The production of rabbit fur in Barcelona during the Middle Ages
During the last archaeological excavations at El Born CCM, carried out in the summer of 2021, work was focused on the Riera house. This house is located in an urban space delimited by the two most important hydraulic structures in the city: the Rec Comtal and the sewer formerly known as Merdançar. In one of the oldest levels of the 13th century, a large number of very small faunal bone remains were recovered, which attracted the attention of archaeologists.
The study of the rabbit bones assemblage
A careful study of this assemblage has shown that it is mostly constituted by rabbit remains. The study of the bones gives very clear indications of the particular use of these animals beyond their consumption as food, and puts them in relation to the economic activities linked to the exploitation of the rsbbits fur, for centuries , developed in the urban space in which they were located.
What was the context of the find? How did reserahers reach these conclusions? What do we know about leather work in Barcelona?
Vanesa Triay, archaeologist director of the intervention, and Lluís Lloveras, zooarchaeologist and researcher at the University of Barcelona, talk about it in a new session of the talks of the Arqueoborn program.
