An integrated stable isotope study of plants and animals from Kouphovouno, southern Greece: a new look at Neolithic farming

Abstract

Abstract: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 identification (ZooMS) for reconstructing early farming practices at Kouphovouno, a Middle-Late Neolithic village in southern Greece (c. 5950-4500 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 fields 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 were 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.

Complexities of nitrogen isotope biogeochemistry in plant-soil systems: implications for the study of ancient agricultural and animal management practices

“…DeNiro and Hastorf (1985) demonstrated the potential of analyzing the N isotopic composition of charred plant remains for paleodietary baselines. More recently, a number of studies have utilized similar methods to investigate the manuring of ancient cereals, as well as various aspects of crop management that may affect plant δ 15 N values, at European and Near Eastern sites (Lightfoot and Stevens, 2012; Bogaard et al, 2013; Vaiglova et al, 2014; Kanstrup et al, in press). Interpreted within the context of data from long-term experimental agricultural stations, these data have indicated variable levels of manuring over thousands of years, although it is not possible to draw a direct causal link between the application of animal manure and elevated archaeobotanical δ 15 N values given the highly variable nature of plant N isotopic compositions, even at relatively small spatial scales.…”

Neolithic woodland management and land-use in south-eastern Europe: The anthracological evidence from Northern Greece and Bulgaria

“…A small-scale, labour-intensive farming model is described by Halstead (2000) and suggested by recent isotopic studies (Bogaard et al, 2013;Vaiglova et al, 2014). The cultivation of small plots near villages and hamlets was combined with livestock keeping (Bogaard, 2004;Halstead, 2000).…”

Superior in Life—Superior in Death

“…This is especially intriguing at Magdeburg, where the d 15 N data of Queen Edith exceeds those of a cat and two dogs. However, the apparent disagreement of the human and the faunal data are diminished, as recent controlled dietary investigations suggest larger diet-collagen offsets of about 6‰ in humans (O'Connell et al 2012), and direct analyses of ancient crops attest to differences in the isotope ratios of human and faunal dietary sources (Vaiglova et al 2014). Nevertheless, it is possible that elite diets included foodstuffs that differed from the average domesticated animal meat and secondary products and that were not regularly available to the ordinary populations.…”