Kasta inte pärlor åt svin - En studie av medeltida djurhållning och människans syn på sina husdjur utifrån det osteologiska materialet i kvarteret Hjärtat 4, Halmstad

Sammanfattning: This thesis is an osteological analysis of the bone assemblage from the quarter Hjärtat 4 in Halmstad, dating about 1320-1500 AD. The main aim was to quantify taxa and body parts, estimate sex and age at death, calculate withers height, identify taphonomic processes and record pathological conditions. Using this information, the next step was to analyze husbandry decisions and make an attempt to unfold the relationship between the medieval people and their domestic animals. The results were correlated with current research in the field, and this made it possible to draw some more general conclusions. Cattle, sheep (goat) and pigs were kept in the town, as well as hens and geese. In supplement, animals were brought in from the surrounding countryside. Several species of fish, wood-grouse, roe deer and hare was also identified. The most important source of meat was cattle, and during the medieval times the husbandry was more and more becoming a question of quantity, rather than quality. Thus, cattle increasingly became items to be traded rather than members of the household. Pigs were also affected in a similar way, with a progressively intensified husbandry. It’s likely that this change was followed by a shift in the relationship between man and pig that focused on the animal as an exchangeable meat producer. Sheep was another important contributor to the diet. The results from this analysis didn’t yield enough information to allow more conclusions to be drawn about the human – animal relationship. This is also the case of dog and horse, others species identified in the assemblage, by a few fragments.