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• Introduction
• Visit
• Preface
• Content
  1. Environment
     1. The geological context
     2. The Aisne valley
     3. Flora
     4. Fauna
     5. The first settlements
  2. The Gallic village
     1. The story of a Remi village
     2. The birth of the village
     3. Establishing the village
     4. Village life
  3. Daily life
     1. Agriculture and subsistence
     2. Men and animals
        1. Butchery
        2. Butchering and eating horsemeat
        3. Spit-roasting and curing pork
        4. Dog meat and fur
        5. Weasels and mice
        6. Wild boar
     3. Fishing
     4. Meat in the diet
     5. The table and crockery
     6. Craftsmanship
     7. Trade
  4. The Necropolises
     1. Distribution of the necropolises
     2. Funerary rituals
     3. Funeral plots
     4. The funerary population
     5. Funerary buildings
     6. Food for the dead
     7. Tombs of the sacrificers?
     8. A hierarchy of tombs
  5. Sacred sites
     1. Large sacred sites
     2. The environs of the village in the 1^st century BC.
     3. Another Gallic village: Avançon
     4. Acy-Romance and Romanisation
  6. Archaeological research
     1. 20 years of archaeological research
     2. Methodology
     3. Archeozoology
     4. Experimental archaeology
     5. Acy-Romance seen from the air
     6. Reconstruction and archaeology
     7. Acy-Romance at the Museum of the Ardennes
• Appendices
  1. Resources
  2. Site map
  3. Chronology
  4. Accessibility policy
  5. Credits
• Versions
  1. Version française
  2. Version Flash

Men and animals

Over two hundred thousand bones testify to the involvement of animals in the daily life of the Gauls of Acy-Romance. Livestock farming was a major economic activity, with evidence that animals were used for producing milk and wool and for providing energy for haulage, riding or carrying goods. Just as important, but leaving almost no trace, are the products (manure for crops) or services (waste management, guarding) that some animals could also provide. But the usage which has left the most traces, in the form of culinary waste, is the provision of meat and fat. The contents of domestic waste pits reveal marked differences as regards meat in the diet, some inhabitants enjoying quality cuts while others had to make do with second-rate scraps. Meat was eaten in the home and also at banquets, funerals and other important occasions. Compared with farming, hunting was a very secondary source of meat in the diet and seems to have been motivated by other concerns, such as the elimination of predators (wolves, otters), or as a source of fur or trophies. Fishing, in contrast, does seem to have been important.