L'Economia a Sassari dal Medioevo all'Età Moderna: contributo archeozoologico

The archaeological analysis may play a leading role in giving a general outline of the economic system in complex urban societies, also in providing information about specific aspects of the everyday life of their inhabitants. The study of the faunas of Sassari is part of a wider intervention project of urban archaeology, which involved the underground of the town in the last decade. The analysis of new acquired contexts, the constant relationship with written sources and archaeological data, along with the comparison with previous archaeological studies, allowed the evaluation of faunal evolution over time. Furthermore, they helped to identify the changes that may be found in the age of animal slaughter, concerning the dimensions, the morphology and the exploitation of the different species having economic income. At the same time, a number of specific features related to the consumption and the processing of animal products have been analysed, thus leading to the discovery of a new category of objects never found before in the area: bone anvils used by blacksmiths to sharpen the sickles with serrated edges. Finally, the results of the studies carried out on urban faunas have been compared with those obtained in similar researches conducted on different settlements in the area (such as villages, urban, religious and monastic centres) in order to point out the mutual relationship and the effects on food production in each period.