Faunal remains from the Early Iron Age rock-cut complex Gluhite Kamani (Eastern Rhodopes, Bulgaria)

Abstract

The faunal remains recovered from the Gluhite Kamani site offer the unique opportunity to explore the consumption patterns of the Early Iron Age communities inhabiting the Rhodope Mountains. While a lot high-altitude and rock-cut sanctuaries have been registered within the Rhodope Mountains, this is the only site yielding a larger assemblage (n = 3160) from a stratigraphic sequence dating to the Late Bronze Age - Early Iron Age transition and the Early Iron Age. Domestic animals dominate, with sheep/goat being the main exploited species through all stratigraphic layers. The results show that the percentage of represented domestic animals is relatively continuous, while the number of wild animals seems to vary throughout the different periods., As the site is regarded as a sanctuary during the Iron age, the extent to which we can identify any ritual activity from the osteological assemblage is commented on in the discussion regarding the cull patterns observed, and taphonomy.