Final thoughts

In the last decades B.C., the Roman army became a permanent presence in the Netherlands. Initially, food supply relied strongly on pigs, ⁷⁹⁰ which were either bred by the army locally or arrived through military supply lines. Cattle seem to have been requisitioned locally, although some may also have come from further away. Since the local farmers were not yet used to producing surplus food, it was not possible for the army to rely on local supply completely. A similar food supply strategy is seen in other early military sites, such as Dangstetten and Velsen, where pig is also the most common species. ⁷⁹¹ In contrast to this, in the early fort of Alchester (UK), the species spectrum, slaughter ages and size of livestock suggest local procurement. ⁷⁹² This first stage did not last long. Cattle soon became increasingly important for military meat consumption, and there is now evidence for the import of cattle as well as the provisioning with local livestock. Consumers dietary preference can be seen in the slightly higher proportion of pigs in military sites.