| This thesis examines the participation of the Villa de Vilauba, located in the Roman province of Hispania Citerior, in the Roman economic system as assessed through the analysis of faunal assemblages from the first to the fifth centuries CE. The faunal assemblages of the villa are contextualized within their regional economic context and compared to the faunal record from the region of Roman Tarraconensis, and more widely, the rest of the province of Hispania. This allows the author to gauge the effect of the Roman conquest on livestock production within the villa, and on the region more broadly. Focusing on the three main domestic livestock types of the ancient Mediterranean (ovicaprine, pigs, and cattle), it is concluded that villa owners actively determined what fauna they would incorporate into their estates and in doing so they choose to incorporate Roman foodways and husbandry with their own. |
