The archaeozoological study of two successive Horgen culture village sites on the shore of lake Chalain (Jura, France) during the 32nd century B.C., is part of a general concern of the research on the occupation of lacustrian environments in the northwestem part of the Alps; the focal point of this research being to determine the interactions between the changes in population, technological systems, social organizations and environmental balance. This archaeozoological study reveals a system of meat supply marked by important successive reorientations reflecting upon a rapid adaptation and highly flexible food supply strategies. The interpretation of the variations of quantitative proportions of the principal meat sources, together with the osteometric features of the main species exploited do suggest, in connection with the extension of land clearing and the acceleration of population growth, a meat economy that seems marginal because of the growth of cereal production.
Neolithic, food supply, agricultural expansion, demographic growth, husbandry, hunting.