Anat Biol Anthropol.  2020 Jun;33(2):45-55. 10.11637/aba.2020.33.2.46.

Animal Exploitation Pattern in Central Places Located in Yeongnam Province Based on Archaeozoological Analysis

• Kim H

• KMID: 2503813
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.11637/aba.2020.33.2.46

Abstract

As three-kingdom period ancient tombs were located in the central place of those days, animal remains excavated from shellmiddens and wetlands around ancient tombs could illustrate how hierarchy exploited the animal resources. For this purpose, five archaeological sites were selected and archaeozoological analysis was conducted. Five species including deer, boar, cattle, horse and dog were commonly found with the small number of wild species in each site. In terms of the proportion of animal species, deer comprise more than 50 per cent of fauna from Pusan and Gimhae of Gaya confederacy while the number of domesticates such as horse and cattle is small. On the other hands, the peculiarity of animal remains of Gyeongju and Gyeonsan, belong to Silla dynasty, is the low proportion of deer and boar. This feature could be related to the characteristics of central places as other regions such as Pungnaptoseong Fortress and Mongchontoseong Fortress show a similar tendency. Furthermore, as the category of boar includes domestic pig, the percentage of domesticates usage could be even higher. A part from the use of domesticated animals, cat and sea lion were found as well. As the cat is frequently discovered around the royal palace of Silla, it is worth to study how the cat was imported to the Korean Peninsula. Also, although sealion which is already extinct is often found around Pusan, archaeological evidence of exploitation practice is insufficient. However, considering the cutmarks on bone surfaces, it could be extrapolated that sealion was considered as one of the important resources.

Keyword

Three Kingdom period; Animal remains; Domesticates usa; Central place