Animals and People in the Netherlands’ Past: &gt;50 Years of Archaeozoology in the Netherlands

Çakırlar, Canan; Hurk, Youri van den; Jagt, Inge van der; Amerongen, Yvonne van; Bakker, Jan; Breider, Rianne; Dijk, Joyce van; Esser, Kinie; Groot, M.J.; Jong, Theo de; Kootker, L.M.; Steenhuisen, Frits; Zeiler, Jørn T.; Kolfschoten, Thijs van; Prummel, W.; Lauwerier, R.C.G.M.

doi:10.5334/oq.61

Cited by 9 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…In the Netherlands, sites with the first clear evidence for crop and animal management date to around 4250 BC (Brusgaard et al, in press; Dreshaj et al, 2023) and continue to yield relatively high percentages of beaver remains. While beaver abundances decline later in the Dutch Neolithic, this is the case for wild animals in general, in tandem with the increase of domesticated livestock (Çakirlar et al, 2019; Lauwerier et al, 2005). Wetland landscapes and natural resources remain generally important throughout the Dutch Neolithic and even the Bronze Age, with specialized sites continuing to be used for fur-animal extraction (Dusseldorp and Amkreutz, 2020; Zeiler, 1987).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Zhilin and Karhu, 2002) and this bird category is prevalent in the Mesolithic archaeozoological record of the study regions (e.g. Çakirlar et al, 2019;Lauwerier et al, 2005;Lõugas et al, 2017;Zhilin, 2014a). Water birds are also occasionally rendered in the visual art of the Mesolithic of Western Russia (e.g.…”

Section: Other Multispecies Affordancesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the Northeastern Mesolithic, beaver remains in many cases quantitatively make up a substantial portion of the recovered faunal assemblages and are often only outnumbered by elk (Alces alces) bones (Lõugas et al, 2017;Zhilin, 2014a). Similarly, in the Dutch wetlands, beaver remains are frequent in faunal assemblages from the Late Mesolithic and Early Neolithic, together with other freshwater fauna, such as otter (Lutra lutra), wild boar (Sus scrofa), waterbirds and fish (Çakirlar et al, 2019;Lauwerier et al, 2005). In Southern Scandinavia, by contrast, beaver remains tend to be few in number and the handful of later Mesolithic assemblages with higher counts of beaver bones are typically interpreted as specialized hunting or trapping stations linked to delayed-return extraction systems (Rowley-Conwy, 1998).…”

Section: Beavers In the Early And Mid-holocene Of Northern Europementioning

confidence: 99%

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Human-beaver cohabitation in the Early and Mid-Holocene of Northern Europe: Re-visiting Mesolithic material culture and ecology through a multispecies lens

Hussain,

Brusgaard

2023

The Holocene

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The Eurasian beaver ( Castor fiber) was an important member of Early and Mid-Holocene landscapes and animal communities in Northern Europe. Previous zooarchaeological research has established the alimentary roles of beavers for Mesolithic societies and their importance for fur procurement. In this paper, we develop an integrated biocultural approach to human-beaver interactions, examining the position of humans and beavers in Mesolithic and Early Neolithic multispecies systems. We contextualize beaver landscape agency in hydroactive environments with human behaviour, synthesizing currently available data on mammalian assemblages, ichtyofauna and beaver-related material culture across Northern Europe. This cross-cultural, diachronic analysis reveals previously overlooked facilitations of human behaviour by beaver practices and ecological legacies. We show that long-term trajectories of human-beaver cohabitation differed between northern European regions. While in Southern Scandinavia, human-beaver intersections witnessed major re-organizations during the Mid-Holocene, beavers retained a key role for human societies across Northeastern Europe throughout much of the Holocene and played an important part at the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition in the Dutch wetlands. Divergent pathways are also evidenced by Mesolithic beaver-related material culture, highlighting the cultural keystone status of Castor fiber in higher latitude European landscapes. We argue that this keystone status is grounded in the supply of human hunting, fishing, and gathering affordances by the animals, pointing to the generative commensality between Mesolithic foragers and their beaver neighbours. Taken together, our findings demonstrate the importance of the beaver in the making of Early and Mid-Holocene forager societies in Northern Europe and illustrate the fruitfulness of deploying an integrated multispecies approach.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Other Multispecies Affordancesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Beavers In the Early And Mid-holocene Of Northern Europementioning

confidence: 99%

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Human-beaver cohabitation in the Early and Mid-Holocene of Northern Europe: Re-visiting Mesolithic material culture and ecology through a multispecies lens

Hussain,

Brusgaard

2023

The Holocene

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“…Archeozoölogisch onderzoek aan het GIA heeft zich gericht op Nederland ( van Giffen 1913;Clason 1967;Prummel 1980;Çakırlar et al 2019;, maar bijvoorbeeld ook op de archeozoölogie van Indonesië, Syrië, Italië, Griekenland, Libanon en Turkije (Slim, Çakırlar & Roosevelt 2020) (zie fig.…”

Section: Archeozoölogie In Groningen Gedurende De Afgelopen Honderd Jaarunclassified

Honderd jaar archeozoölogie in Groningen

Çakırlar¹,

Hurk²,

Brusgaard³

et al. 2021

Self Cite

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One hundred years of zooarchaeology in Groningen. In 1920, Albert Egges van Giffen founded the Biologisch-Archaeologisch Instituut. Even back in 1920, zooarchaeology was a main component of the institute’s research focus and van Giffen started a zooarchaeological reference collection. The zooarchaeology collection gradually expanded, and zooarchaeological research continued to be undertaken under the direction of, first, Prof. Dr. Anneke Clason, then Dr. Wietske Prummel, and now Dr. Canan Çakırlar. In recent years, the field of zooarchaeology has seen a rise in the application of biomolecular approaches. This has happened at the GIA as well. In this paper, we highlight some of the zooarchaeological work and exciting new projects currently being undertaken at the GIA, as well as the implications zooarchaeological research can have for our understanding of the past and our perspective on the environment.

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“…Among the Rhine-Meuse Delta Mesolithic settlements, cattle remains are absent or scarce and they cannot be readily distinguished from aurochs based on their morphology, isotopes, or mortality patterns [ 22 ]. Cattle remains are infrequent in the Swifterbant sites and their domestication remains a subject of debate [ 27 ]. Year-round settlements with ample evidence for agriculture and animal husbandry appear along the Rhine-Meuse Delta after 4000 BC [ 28 , 29 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Specialized cattle farming in the Neolithic Rhine-Meuse Delta: Results from zooarchaeological and stable isotope (δ18O, δ13C, δ15N) analyses

Kamjan¹,

Gillis

Çakırlar³

et al. 2020

PLoS ONE

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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.

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Animals and People in the Netherlands’ Past: >50 Years of Archaeozoology in the Netherlands

Cited by 9 publications

References 43 publications

Human-beaver cohabitation in the Early and Mid-Holocene of Northern Europe: Re-visiting Mesolithic material culture and ecology through a multispecies lens

Human-beaver cohabitation in the Early and Mid-Holocene of Northern Europe: Re-visiting Mesolithic material culture and ecology through a multispecies lens

Honderd jaar archeozoölogie in Groningen

Specialized cattle farming in the Neolithic Rhine-Meuse Delta: Results from zooarchaeological and stable isotope (δ18O, δ13C, δ15N) analyses

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