Non-funerary commensality in the Argaric Culture: Archaeozoological analysis of Structure E50.44 from Peñalosa (Baños de la Encina, Jaén, Spain)

Abstract

Acts of commensality are well recorded throughout the Late Prehistory of the Iberian Peninsula, as well as throughout the rest of Europe, Asia, and the Americas. Moreover, meat played a fundamental role in marking social differences and strengthening communal ties in special celebrations laden with strong cultural, economic, political, and social connotations. Research on commensality associated with the Argaric Culture (2200–1550 BCE) of the southeast of the Iberian Peninsula has focused almost exclusively on finds of faunal remains in funerary contexts. This study opens a new line of research on this phenomenon through the analysis of an exceptional faunal deposit (Structure E50.44) brought to light in the acropolis of the settlement of Peñalosa (Baños de la Encina, Jaén). The feature consists of a circular masonry pit and filled for the most part with faunal remains. Taxonomic and taphonomic analyses of the finds have identified species common to the site, notably cattle, caprines, pig, red deer, wild boar, rabbit, and hare. However, the most notable characteristic is its predominance of horse. The presence of butchery marks, the rarity of bones in anatomical connection, the abundance of prime meat-bearing elements belonging for the most part to adults of all species, in addition to a lack of structure’s deliberate internal organisation, allow linking it and its fill to an act of commensality that very probably represented an exceptional event for the residents of Peñalosa.