amount of bone fragments from crafting.