Schipluiden (3630-3380 cal BC), the earliest known year-round settlement in the Rhine-Meuse Delta in the Netherlands, is a key site for addressing the nature of Neolithic subsistence in the wetlands of northwestern Europe. A preliminary zooarchaeological study suggested that cattle husbandry was a major activity at Schipluiden. In contrast, stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analyses of human remains from the site indicated a marine-oriented diet, implying that the Mesolithic-Neolithic dietary transition continued well into the mid-4 th Millennium BC in this region. Here, we re-investigate the role and nature of cattle husbandry at Neolithic Schipluiden using mortality profiles and stable isotope analysis (δ 18 O, δ 13 C, δ 15 N) of animal bone collagen and tooth enamel. The age-at-death analysis suggests that cattle were managed for both meat and milk production. The δ 18 O and δ 13 C analysis of tooth enamel provide evidence that calving spread over five-and-a-half-months, which would have led to a longer availability of milk throughout the year. Cattle were grazing in open, marshy environments near the site and winter foddering was practiced occasionally. The faunal isotopic data also reveal that the high 15 N in human bone collagen is more likely to signal the consumption of products from cattle that grazed on 15 N-enriched salt marsh plants around the site, rather than a marine-oriented diet. This undermines the previous interpretation of the dietary practices at Schipluiden by showing that human diet in mid-4 th millennium BC Rhine-Meuse area was fully "Neolithic", based primarily on products from domesticates, especially cattle, with some input from wild terrestrial and aquatic resources available in their surroundings, contrary to what has been proposed before. Collating these results demonstrates a high level of investment in cattle husbandry, highlighting the social and economic importance of cattle at the lower Rhine-Meuse Delta during the 4 th millennium BC.

This article presents an overview of the current evidence on the process of Neolithisation in the Dutch wetlands. Over the years, several models have been proposed with different perspectives on the timing and pace of the process: a long transition, an early short transition, and a late short transition. The applicability of any of these models is, of course, dependent of the evidence. In this article, we briefly discuss recently obtained data from the Netherlands on vegetation disturbance (woodland clearing), soil disturbance (tillage), cereal cultivation, animal husbandry, and the use of ceramics. The data discussed involve palynological, sedimentary, micromorphological, archaeobotanical, zooarchaeological, as well as lipid analyses. Hence, it is concluded that from the mid fifth millennium cal. BC onwards, various aspects of a more “Neolithic lifestyle” become apparent in the archaeological record, including cereal cultivation on a structural, but small-scale basis in wetland environments. However, despite the “gradual” tendency that can be observed, the evidence is as yet inconclusive with regard to any of the models, due to persisting limitations of the datasets, potential regional variability, and aspects of scale. A new project, the Emergence of Domestic Animals in the Netherlands (EDAN), aims at a better understanding of animal husbandry through aDNA and isotope analyses, within a framework of statistical chronological modelling. We expect this project to enhance the debate greatly.

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Neolithic cattle husbandry provided farming communities with vital products that brought about everlasting changes to our practices of food production, consumption, storage, transportation, and to concepts of wealth and inter-species relationships. Neolithic cattle herders, similar to modern-day zootechnicians, developed a variety of innovative husbandry practices in order to achieve desirable traits among livestock which were advantageous to humans. These practices are deeply entangled with, and often driven by, the physiological and behavioural traits of cattle, ecological factors, as well as technological, social, and cultural preferences of the human communities involved.Despite a high number of zooarchaeological studies available concerning early cattle domestication and its spread across Eurasia, little is known about the modalities of early cattle husbandry practices at the site-specific and inter-individual scales, leading to cattle farming practices being perceived as a homogeneous phenomenon in Neolithic contexts. This state of research is in part due to the incompatibility of the methodologies used in zooarchaeological datasets, and the scarcity of stable isotopic and palaeopathological data on cattle remains from early Neolithic contexts. Without overcoming these pitfalls, it remains difficult to gain a more holistic understanding of how the modalities of human-cattle relationships were governed by environmental, technological, and sociocultural factors.As a response to these challenges, this study combines an integrated approach of standard zooarchaeological, pathological, and novel multi-stable isotopic (δ 18 O, δ 13 C, δ 15 N) analyses to provide a multi-scalar perspective on the dynamics of cattle farming practices. This has allowed me to observe patterns linked to the human control exercised over cattle strength, demography, size, grazing environments, mobility, and the reproduction cycle at three pivotal early Neolithic sites in Eurasia.These sites include Çatalhöyük (ca. 7100-5600 BCE, Turkey), Džuljunica (ca. 6200-5500 BCE, Bulgaria), and Schipluiden (ca. 3600-3400 BCE, the Netherlands), each representing different chronological, climatic, and cultural complexities.The results suggest differences in cattle husbandry practices that could be related to physiological and behavioural traits of cattle as well as the environmental conditions, cultural practices, and socioeconomic fabric of these communities. For example, at Çatalhöyük, domestic cattle were probably never systematically utilised for traction despite their importance in human diet and symbolism. The use of cattle for meat and milk took place at both Džuljunica and Schipluiden but through different husbandry strategies. At Džuljunica, cattle were kept grazing near the settlement, with dietary supplementation through winter fodder, while at Schipluiden, cattle benefited from the rich coastal grassland surrounding the settlement throughout the entire year. This marked diversity of food resources conditioned the III reproduction cycle of ...