Early Medieval exchange and surplus production of animals and animal products has received little attention in the archaeological literature. In order to create a picture of exchange and surplus...Show moreEarly Medieval exchange and surplus production of animals and animal products has received little attention in the archaeological literature. In order to create a picture of exchange and surplus production of animals and animal products in the Early Medieval period, the animal remains from the Merovingian settlement of Oegstgeest were analysed to determine whether exchange and surplus production took place at this settlement. A theoretical framework was set up in order to determine how exchange and surplus production can be recognised in the archaeozoological record. A number of aspects were deemed important in establishing whether exchange and surplus production took place in the past, including age and sex distributions, metrical- and non-metrical variation, skeletal element abundance and also stable isotope and aDNA analysis. Several of these aspects of the Oegstgeest faunal assemblage were researched. Results show that there was no large scale exchange and surplus production of animals and animal products at Oegstgeest. Results do, however, indicate that pork, beef and sea fish may have been brought into the settlement from elsewhere.Show less
