Management, supply and mobility of equids in the northwestern Roman Empire

• Applicant: Dr. Maaike Groot
• Subject Area: Prehistory and World Archaeology ; Classical, Roman, Christian and Islamic Archaeology
• Term: since 2025
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 564558860

Horses and mules were vital to the success of the Roman Empire: they were used by the army to conquer territories and transport goods, to maintain swift communication in military and civilian contexts, for civilian transport and in some contexts, their meat was consumed. Furthermore, specialized horse breeding has been suggested for some regions in the northwestern provinces. There are still many questions surrounding Roman equids. It is unclear how the supply of equids to the Roman army was organized. Also not well understood are logistics around equine diet. Furthermore, the hypothesis of horse breeding in the central Netherlands has not been proven. The mechanisms behind the improvement of horse type – reflected in a size increase – are also unclear. While food production and supply in the Roman Empire have received considerable attention in recent years, the same attention has not been paid to equids. This project will address the management, supply and mobility of horses and other equids in the northwestern Roman provinces, using a range of state-of-the-art methods. The project will take two approaches at different scales: first, a large-scale archaeozoological review of fragmented horse remains from Germania Inferior and Germania Superior; and second, a life history approach applied to 50 complete or near complete equid skeletons. The first approach will investigate equid proportions compared to other livestock species, mortality profiles and developments in size and shape. In addition, ZooMS will be used to establish the species (horse, donkey, mule) for a selection of fragmented remains. ZooMS will also be used to identify species for the 50 selected skeletons. The skeletons will then be subjected to standard archaeozoological analysis (age, size, pathology). Stable and radiogenic isotope analysis will be used to investigate mobility and diet. Diet will also be studied through dental meso- and microwear. Finally, aDNA analysis can provide insight into population size and affinity, sex, castration, and selection of specific traits. The project will have access to equid remains from older and recent excavations in frontier regions in the Netherlands and Germany. The application of innovative and complementary methods allows a detailed analysis that was not possible until recently, providing different perspectives or information for different time scales. The project will lead to a thorough understanding of the ways in which equids were bred, traded and managed in the northwestern provinces of the Roman Empire.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants