The study consisted on an osteomorphological study of the remains.
Researchers from the Prehistoric Studies and Research Seminar (SERP) of the UB, together with CSIC, the Laboratoire Geosciences Montpellier (CNRS, University of Montpelier and University of ANtillas), and 608 Farm And Equine Veterinary Surgeons (Warwickshire, United Kingdom), analyzed the most comprehensive study on remains from prehistoric horses in the Iberian Peninsula. Specifically, they studied remains that belong to 46 horses dating back to the Iron Age, between the 8th and 6th centuries BC, in the site of Can Roqueta (Sabadell). Results were published in the Journal of Archaeological Science Reports.
The study shows the importance of equids in the ritual sphere and economy of peninsular societies in the analyzed period. The site shows many remains of horses, many in graves near their habitat. The equid remains are made of parts such as craniums, or arranged in partial skeletal connections (top and bottom ends) and even forming the whole animal.
The study consisted on an osteomorphological study of the remains that allowed researchers detect differences between the studied animals: there were horses approximately one meter high and others about 1.40 meters high. The found bones also show that people rode these animals and used them to transport trade. Also, it is the first time a strontium isotope analysis takes place in the Iberian Peninsula. The 87Sr/86Sr isotopic result used to determine the nutrition and geographical area of equid farming, since strontium is added to teeth enamel through plant and water intake, and the indicator varies depending on the geological composition of each area. The obtained isotopic result from dental enamel allows researchers to know horses from Can Roqueta had diverse origins: some were raised in the same site or nearby, while others were foreigners. The analysis will try to determine the areas of these horses farming.
"This diversity in their origins opens new study pathways on the mobility of human communities in the northwestern of the peninsula and on the contact with communities from the western Mediterranean and the inlands, beyond the traditional material records, which are always based on ceramics and metals", note UB researchers Silvia Albizuri and Francisco Javier López Cachero.
The study was carried out by the group SERP, led by Professor Josep Maria Fullola, and specifically within the context of the project "Families, neighbours and foreigners in recent prehistory in the Catalan pre-litoral", funded by the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness and co-led by Albizurri and López Cachero.
Article reference:
S. Albizuri, S.Valenzuela-Lamas, D. Bosch, M. Fernández, F. J. López-Cachero. «Equid use and provision during the Early Iron Age in Can Roqueta (NE Iberian Peninsula). Zooarchaeological study and first strontium isotope result (87Sr/86Sr)». Journal of Archaeological Science Reports, agost del 2019. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2019.101907
