Animal Exploitation in the Early Neolithic of the Balkans and Central Europe

This chapter aims to establish the patterns characteristic of animal exploitation in the Early Neolithic of southeast and central Europe. It tests the relative importance of ecological and spatial factors for explaining variation in species representation at both regional and continental scales. The chapter interprets the results from the analyses in the light of temporal developments within the Linearbandkeramik (LBK), and as they relate to the expansion of agriculture during the Early Neolithic of southeast and central Europe. The analysis suggests that, at least in regard to animal exploitation strategies, the composition of taxa at Anza-Anzabegovo shares more characteristics with the Greek Early Neolithic than it does with the typical Starevo sites. In fact, if it compares the levels of taxonomic diversity for the LBK and preceding agricultural economies from the Balkans and southeast Europe, it is evident that even the lowest reciprocal index value, for the middle LBK, is still higher than for preceding economic systems.