Die bronze-und eisenzeitlichen Tierknochenfunde von Terranegra (Legnago, Verona)

Excavations in 1996, at Terranegra, a site located in the proximity of Legnago (Verona) produced animal remains from a Bronze Age occupation and from a proto-urban settlement dating to the Iron Age (800–600 BC). A total of 4,409 animal remains recovered, of which 2,804 (63.6 %) could be identified to the genus and species level. Our analysis shows that in the faunal assemblage bone fragments from domestic mammals largely dominate, meat procurement being secured by sheep, goat, cattle and pig. Based on the Minimum Number of Individuals (MNI), pigs likely outnumbered cattle. Horses and dogs were also present but in small numbers. The contribution of game to the assemblage is marginal as well, which can be expected in societies intensively engaged in agriculture. Most interestingly, the presence of two large-sized cattle metacarpi in the Terranegra assemblage points to non-native individuals and exchange of stock-on-the-hoof, presumably with the Etruscan civilization inhabiting the region of the Po Valley.