During archaeological excavations in the Upper Town in Kyiv in 2008, a cellar was discovered next to the Western Palace. Among other materials, there were animal bones, the absolute majority of which were horses’ bones. Based on the bones, it was calculated that the minimum number of individual horses was four. These bones belonged to kitchen remains, as they were fragmented and showed a large number of cutting marks on almost all anatomical parts of the horses. However, they were larger than those that are usually thrown away after cooking. Perhaps, in this case, we are dealing with horse carcasses that were stored as supplies after initial butchering, but never used. The presence of bones from non-meat parts of the body, such as the phalanges, indicates that the animals were slaughtered in the same place. According to the nature of the cut marks, they were probably made with an ax and a knife. Two of the horses were likely males. The sex of the other two could not be determined. Two individuals were five years old, one was 3—3.5 years old, and one was 15—18 months old. Breed characteristics were established only for one individual. The female belonged to medium-legged horses. In addition, the horse performed heavy physical work during life, which is indicated well-developed muscle attachments on the bones. It should be noted that by the 11th and 12th centuries, the practice of eating horse meat had stopped. There are several reasons for this. One of them is changing the role of the horse. At this time, the horse began to be actively used as a draft animal, particularly when cultivating the land, and as a riding animal. Another reason is the spread of Christianity, which prohibited eating horse meat, because it was associated with pre-Christian cults. This is evidenced by several references in the Chronicle. However, under unforeseen circumstances, such as famine during the siege of the city, the practice of eating horse meat could have been returned. It is likely that the horses, the bones of which were found in the cellar, were slaughtered and divided into fragments precisely under unfavourable circumstances for the residents of Kyiv.
The article presents the results of the investigation of diet features of the Kyiv Podil population in the first half of the 11th century, based on archaeozoological analysis. The study of meat and fish diet in a separate chronological layer includes the animal bones from the well-stratified cultural horizon 14 at the Spaskyi excavation site, dated back to 1020—1040s years. Archaeological finds from this horizon reflect both the northern and southern vectors of cultural connections. The inhabitants of discovered here estates ate quite varied and actively consumed meat. Among other food, they preferred beef and pork, buying most of the meat in the market, and the cows were kept for milk in the household. Small ruminants principally raised for their milk, meat, and wool were eaten less often. Chickens were also rarely eaten; they were bought, and not bred at home. Finds of eggs from the horizon 14 used for food were not chicken eggs, but goose eggs. Occasionally the diet was enriched with horses, wild-hunted animals, and large fish, incl. Acipenseridae. Dogs were a rare and unusual part of the diet.
1733 bone fragments were excavated at the Rus layer of the archeological site Igren-8 placed near the Samara river falling into the Dnipro river in 2018. 1103 fossils were identified by their anatomical and species affiliation. Such sample is considered to be statistically sufficient to characterize the condition of animal husbandry in the settlement. Zoological material characteristics show that the cattle made up the absolute majority of the meat production consumed by the settlers. Hunting was paid insignificant attention. The cows take the first place according to the number of the found fossils (581 bone fragments). The small cattle take the second place (387 bone fragments). The swine take the third place (78 bone fragments). The fourth and the fifth places are taken by the horse (8 bone fragments) and the dog (3 bone fragments) accordingly. The elk, deer, hare, wolf, beaver and ferret fossils were identified too, with 46 bone fragments. The sex and age characteristics of the cattle suggest milk cattle breeding. The small cattle were bred for milk and wool both. The age of the killed animals and their teeth condition denotes the sufficient feed base at the site. The height of the cows at the withers ranges from 109 cm to 122.7 cm. The height of the sheep at the withers ranges from 58.6 cm to 65.9 cm. The height of the horse was 138.8 cm; also it was medium-legged according to the leg thickness.
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