The equids from the Bronze Age levels of the El Portalón site (Atapuerca, Burgos, Spain)

The butchery marks, the fire alteration, the fracture pattern and the percussion damage, observed on horse bone remains, indicate the human consumption of horses during the Early Bronze Age and the Middle Bronze Age level of the El Portalón site. The mortality profile is focused on consumption of the foal meat, in contrast with the management of this species in the majority of the Iberian sites of similar age. The large accumulation of equid remains and the role horses play at Bronze Age levels of El Portalón is notable and makes it one of the most significant sites from the Bronze Age in the Iberian Peninsula context.