Linoy Namdar

This study will investigate animals' role as products in shaping long-distance interactions between Copper Age communities in the Carpathian Basin. To do so, two research objectives will be examined: 1. To explore the potential of livestock mobility and inter-community contact, during the Copper Age in the Carpathian Basin. This will be made by analysing the geometric morphometric variation of the most abundant livestock bones (i.e., cattle) from different settlements; 2. To identify evidence for specialization in hunting or livestock production, through detailed zooarchaeological analysis of animal bone assemblages, focusing on species abundance, age and sex profiles, and Paleopathologies and butchery patterns (cut marks).

The originality of this project lies in its primary focus on using GMM as a direct proxy for investigating potential livestock mobility and inter-community contact in the Copper Age Carpathian Basin, a methodology that may not have been extensively applied to this specific region and timeframe for this purpose. The direct comparison of morphometric patterns with detailed zooarchaeological indicators of production specialization offers a novel and integrated approach to understanding the multifaceted role of animals in Copper Age societies.