The animal osteological material from Přerov –
Horní náměstí 19, 20 comes from the 1990 and 1998 rescue excavations. Throughout the 10th / 11th / 12th centuries, domesticated species predominate over wildlife. Hunting and fishing were only an additional source of
livelihood. Common mammalian domesticated species were represented by: horses, cattle, pig, sheep, goats,
dogs, domesticated chickens and geese. The dominant role was played by cattle, sheep/goats, pigs and chickens. According to the number of bones and individuals, cattle and sheep/goats predominated over pigs during
the reference periods in this locality. The predominance of cattle and ruminants over pigs is rare, in general
cattle and pigs represent the greatest part of osteological collections from early medieval excavations. This
phenomenon could be related only to economic habits (proximity of suitable pastures), or possibly a suitable
grazing climate. The composition of domesticated fauna (predominance of ruminants) is relatively rare in the
monitored periods. Cattle and domesticated pigs dominated in the contemporary central places in Bohemia,
Poland and Germany, but small ruminants were in a minority everywhere. Although we do not have enough
data on the actual share of different domesticated animals concerning bone weight in the available publications, it can be assumed that the dominant food source was mostly domesticated animals. Among the species
of wildlife, the most remains come from carp, deer, followed by roe deer, wild pigs and ducks. For the first
time in this period (until the middle of the 11th century), here is evidence of hunting and eating songbirds.
The height at withers of the domesticated species correspond to dimensions of animals in other localities of
the same period. From the point of view of gender, females dominated. A higher proportion of females may
indicate that these animals were used for the production of chicks, milk, lambs and wool.