Fish exploitation in medieval and early modern Switzerland: evidence from the ichthyoarchaeological record and historical sources

In Switzerland, fish played a substantial role in people's diets both in medieval times and in the early modern period. In this paper, we present an overview of ichthyoarchaeological data from 20 years of research, mainly from the northern and eastern regions of Switzerland. The integration of results of faunal analyses from 20 archaeological sites and the study of historical sources provided information on different modes of fish exploitation during these periods. This study shows that the fish remains from archaeological sites correspond with the descriptions in the written records: both sources point to local fisheries within Swiss freshwater systems. These fisheries were strongly regulated and often selective. Large freshwater fish of high quality were mainly caught by professional fishermen and eaten by the aristocratic and clerical classes, whereas small or young specimens were caught by all social classes even though their catch was strongly restricted. Furthermore, both sources provide evidence for an inland freshwater fish trade of selected species and for the import of herring, and suggest the practice of different freshwater fish cultivation methods.