Combining functional weed ecology and crop stable isotope ratios to identify cultivation intensity: a comparison of cereal production regimes in Haute Provence, France and Asturias, Spain

This investigation combines two independent methods of identifying crop growing conditions and husbandry practices—functional weed ecology and crop stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis—in order to assess their potential for inferring the intensity of past cereal production systems using archaeobotanical assemblages. Present-day organic cereal farming in Haute Provence, France features crop varieties adapted to low-nutrient soils managed through crop rotation, with little to no manuring. Weed quadrat survey of 60 crop field transects in this region revealed that floristic variation primarily reflects geographical differences. Functional ecological weed data clearly distinguish the Provence fields from those surveyed in a previous study of intensively managed spelt wheat in Asturias, north-western Spain: as expected, weed ecological data reflect higher soil fertility and disturbance in Asturias. Similarly, crop stable nitrogen isotope values distinguish between intensive manuring in Asturias and long-term cultivation with minimal manuring in Haute Provence. The new model of cereal cultivation intensity based on weed ecology and crop isotope values in Haute Provence and Asturias was tested through application to two other present-day regimes, successfully identifying a high-intensity regime in the Sighisoara region, Romania, and low-intensity production in Kastamonu, Turkey. Application of this new model to Neolithic archaeobotanical assemblages in central Europe suggests that early farming tended to be intensive, and likely incorporated manuring, but also exhibited considerable variation, providing a finer grained understanding of cultivation intensity than previously available

A bottom-up view of food surplus: using stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis to investigate agricultural strategies and diet at Bronze Age Archontiko and Thessaloniki Toumba, northern Greece

We use stable isotope analysis of crop, faunal and human remains to investigate agricultural strategies and diet at EBA-LBA Archontiko and MBA-LBA Thessaloniki Toumba. Crop production strategies varied between settlements, phases and species; flexibility is also apparent within the crop stores of individual houses. Escalating manuring intensity at LBA Thessaloniki Toumba coincides with large co-residential ‘blocks’ geared towards hoarding of agricultural surpluses, spectacularly preserved by fire at nearby LBA Assiros Toumba. Faunal isotope values reflect a range of feeding strategies, including probable herding of cattle on C4-rich coastal salt marshes, evident at Archontiko through to the LBA alongside bulk cockle harvesting. Palaeodietary analysis of LBA humans at Thessaloniki Toumba indicates that C3 crops represent the only plausible staples. Millet was a minor food but may have played a particular role in the sub-adult diet. Meat probably featured in supra-household food sharing and hospitality, associated with Mycenaean-style tableware in the LBA

Stable isotope evidence for diet change in Roman and Medieval Italy: local, regional and continental perspectives

This thesis investigated dietary change in Roman and Medieval Europe c. AD 1-1500 using stable isotope analysis of humans and animals. Historical and archaeological data present two possibilities for how the social, political and economic changes of this period may have affected food practices. One argument suggests the population collapse and economic depression of the Early Medieval period increased the availability and consumption of meat. The counter- argument suggests that agricultural and economic patterns were constrained by local circumstances, and that no significant dietary change occurred. This study combined local-scale isotopic analysis from central Italy with a meta-analysis of all available previously published data from Europe c. AD 1-1500. Mixed multi-level models were used to control for random inter-site variation, and to investigate the effect of multiple factors (Phase, Location, proximity to coast, Age, Sex, Species) on d13C and d15N. Within central Italy, 430 humans and 29 animals were analysed from eight archaeological sites dating from the 5th century BC to the 15th century AD. There were no significant differences through time, but coastal sites had significantly higher d13C and urban sites had significantly higher d15N. Across Europe, Early Medieval humans (c. AD 500-1000) had slightly but significantly lower d13C and d15N compared to Roman and Late Medieval individuals. This was the opposite of the effect expected due to increasing meat consumption at this time. A number of complicating factors were discussed, including the effect of climate change, changing agricultural practices and uncertainty in estimating animal protein consumption based on d13C and d15N. When these effects are considered, the isotopic changes observed through time do not eliminate the possibility of increased meat consumption in the Early Medieval period. Nevertheless, the data presented from Roman Italy, and new models for estimating animal protein consumption, indicate that Roman historical sources may underestimate the dietary role of animal protein, and that therefore Roman and Early Medieval food production and consumption patterns were similar.</p

The human remains

Bio-archaeological analysis of the skeletal remains uncovered during the 2006-2010 excavations conducted in the medieval cemetery of Villamagna (Anagni, FR)

Stable isotope evidence for diet change in Roman and Medieval Italy : local, regional and continental perspectives

This thesis investigated dietary change in Roman and Medieval Europe c. AD 1-1500 using stable isotope analysis of humans and animals. Historical and archaeological data present two possibilities for how the social, political and economic changes of this period may have affected food practices. One argument suggests the population collapse and economic depression of the Early Medieval period increased the availability and consumption of meat. The counter- argument suggests that agricultural and economic patterns were constrained by local circumstances, and that no significant dietary change occurred. This study combined local-scale isotopic analysis from central Italy with a meta-analysis of all available previously published data from Europe c. AD 1-1500. Mixed multi-level models were used to control for random inter-site variation, and to investigate the effect of multiple factors (Phase, Location, proximity to coast, Age, Sex, Species) on d13C and d15N. Within central Italy, 430 humans and 29 animals were analysed from eight archaeological sites dating from the 5th century BC to the 15th century AD. There were no significant differences through time, but coastal sites had significantly higher d13C and urban sites had significantly higher d15N. Across Europe, Early Medieval humans (c. AD 500-1000) had slightly but significantly lower d13C and d15N compared to Roman and Late Medieval individuals. This was the opposite of the effect expected due to increasing meat consumption at this time. A number of complicating factors were discussed, including the effect of climate change, changing agricultural practices and uncertainty in estimating animal protein consumption based on d13C and d15N. When these effects are considered, the isotopic changes observed through time do not eliminate the possibility of increased meat consumption in the Early Medieval period. Nevertheless, the data presented from Roman Italy, and new models for estimating animal protein consumption, indicate that Roman historical sources may underestimate the dietary role of animal protein, and that therefore Roman and Early Medieval food production and consumption patterns were similar.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Stable isotope evidence for diet change in Roman and Medieval Italy : local, regional and continental perspectives

This thesis investigated dietary change in Roman and Medieval Europe c. AD 1-1500 using stable isotope analysis of humans and animals. Historical and archaeological data present two possibilities for how the social, political and economic changes of this period may have affected food practices. One argument suggests the population collapse and economic depression of the Early Medieval period increased the availability and consumption of meat. The counter- argument suggests that agricultural and economic patterns were constrained by local circumstances, and that no significant dietary change occurred. This study combined local-scale isotopic analysis from central Italy with a meta-analysis of all available previously published data from Europe c. AD 1-1500. Mixed multi-level models were used to control for random inter-site variation, and to investigate the effect of multiple factors (Phase, Location, proximity to coast, Age, Sex, Species) on d13C and d15N. Within central Italy, 430 humans and 29 animals were analysed from eight archaeological sites dating from the 5th century BC to the 15th century AD. There were no significant differences through time, but coastal sites had significantly higher d13C and urban sites had significantly higher d15N. Across Europe, Early Medieval humans (c. AD 500-1000) had slightly but significantly lower d13C and d15N compared to Roman and Late Medieval individuals. This was the opposite of the effect expected due to increasing meat consumption at this time. A number of complicating factors were discussed, including the effect of climate change, changing agricultural practices and uncertainty in estimating animal protein consumption based on d13C and d15N. When these effects are considered, the isotopic changes observed through time do not eliminate the possibility of increased meat consumption in the Early Medieval period. Nevertheless, the data presented from Roman Italy, and new models for estimating animal protein consumption, indicate that Roman historical sources may underestimate the dietary role of animal protein, and that therefore Roman and Early Medieval food production and consumption patterns were similar.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Farming practice and land management at Knossos, Crete: New insights from δ13C and δ15N analysis of Neolithic and Bronze Age crop remains

Neolithic agriculture in the Aegean encompassed a diverse spectrum of cereals and pulses (Halstead 1994; Valamoti and Kotsakis 2007), and plausibly entailed intensive management (i.e. with careful tillage, weeding, manuring and watering, as needed) on a small scale in order to achieve marginal surpluses that buffered households and communities against poor harvests (Halstead 1981, 1987, 1989). This model is supported by isotopic evidence for the manuring of cereals and pulses, and for preferential watering of the latter, at Neolithic sites in Greece and Bulgaria (Bogaard et al. 2013; Vaiglova et al. 2014a). The availability of labour ultimately limits the size of the surplus that can be attained under such a system. Linear B texts indicate that Late Bronze Age palatial urban centres in the Aegean were at least partly sustained by surpluses gained from more extensive low-input cultivation sponsored by palatial elite