Variation in burial location and treatment is often observed in the prehistoric archaeological record, but its interpretation is usually highly ambiguous. Biomolecular approaches provide the means of addressing this variability in a way not previously possible, linking the lives of individuals to their funerary treatment. Here, we undertake stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analyses on a substantial sample of 166 individuals from a series of broadly contemporary Late Neolithic/ Early Chalcolithic (3500 to 2900 cal BC) mortuary monuments (El Sotillo, Alto de la Huesera, Chabola de la Hechicera and Longar) and caves (Las Yurdinas II, Los Husos I and Peña Larga) within a very spatially restricted area of north-central Spain, with sites separated by no more than 10 km on average. This spatial and temporal proximity allows us to focus on the question at the appropriate scale of analysis, avoiding confounding variables such as environmental change, diachronic trends in the subsistence economy, etc. The results demonstrate a statistically significant difference in human δ13C values between those interred in caves and those placed in monuments. The difference appears to be correlated with fine-grained environmental factors (elevation/ temperature/ precipitation), suggesting that use of the landscape was being divided at a very local scale. The reasons for this partitioning may involve differential social status (e.g. those interred in caves may be of lower standing with more restricted access to the valley’s arable resources) or economic specialization (e.g. upland herding vs. valley farming) within the same community or, alternatively, different populations performing different funerary practices and following distinct subsistence economies in some respect. Our results contribute to a better understanding of the development of social differentiation and community specialisation on the scale of the immediate lived landscape.

During the Late Neolithic (ca. 3500–2900 cal BC), the Rioja Alavesa region of north‐central Spain witnessed great demographic pressure and social unrest, manifested as widespread violent conflict. Drawing upon the ethnographic literature, it is possible that this situation impacted upon child‐rearing practices, both through food shortages and differential parental investment, favouring male infants. Here, carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) stable isotope measurements from bone collagen of 17 juveniles and from 163 serial microsamples of dentine from first and second molars of seven adults from the site of Alto de la Huesera are used to examine breastfeeding, weaning, and childhood diets. Bone and dentine collagen δ13C and δ15N isotope values both decrease from infancy to early childhood and increase slightly towards adolescence, but dentine provides a more time‐sensitive means of monitoring dietary changes. High δ13C and δ15N values compatible with exclusive breastfeeding are detected up to ca. 1 year, with a significantly shorter duration among males, suggesting differential sex‐related parental strategies from infancy. This is tentative given the small number of individuals being compared, but does suggest that further work would be worthwhile. A gradual decline in both δ13C and δ15N, compatible with the weaning process, is then observed up to ca. 4 years in both sexes. This delayed cessation of nursing is interpreted as a possible response to food shortage. With regard to postweaning patterns, shifts to lower δ13C and δ15N values in females at around age 9–11, and a general progressive increase in both isotope values from childhood to adolescence, are detected. These could be linked either with differential protein intake due to social age‐related nutritional practices or to physiological demand. The comparison between bone and dentine values shows differences between survivors and nonsurvivors in both isotopes, so that assessments based on deceased children may be biased by their potentially compromised health status.