Lo sfruttamento della risorsa animale nella villa rustica di S. Marina (Petralia Soprana, PA)

Archaeological excavations were carried out on the roman villa of S. Marina (Petralia Soprana, Palermo) in different years (2008-2009,2013-2015, 2019-2020); during these field campaigns, numerousanimal remains were recovered, mainly from the Area 2 of theexcavation.The archaeozoological record is mostly composed of the maindomestic species (sheep, goats, cattle and pigs); other domestic andwild taxa are attested, such as horse, deer and wild boar. Animalexploitation was focused on meat consumption, although othersecondary products probably had a certain importance. A high presence of caprines killed after reaching adulthood may refer to aninterest in wool production. Hard animal materials (bone and antler)were recovered during the excavations, including both finished andunfinished products. The presence of unfinished tools and rare antlersand cattle’s horn fragments may hint at the presence of productionareas near the villa, as already observed in other similar contexts.