Zooarchaeological analysis of the Roman frontier economy in the eastern Netherlands

The faunal remains from numerous Iron Age and Roman period sites along the Rhine frontier near Nijmegen, the eastern Netherlands, reveal changes in animal production and consumption coinciding with the Roman invasion and incorporation into the Roman imperial economic system. This zooarchaeological evidence is combined with other archaeological and historic evidence to reveal how a large military presence, the monetizing of the economy, increased trade, and changes in how elites obtain and maintain power caused profound changes in the local economy. Military sites such as the Nijmegen Castra and the Kops Plateau led to the creation of non-agricultural civilian centers such as the Canabae Legionis, Ulpia Noviomagus, and the Oppidum Batavorum. Demand for agricultural products from new military sites and civilian centers led to changes in rural site production strategies. These changes were intensified by a change in the Iron age system of obtaining status and prestige through martiality towards the Roman system of obtaining power through displays of wealth. In rural areas, increased demand for surplus and wealth caused a shift from subsistence production towards surplus production. This change in production contributed to a population shift towards non-agricultural population centers and made rural sites more oriented towards surplus production, although environmental constraints limited the amount of surplus these sites could produce.