Tracing Celtiberian social organisation and animal husbandry through faunal remains: An archaeozoological study of San Miguel (Arnedo, La Rioja)

The Celtiberians of the Second Iron Age, who settled in the north-eastern Meseta and the middle Ebro valley, combined a diversified agropastoral economy with a hierarchical social organisation marked by the presence of warrior elites. Graeco-Roman sources, complemented by archaeological evidence, indicate that livestock husbandry —with a clear predominance of caprines— was closely integrated with cereal-based agriculture. The oppidum of San Miguel (Arnedo, La Rioja), destroyed between the end of the 4th century and the first half of the 3rd century BCE, offers an exceptional archaeological context. The destruction layers sealed complete domestic assemblages, preserving faunal remains in primary position and providing a rare “snapshot” of Celtiberian daily life. The archaeozoological study of remains recovered from domestic (three houses) and non-domestic contexts (street and ditch) offers contextualised evidence for consumption and processing practices, contributing to the interpretation of livestock management and social dynamics at the site. Results indicate a caprine-focused livestock economy, with patterns suggesting that caprines were primarily consumed and processed within domestic contexts and exploited for meat, milk, and wool. Pigs appear in both domestic and non-domestic contexts, suggesting patterns consistent with household consumption alongside processing events that may have involved supra-household participation. Cattle—less frequent within domestic assemblages—show distributional patterns compatible with episodes of shared processing, potentially linked to their social value. Hunting of deer and rabbits complemented the faunal spectrum. Comparisons between houses reveal broadly similar taxonomic proportions and anatomical representation, with minor differences more plausibly related to functional specialisation than to marked socio-economic inequality. San Miguel therefore provides a high-resolution case study through which to explore how livestock use intersected with subsistence practices and social dynamics in this Celtiberian settlement.