The project InTer AquAS (Integrating Terrestrial and Aquatic Archaeozoological Studies: Venice and the northern Adriatic lagoons between Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages) investigated elements of continuity and discontinuity and spatial differences in the human-animal-environment relationship at the Roman-early medieval transition along the north-western Adriatic coast, with a special focus on the Venetian Lagoon. The main aim of the project, undertaken through the archaeozoological analyses of animal remains (bones, teeth, shells) recovered from archaeological sites, was to reconstruct historical and environmental dynamics in a region that, in the period considered, witnessed the birth of key politico-economic players in the development of medieval Europe (Venice in primis); at the same time, the project aimed to understand how different food production or procurement practices were adapted in these environments, and to assess the potentials of such models in the improvement of current sustainable animal husbandry initiatives or wild resource use.
The region considered is characterised by the presence of wetlands, with lagoons, rivers and canals influencing the nature of human settlement and activities. For this reason, the project combined the study of selected terrestrial and aquatic fauna: the main domestic mammal species (cattle, sheeo/goat, pig, horse) and chicken, wildfowl (represented by wild ducks and geese), and molluscs (represented by the oyster, regularly harvested in the past and abundant in archaeological sites). The methodology adopted focussed on biometrical and isotopic analyses of bones and teeth, along with more traditional types of archaeozoological evidence. Biometry reconstructs size and robustness ranges in domestic animals, allowing to identify improvements or dimensional/robustness decreases between periods, driven by local or wider scale economic needs; it also allows to reconstruct sex ratios, also an indication of herd management. In wild anatids, combinations of different measurements are used to identify to species the remains of osteologically similar ducks and geese, while in oysters they provide information on the environment, harvesting grounds, and exploitation practices. Isotopic analyses, on the other hand, look at proportions of selected isotopes (variations of specific chemical elements) in the bone collagen and dental enamel, and provide information on feeding practices, seasonality, and animal mobility in general. These information are complemented by traditional achaeozoological evidence, such as species frequency, culling strategies, carcass processing, and pathology.
The InTer AquAS project filled in a major gap in archaeozoological research in the north-western Adriatic, as well as in the time periods considered. The reconstruction of local and regional trends in animal use informed on historical processes in the area consdiered. The existence of specific environmental conditions (wetlands and lagoons), tackled through the integration of the study of terrestrial and aquatic animal resources, impacted considerably on animal use. The project reconstructed how spatial and resource limitations were overcome through the integration of domestic animal management, horticulture, wildfowling and other aquatic resource use, within small-scale, mostly self-contained and sustainable food production models.
The project also contributed to reconstruct the lagoons’ historical and ecological background, through the study of the remains of domestic and wild animals that lived there. It identified the regular presence of small-scale animal husbandry in all the investigated islands during the Middle Ages, the species of wild anatids present in different locations at different times (each having its own environmental preferences and degree of tolerance to anthropic disturbance), and the regular harvesting of molluscs from the lagoon. Therefore, besides reconstructing a key aspect of historical dynamics and an alternative, sustainable and environmentally adapted food production model, the project improved knowledge of past lagoon human-animal-environment dynamics, promoting a better understanding of cause-and-effect processes affecting water environments.
In the long term, any positive influence on food production practices, as well as on local environmental and education policies, can contribute to support sustainable food production and lagoon exploitation, a better awareness of past and present human-animal relationships and, consequently, closer ties and integration within the surrounding environment.
