Transformation and continuity in the exploitation of faunal resources in the Tormes Valley (Salamanca, Spain): From Iron Age to Roman Times (350 BCE-250 CE)

This paper shows the results of the archaeozoological analysis carried out on faunal assemblages —consisting of domestic contexts, but predominantly middens— from the excavations at San Vicente Ferrer Street (third to second centuries BCE) and the Trilingüe College (first to third centuries CE) in the city of Salamanca (Spain). More than 5,000 faunal remains were identified from an anatomical, taxonomic and taphonomic perspective to examine the transformations and continuities in livestock management from the Late Iron Age to the Roman period at the Spanish Plateau. The data show that caprines constitute the predominant consumed domestic group in both phases, followed by cattle, suids, equids and canids. However, from the first century CE onwards, the representation of bovines increases notably while suids decline, together with a shift toward a strategy that prioritizes the exploitation of secondary products. The presence of hunted species —above all red deer, but also wild boar and leporids— demonstrates the continuity of hunting practices. Taphonomic analysis reveals a high occurrence of butchery marks, suggesting that all species were consumed once they had fulfilled their roles in life; notably, such evidence was also documented on equids and canids. Overall, the data allow us to characterize a drive toward more diversified and meat-production focused strategies of livestock management under Roman rule, while simultaneously maintaining traditional elements characteristic of the local Iron Age communities.