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

Environnement, alimentation, hygiène et mode de vie dans le Grèce mésohelladique : le cas de l'Aspis d'Argos.

International audienceLes fouilles menées sous l’égide de l’École française d’Athènes, de 1974 à 1990, dans l’habitat mésohelladique de l’Aspis d’Argos découvert par W. Vollgraff au début du XXe siècle, et surtout les recherches complémentaires effectuées au cours de ces toutes dernières années, permettent d’entrevoir certains aspects des rapports entre les populations et leur environnement pendant une période – l’Helladique Moyen – qui est encore très mal connue de ce point de vue. On donnera ici un aperçu préliminaire de ces données, qui sont pour la plupart en cours d’étude

A Brief Contribution to the Philistine Pig Debate

An updated account of the role of pigs in dietary practices and taboos in the southern Levant and Mediterranean

Using stable isotopes and functional weed ecology to explore social differences in early urban contexts: The case of Lattara in mediterranean France

Integrated stable isotope investigation of plant and animal ecology can shed new light on the practicalities and politics of land management. Ecological analysis of archaeobotanical weed flora offers a complementary approach to arable growing conditions. Here we introduce the first combined study of stable isotope compositions (carbon and nitrogen) of plant and faunal remains and functional weed ecology from mediterranean France in order to investigate agricultural strategies under urbanisation and their social implications. Animal bones and charred crops and weeds are investigated from two archaeologically distinct residential areas from 5th century BCE Lattara, zones 1 and 27, during a period characterised by significant urban expansion in the region. Plant carbon and nitrogen isotope composition and functional weed ecology suggest some differences in growing conditions between crops found in the two zones, zone 27 being associated with more intensively cultivated crops than zone 1, where extensive cultivation, which can achieve much greater surplus, was dominant. These findings coincide with archaeological evidence of a ‘richer’ variety of material culture and foodstuffs in zone 1. Carbon and nitrogen isotopic values of animal bone collagen suggest that the main domesticates from both zones consumed a similar diet; however, rabbits exhibit a difference, with those from zone 1 having significantly higher δ15N, implying that the two zones sourced this species differently

Using stable isotopes and functional weed ecology to explore social differences in early urban contexts: The case of Lattara in mediterranean France

Integrated stable isotope investigation of plant and animal ecology can shed new light on the practicalities and politics of land management. Ecological analysis of archaeobotanical weed flora offers a complementary approach to arable growing conditions. Here we introduce the first combined study of stable isotope compositions (carbon and nitrogen) of plant and faunal remains and functional weed ecology from mediterranean France in order to investigate agricultural strategies under urbanisation and their social implications. Animal bones and charred crops and weeds are investigated from two archaeologically distinct residential areas from 5th century BCE Lattara, zones 1 and 27, during a period characterised by significant urban expansion in the region. Plant carbon and nitrogen isotope composition and functional weed ecology suggest some differences in growing conditions between crops found in the two zones, zone 27 being associated with more intensively cultivated crops than zone 1, where extensive cultivation, which can achieve much greater surplus, was dominant. These findings coincide with archaeological evidence of a ‘richer’ variety of material culture and foodstuffs in zone 1. Carbon and nitrogen isotopic values of animal bone collagen suggest that the main domesticates from both zones consumed a similar diet; however, rabbits exhibit a difference, with those from zone 1 having significantly higher δ15N, implying that the two zones sourced this species differently

The Principle of Equality Among Member States of the European Union

The present chapter is aimed at reconstructing the evolution of the principle of equality among EU Member States, a principle first introduced by the Constitutional Treaty and now reaffirmed by the Treaty of Lisbon (Article 4(2) TEU). The research is divided into two parts, the first one analyzing the relation between equality and sovereignty and the second addressing the way the principle of equality among Member States relates to the principles of sincere cooperation, national identity and solidarity that, as we will see, influence the idea of equality itself. In summary, we will see whether the relations among the Member States of the European Union can be framed by the idea of equality among States as it was developed in international law or whether that idea should rather be reshaped in light of the Union’s supranational nature

Interpreting crop and animal management strategies at Neolithic Kouphovouno, Sparti, Greece: integrating information from plant and animal isotopes, micro wear analysis and archer-botanical and -zoological studies.

International audienceIn this case study, we analyze stable isotope signatures of ancient charred plant and faunal bone remains from Middle-Late Neolithic Kouphovouno in order to investigate the crop cultivation and animal husbandry practices employed by the early farmers. Previous work on the nature of Neolithic agriculture has shed light on the symbiotic relationship in which plant and animal husbandry strategies may function. For example, the by-product of crop cultivation can be used as fodder to feed the animals and the by-product of the animals, dung, can be used to fertilize the soils in which the crops are grown.1 But just how this inter-dependent strategy was maintained remains to be investigated on a case-by-case basis. Our aim is to use isotopic evidence to address questions of how intensively the cereal and pulse crops were managed, what the diets of the livestock were and how the farmers at Kouphovouno made use of the surrounding landscape for the grazing of animals. These results are interpreted in light of dental micro- and mesowear analysis carried out on the same faunal assemblage. Together, the two strands of information enable us to make inferences about which foods the animals may and which they may not have consume

Les fouilles de l'hôtel-Dieu de NarbonneLa faune du puits 2336 : traitement des animaux à vocation bouchère dans la ville de Narbonne au Vème siècle de notre ère

National audienceUne fouille préventive s'est déroulée durant le premier semestre 1996 dans les limites de l'enceinte du Centre Hospitalier Général de Narbonne. Cette intervention, prescrite par le Service Archéologique du Languedoc-Roussillon, est la troisième, et la plus importante, des quatre opérations archéologiques engagées, à partir de 1991, dans le cadre du projet de restructuration de l'Hôtel-Dieu.Conformément à ce que laissaient présager les résultats de découvertes anciennes, mais aussi, et surtout, les observations issues d'un diagnostic réalisé sur les lieux dans le courant du mois de juillet 1995, l'étude en question a principalement porté sur des séquences stratigraphiques de nature funéraire. Depuis des incinérations accompagnées d'objets, jusqu'à des inhumations en cercueils en bois, exemptes de tout mobilier, les différents types de sépultures reconnus sur le site de l'Hôtel-Dieu relèvent d'un canton de cimetière fréquenté entre le IIe siècle de notre ère, au plus tard, et la fin du XVIIIe siècle