Der Tierknochenfundkomplex von Gnadendorf (VB Mistelbach, Niederösterreich)

Faunal remains from the Linear Pottery site of Gnadendorf (Austria) are analysed in this paper. Although most of them are ascribed to the Notenkopfkeramik, some remains are assigned to the Stichbandkeramik and to the Urnenfelderkultur. Regarding the first and earliest remains, an overwhelming majority of domestic animals is obvious (about 90 % of the identified specimens), cattle being apparently slightly more abundant than others. Caprines are more abundant than other Notenkopfkeramik assemblages of this region. This relative abundance of small grazers is difficult to interpret and may indicate a conservative pattern of subsistence economy, unless the observed situation does not reflect casual factors such as a nonrepresentative sample. Stichbandkeramik remains come from three different stratigraphical units, two of them mixed with Neolithic and Bronze Age remains. In spite of this and of a poor sample, their faunal composition differs widely from that of the other two phases, being rich in wild animal remains. This characteristic is found also in the Stichbandkeramik site of Frauenhofen, whose zooarchaeological remains, partially already published, have been revised on this occasion. On the basis of these data and of data from other sites of comparable age, it would appear that during this period in the Austrian Danubian region hunting activities were greatly increased to eke out husbandry and farming.