Meaningful materials? Bone artefacts and symbolism in the Early Bronze Age Aegean

The symbolically laden use of materials is well documented ethnographically but hard to demonstrate archaeologically, especially for animal bones and teeth, use of which in post-Neolithic contexts is commonly considered expedient. Early Bronze Age southern Aegean mortuary assemblages have yielded three distinctive classes of bone artefact. Comparison with contemporary unworked bone assemblages and contextually or formally related objects in other materials reveals complex cultural associations, the symbolic meaning of which is explored through heuristic use of ethnographic analogues. It is concluded that alternative value systems operated alongside those structured around exoticism and technological sophistication, usually deployed to understand EBA southern Aegean cultures

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 storesof 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 onC4-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 subadult diet. Meatprobably featured in suprahousehold food sharing and hospitality, associated with Mycenaean-style tableware in the LBA

Bones from the labyrinth: Faunal evidence for management and consumption of animals at Neolithic and Bronze Age Knossos, Crete.

Animals feature extensively in the iconography and written records of Bronze Age Crete, and in archaeological debates ranging from initial colonisation in the 7th millennium BC, through expansion of settlement across the island in the 4th-3rd millennia, to surplus mobilisation and feasting by the 2nd millennium palaces. To date, however, faunal remains---the most widely available evidence for human use of animals---have been neglected: detailed reports of large assemblages are non-existent and faunal evidence features rarely in works of synthesis. This thesis undertakes a diachronic study of a large faunal assemblage from Knossos---the largest and longest-lived site on Crete. The faunal assemblage derives from different excavations and areas, enforcing careful evaluation of retrieval, modification by previous analysts, survival and, where archaeological information permits, contextual variation in discard behaviour. Attrition is lower in built-up than open areas through the 7-3 millennia, and very low in the suggested 'public/elite' core area of 2nd millennium Knossos. Butchery into big 'parcels' and subsequent dispersal of bones in the former period suggests reciprocal sharing, while intensive butchery and structured deposition in the latter suggest assymetrical feasts emphasising distribution of meat to participants. Butchery evidence also indicates rapid, wholesale adoption of metal in the 3rd millennium. Feral populations of pigs and perhaps goats may have caused introductions of deer to fail. Domesticates, predominant throughout, were managed for diverse products in the 7-4 millennia, including traction with cows. Increased adult and male survivorship in the 3rd millennium indicates potential specialisation in traction, wool and hair, but persistence of this pattern in the 2nd millennium 'public/elite core' also suggests demand for impressively large carcasses. Results of broad significance include reciprocal sharing, early traction with cows, rapid adoption of metal and linkage between feasting and secondary products management

The archaeobotany of Neolithic and Bronze Age Crete: synthesis and prospects

This paper explores the full potential of archaeobotanical research in the investigation of issues such as agricultural practices and resource management and mobilisation in shaping the social dynamics of Neolithic and Bronze Age Crete, through a synthesis for the first time of all available archaeobotanical information to date. To this body of data new information is added from six sites: Kephala Petras, Pryniatikos Pyrgos, Aghia Fotia, Knossos Little Palace North, Sissi and Zominthos. A comprehensive methodology is devised using three units of analysis to allow an in-depth study, firstly of the quality of the available dataset and secondly of its content. A total of 80 archaeobotanical records, compiled in one database, are examined in the light of the methods employed for their sampling, recovery and processing. The reliability of the current dataset is assessed, highlighting shortcomings; methodological issues are addressed to improve its quality. These records are then analysed according to their temporal, spatial and contextual distribution across the island. A synthesis of the full resource base, including cereals, legumes, fruits, nuts, condiments and wild species, is conducted, providing a contextualised picture of their availability and use, and identifying lacunae and interpretational potential. On these bases a research agenda is set and future research priorities and new approaches are suggested that place archaeobotany in the core of current archaeological discourse on social models, practices and meanings for prehistoric Crete

Τhe domestication of southwest Asian ‘farmyard animals’: possible insights from management of feral and free-range relatives in Greece

Understanding early animal domestication is complicated by disagreement over what, in cultural terms, differentiates domestic (closely managed? privately owned?) from wild and by the difficulty of distinguishing these categories zooarchaeologically. We describe recent feral populations of goats, sheep, cattle and pigs in Greece, comprising descendants of animals escaped or released from controlled domestic herds but remaining in private ownership. Many such animals are systematically exploited for meat by trapping or driving, while provision of fodder or water, especially as bait for traps but also to shape their movements, blurs the distinction between wild and domestic. Selective culling (mainly of young males) of goats, sheep and cattle confirms previous concerns regarding zooarchaeological use of mortality data to detect domestic management but also suggests that such data might help to identify private ownership of animals. Applying these observations to mortality data for goats and sheep from early Neolithic southwest Asia, we argue that some animals previously interpreted as early herded domesticates may instead represent trapped and selectively culled wild individuals in private ownership. In conclusion, we consider whether and why private ownership of free-range animals may quite widely have preceded classic domestic control of goats, sheep and perhaps cattle in southwest Asia

Gaining traction on cattle exploitation: zooarchaeological evidence from the western Balkan Neolithic (6000-4500 cal BC).

This study examines sub-pathological alterations to cattle foot bones from eleven central and western Balkan Neolithic sites (c.61/6000 to 4500 cal BC). Systematic comparisons of bone remodelling in those elements shown to be most directly affected by traction is used to determine the potential use of cattle as engines across this region throughout the period. This study provides the earliest direct evidence for the use of cattle for light traction, long before the hard usage pathological evidence previously observed

Strontium isotope evidence for human mobility in the Neolithic of northern Greece

Strontium isotope ratios are widely used in archaeology to differentiate between local and non-local populations. Herein, strontium isotope ratios of 36 human tooth enamels from seven archaeological sites spanning the Early to Late Neolithic of northern Greece (7th–5th millennia B.C.E.) were analysed with the aim of providing new information relating to the movement of humans across the region. Local bioavailable 87Sr/86Sr signals were established using tooth enamel from 26 domestic animals from the same Neolithic sites. 87Sr/86Sr values of faunal enamel correlate well with predicted strontium isotope ratios of the local geology. This is consistent with animal management occurring at a local level, although at Late Neolithic sites strontium isotope values became more varied, potentially indicating changing herding practices. The strontium isotope analysis of human tooth enamel likewise suggests limited population movement within the Neolithic of northern Greece. Almost all individuals sampled exhibited 87Sr/86Sr values consistent with having spent their early life (during the period of tooth mineralisation) in the local area, although movement could have occurred between isotopically homo- geneous areas. The strontium isotope ratios of only three individuals lay outside of the local bioavailable 87Sr/86Sr range and these individuals are interpreted as having spent their early lives in a region with a more radiogenic biologically available 87Sr/86Sr. Mobility patterns determined using Sr isotope analysis supports the current evidence for movement and exchange observed through studies of pottery circulation. Suggesting limited movement in the Early and Middle Neolithic and greater movement in the Late Neolithic

Animal carcass processing, cooking and consumption at Early Neolithic Revenia-Korinou, northern Greece

The open-air settlement of Revenia-Korinou has yielded the largest Early Neolithic (7th millennium BC) faunal assemblage to date from Greece. The assemblage, recovered from numerous pits, is heavily dominated by domestic sheep, goats, pigs and cattle. Here we focus on the evidence for butchery and consumption of animals, to explore how carcass products were cooked (in the absence of cooking pots) and what if any role they played in commensal politics. Evidence for dismembering and filleting is sparse, implying butchery of domestic animal carcasses into large segments (including more or less complete limbs) for cooking, apparently in ovens or pits rather than on open fires. Subsequently limb bones were intensively smashed to extract marrow and probably grease, perhaps by boiling in organic containers. Dismembering, filleting and marrow extraction were most intensive for cattle, but bone grease was more systematically exploited in the case of sheep/goats, implying differences between taxa in contexts of consumption. Significant differences between pits in taxonomic composition and the incidence of gnawing and burning suggest that each represents short-term and/or localized discard, perhaps by a small residential group. Within individual pits, matching unfused diaphyses and epiphyses and joins between fragments broken in antiquity confirm rapid burial, but bones separated by dismembering seem to have been dispersed across the settlement before discard. The distribution of carcass products, both cooked and uncooked, played a role in shaping relationships between small residential units and the wider community at Early Neolithic Revenia-Korinou

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