Animal disease evidenced in the bone assemblage of a Late Neolithic settlement in Greece: Implications for animal management

Objectives: The objective of the paper is to interpret pathologies on faunal remains in an effort to evaluate the presence of husbandry practices.

Materials: Bones and bone fragments from the Neolithic site of Dispilio, Greece. Those of domestic species were further studied.

Methods: The pathological cases were examined macroscopically, the lesions were described, images were taken, and differential diagnoses were undertaken using published literature.

Results: 77 out of the 13,026 bones and bone fragments recovered displayed pathological conditions including oral disease, joint disease, trauma and congenital conditions. Most pathologies were found in the axial skeleton of caprines.

Conclusions: Pathological conditions in caprines are possibly related to the use of overgrazed pastures and fattening of females and castrates. These cases indicate specific husbandry practices used at the site.

Significance: Reconstructing husbandry practices is complex, especially in extremely old sites with fragmentary remains. This study provides one of the very few studies of a large Neolithic animal bone assemblage providing insight into early human-animal interactions in Greece.

Limitations: The research is based on the bone material of the two later occupation phases of the site. It includes material from one site.

Suggestions for further research: The bone assemblage of the earlier occupation phase should be studied for a diachronic investigation of husbandry practices at the site. Investigation of pathological cases in more settlements would provide a larger database for the evaluation of husbandry practices in Neolithic Greece.