Middle Bronze Age Animal Economies: Transitions at Pecica Santul Mare (Romania)

Summary

The Bronze Age is a period of fundamental social and technological changes in Europe, including the emergence of more complex political and economic systems. Pecica "Şanțul Mare," a large tell located in the Carpathian Basin (Romania), provides an ideal case study of economic reorganization throughout the course of the Middle Bronze Age (MBA), when it came to rise as a regional center. The Middle Bronze Age was an era of more centralized control over animal production and specialized horse breeding. This new study seeks to understand the period prior to its regional dominance. I analyze the faunal assemblage of the earliest settlement layers of the MBA occupation (1900-1850 BCE). The animal economy from this transitional period forms the foundation for the suite of changes occurring the site’s apex. The patterns that we see at Pecica can be used as a model for emerging economies in the greater Carpathian region.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)   •
• New Perspectives on the Romanian Bronze Age

Keywords

Spatial Coverage