An integrated stable isotope study of plants and animals from Kouphovouno, southern Greece: a new look at Neolithic farming
| Autor: | Rebecca Fraser, Christopher Mee, William Cavanagh, Matthew J. Collins, Petra Vaiglova, Amy Bogaard, Armelle Gardeisen, Angela L. Lamb, Josette Renard |
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| Přispěvatelé: | Departments of Human Genetics, McGill University Health Center [Montreal] (MUHC), Hepatitis C Research Group, Division of Immunity and Infection-University of Birmingham [Birmingham], Physical Acoustics Laboratory, Archéologie des Sociétés Méditerranéennes (ASM), Université Paul-Valéry - Montpellier 3 (UPVM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Ministère de la Culture (MC) |
| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Rok vydání: | 2014 |
| Předmět: |
010506 paleontology
Archeology [SHS.ARCHEO]Humanities and Social Sciences/Archaeology and Prehistory Nitrogen Slash-and-burn 01 natural sciences Pasture Paleoethnobotany Grazing 0601 history and archaeology Aegean Neolithic Archaeozoology 0105 earth and related environmental sciences Stable isotopes 2. Zero hunger ZooMS geography.geographical_feature_category 060102 archaeology business.industry Crop yield 06 humanities and the arts 15. Life on land Carbon Geography Agronomy Agriculture Livestock Archaeobotany business Mixed farming |
| Zdroj: | Journal of Archaeological Science Journal of Archaeological Science, Elsevier, 2014, 42, pp.201-215. ⟨10.1016/j.jas.2013.10.023⟩ |
| ISSN: | 0305-4403 1095-9238 |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.jas.2013.10.023⟩ |
| Popis: | International audience; This paper presents the first study that combines the use of ancient crop and animal stable isotopes (carbon and nitrogen) and Zooarchaeology Mass Spectrometry species identication (ZooMS) for reconstructing early farming practices at Kouphovouno, a MiddleeLate Neolithic village in southern Greece (c. 5950e4500 cal. BC). Debate surrounding the nature of early farming predominantly revolves around the intensity of crop cultivation: did early farmers move around the landscape while practicing temporary farming methods such as slash and burn agriculture or did they create more permanent elds by investing high labor inputs into smaller pieces of land that produced higher crop yields? The need to address these questions using a direct assessment of the intensity and scale of cultivation is apparent, and an integrated stable isotope approach provides such an opportunity. The results of this study support the model of small-scale mixed farming, where crop cultivation and animal husbandry are closely integrated. The farmers directed their intensive management towards crops grown for human consumption (free-threshing wheat), while growing fodder crop (hulled barley) more extensively. Pulses were cultivated under a high-manuring/high-watering regime, likely in garden plots in rotation with free-threshing wheat. The diets of the livestock enable us to investigate which parts of the landscape were used for browsing and grazing and indicate that animal management changed in the Late Neolithic. The sheep and goats were now kept in smaller numbers and grazed together and new pasture grasses may have been sought for the grazing of cattle. This study demonstrates that beyond its applicability for palaeodietary reconstruction, analysis of stable isotopes of archaeological crop and animal remains has important implications for understanding the relationship between humans, plants and animals in an archaeological context. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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