Crop fertility conditions in North-Eastern Gaul during the La Tène and Roman periods: a combined stable isotope analysis of archaeobotanical and archaeozoological remains.

Considerable archaeobotanical datasets describe cereal cultivation in north-eastern France, from the Iron Age to the Roman period. This study aims to complement these by using stable isotope analysis on charred cereal grains. Soil fertility was investigated through d15N and d13C analyses of 1480 charred cereal grains, dated from the Late La Tène to the Late Antiquity periods. In the Île-de-France, charred grain D13C values suggested good hydric conditions, with drier episodes in the 1st and 3rd century AD; while in Champagne, the lower D13C values for spelt reflect the lower water holding capacity of the chalky soils. A wide range of cereal d15N values (0.8 - 8.7 ¿) implies a wide range of soil fertility conditions. Jouars-Pontchartrain and Palaiseau (Île-de-France) yielded the highest cereal d15N values, whereas Acy-Romance (Champagne) delivered among the lowest. From these three sites, the d15N values of red deer bone collagen were used to estimate the reference d15N values for unmanured plants. Unlike in Acy-Romance, there were significant differences in Palaiseau and Jouars-Pontchartrain, indicating that the cultivated cereals inherited their high d15N values from manured soil. At Jouars-Pontchartrain, the d15N value (almost 9¿) suggested a high trophic level manuring source, possibly from pig and/or human faeces

Social complexification and pig (Sus scrofa) husbandry in ancient China : a combined geometric morphometric and isotopic approach

Funding: This work was supported by the CNRSCASS program for the training of Chinese PhD students.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Identifying seaweed consumption by sheep using isotope analysis of their bones and teeth : Modern reference δ13C and δ15N values and their archaeological implications

This research was funded by the British Natural Environment Research Council (NERC; NER/B/S/2003/00223) and the European Social Fund and Scottish Funding Council as part of Developing Scotland’s Workforce in the Scotland 2014-2020 European Structural and Investment Fund Programme. Stable isotope values in tooth enamel were measured at the SSMIM (Paris, MNHN) with technical support of Joël Ughetto. Modern sheep mandibles and/or information on sheep herding practices on Orkney were kindly provided by Robert Mainland (Rousay), Linda Haganand Una Gordon (Holm of Aikerness), Billy Muir, Dr Kevin Woodbridge and the North Ronaldsay Sheep Court (North Ronaldsay). We would like to thank Anne Brundle, Tankerness House Museum, Orkney (Point of Cott), Dr Colleen Batey, University of Glasgow (Earl’s Bu) and ProfJane Downes and Nick Card, Orkney College, UHI (Mine Howe) for providing access to the archaeological mandibles. The authors would also like to thank Jane Outram and Mandy Jay for assistance in preparation and isotopic measurement of the vegetation samples, which were kindly collected by Robert Craigie, and Karen Chapman for preparing the mandibles. Lastly, the authors are also grateful for the constructive comments of the editors and anonymous reviewers.Peer reviewedPostprin

Wild, domestic and feral? Investigating the status of suids in the Romanian Gumelnita (5th mil. cal BC) with biogeochemistry and geometric morphometrics

International audienceIn south-eastern Romania, a prominent place was given to pigs in the Gumelniţa culture (Late Chalcolithic, second half of 5th millennium BC); as was the highly prized wild boar, one of a variety of species targeted for hunting. The wild boars’ ecological niche and the scale of pig husbandry were investigated during a stable isotope study of the Gumelniţa A2 occupations at Borduşani-Popină, Hârşova-tell and Vităneşti-Măgurice. Results from the bone collagen δ15N and δ13C analysis suggested that the wild boars did not inhabit dense forests, in any of these locations. The emerging picture is of small-scale pig husbandry involving household management: pigs being fed leftovers and/or by-products of human activities. At Vităneşti, previous work involving geometric morphometrics on suid molars evidenced, besides the two expected groups of small domestic pigs and large specimens with wild molar shape (i.e. wild boar), the presence of specimens with large size and domestic shape molars, whose relationship with the human community was unclear. Results from the combined geometric morphometric and stable isotope analyses, suggested that the large specimens with domestic molar shape lived in close proximity to the wild ecosystem. They were probably not part of the domestic stock, but belonged to a feral population and were acquired through hunting

Inside the "African Cattle Complex": Animal Burials in the Holocene Central Sahara

Cattle pastoralism is an important trait of African cultures. Ethnographic studies describe the central role played by domestic cattle within many societies, highlighting its social and ideological values well beyond its mere function as 'walking larder'. Historical depth of this African legacy has been repeatedly assessed in an archaeological perspective, mostly emphasizing a continental vision. Nevertheless, in- depth site-specific studies, with a few exceptions, are lacking. Despite the long tradition of a multi-disciplinary approach to the analysis of pastoral systems in Africa, rarely do early and middle Holocene archaeological contexts feature in the same area the combination of settlement, ceremonial and rock art features so as to be multi- dimensionally explored: the Messak plateau in the Libyan central Sahara represents an outstanding exception. Known for its rich Pleistocene occupation and abundant Holocene rock art, the region, through our research, has also shown to preserve the material evidence of a complex ritual dated to the Middle Pastoral (6080-5120 BP or 5200-3800 BC). This was centred on the frequent deposition in stone monuments of disarticulated animal remains, mostly cattle. Animal burials are known also from other African contexts, but regional extent of the phenomenon, state of preservation of monuments, and associated rock art makes the Messak case unique. GIS analysis, excavation data, radiocarbon dating, zooarchaeological and isotopic (Sr, C, O) analyses of animal remains and botanical data are used to explore this highly formalized ritual and lifestyles of a pastoral community in the Holocene Sahara

Seasonal calving in European Prehistoric cattle and its impacts on milk availability and cheese-making:impacts on milk availability and cheese-making

Present-day domestic cattle are reproductively active throughout the year, which is a major asset for dairy production. Large wild ungulates, in contrast, are seasonal breeders, as were the last historic representatives of the aurochs, the wild ancestors of cattle. Aseasonal reproduction in cattle is a consequence of domestication and herding, but exactly when this capacity developed in domestic cattle is still unknown and the extent to which early farming communities controlled the seasonality of reproduction is debated. Seasonal or aseasonal calving would have shaped the socio-economic practices of ancient farming societies differently, structuring the agropastoral calendar and determining milk availability where dairying is attested. In this study, we reconstruct the calving pattern through the analysis of stable oxygen isotope ratios of cattle tooth enamel from 18 sites across Europe, dating from the 6th mill. cal BC (Early Neolithic) in the Balkans to the 4th mill. cal BC (Middle Neolithic) in Western Europe. Seasonal calving prevailed in Europe between the 6th and 4th millennia cal BC. These results suggest that cattle agropastoral systems in Neolithic Europe were strongly constrained by environmental factors, in particular forage resources. The ensuing fluctuations in milk availability would account for cheese-making, transforming a seasonal milk supply into a storable product.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Living off the land : Terrestrial-based diet and dairying in the farming communities of the Neolithic Balkans

The application of biomolecular techniques to archaeological materials from the Balkans is providing valuable new information on the prehistory of the region. This is especially relevant for the study of the neolithisation process in SE Europe, which gradually affected the rest of the continent. Here, to answer questions regarding diet and subsistence practices in early farming societies in the central Balkans, we combine organic residue analyses of archaeological pottery, taxonomic and isotopic study of domestic animal remains and biomolecular analyses of human dental calculus. The results from the analyses of the lipid residues from pottery suggest that milk was processed in ceramic vessels. Dairy products were shown to be part of the subsistence strategies of the earliest Neolithic communities in the region but were of varying importance in different areas of the Balkan. Conversely, milk proteins were not detected within the dental calculus. The molecular and isotopic identification of meat, dairy, plants and beeswax in the pottery lipids also provided insights into the diversity of diet in these early Neolithic communities, mainly based on terrestrial resources. We also present the first compound-specific radiocarbon dates for the region, obtained directly from absorbed organic residues extracted from pottery, identified as dairy lipids

Early Neolithic pastoral land use at Alsónyék-Bátaszék, Hungary (Starčevo culture): new insights from stable isotope ratios

The earliest introduction of livestock (cattle, goats, sheep, pigs) into the Carpathian Basin was an important step towards farming expansion into continental Europe. This spread beyond the environments of the southern Balkans was accompanied by a reduction in the spectrum of cultivated crops, changes in the relative representation of different domestic animals, and, most likely, adaptations of husbandry practices. How the earliest farmers in the Carpathian Basin kept their domestic stock is still understudied. We explored early animal management and land use strategies at the Starčevo settlement at Alsónyék-Bátaszék, Hungary (Early Neolithic, ca. 5800-5600 cal BC). Settled at the intersection of wide alluvial plains, waterlogged meadows and marshes to the east, and forested hills to the west, early farmers at Alsónyék had a wide variety of options for nourishing their livestock. We performed stable isotope ratio analysis of bone collagen (n = 99; δ13C, δ15N) and tooth enamel (nteeth = 28, sequentially sampled for δ13C and δ18O) from wild and domestic animals to locate them in the landscape and investigate herding practices on a seasonal scale. The bone collagen isotope ratios mostly indicate feeding in open environments. However, results from the sequential analysis of cattle and sheep enamel suggest diverse dietary strategies for winters, including consumption of forest resources, consumption of summer hay and grazing in an open environment. Most pigs appear to have had herbivorous diets, but several individuals likely supplemented their diet with animal protein. Stable isotope ratio results from the Lengyel phase at Alsónyék (ca. 4800-4300 cal BC) suggest more access to animal protein for pigs, and feeding in more open areas by wild boar, red deer and cattle compared to the Starčevo phase. This study's results demonstrate considerable variability in early animal husbandry practices at Alsónyék