I resti faunistici tardo medievali di Piazza San Marco (VE)

Th e paper discusses the animal assemblage recovered under the direction of the “Soprintendenza per i Beni Archeologici del Veneto - NAUSICAA” of the Italian Ministry of Culture during the excavation carried out in Piazza San Marco at Venice (Italy) in 2004. Animal remains come fr om twelve layers, three of which are related to a sewer fi lled in at the end of the 15th century, whereas the others are related to drainage activities. About 1085 fr agments have been analyzed; 883 (81.4%) have been identifi ed according to species and mostly belonged to the domestic animals. Catt le and goat-sheep are the most common species; pigs are less represented, whereas poultry, other birds and molluscs were rare. Most of the material seems to be highly fr agmented due to slaughtering and butchery activities; signs of burning were noticed as well in some instances. Mammals were slaughtered both when young and adults. Th e variation in the age in which all species were slaughtered was quite considerable. Young individuals under one year, as well as adults even older than 10 years, were well represented. Th e animal sample fr om Piazza San Marco is the largest assemblage of Venice dated to the late Middle Age and provide some information on the life of the ancient town.