Dental calculus reveals Mesolithic foragers in the Balkans consumed domesticated plant foods

Abstract

Researchers agree that domesticated plants were introduced into southeast Europe from southwest Asia as a part of a Neolithic "package," which included domesticated animals and artifacts typical of farming communities. It is commonly believed that this package reached inland areas of the Balkans by ∼6200 calibrated (cal.) BC or later. Our analysis of the starch record entrapped in dental calculus of Mesolithic human teeth at the site of Vlasac in the Danube Gorges of the central Balkans provides direct evidence that already by ∼6600 cal. BC, if not earlier, Late Mesolithic foragers of this region consumed domestic cereals, such as Triticum monococcum, Triticum dicoccum, and Hordeum distichon, which were also the main crops found among Early Neolithic communities of southeast Europe. We infer that "exotic" Neolithic domesticated plants were introduced to southern Europe independently almost half a millennium earlier than previously thought, through networks that enabled exchanges between inland Mesolithic foragers and early farming groups found along the Aegean coast of Turkey.Mesolithic foragers | starch analysis | domesticated cereals | forager/farmer interaction | human dental calculus

Paleogenomic Evidence for Multi-generational Mixing between Neolithic Farmers and Mesolithic Hunter-Gatherers in the Lower Danube Basin

“…Isotopic analysis of very late Mesolithic burials from Lepenski Vir around that time revealed several individuals whose diets were relatively high in terrestrial proteins, a profile more typical of farming communities [11]; although the genetic origin of these individuals is unknown, their presence points to contact of this Mesolithic community with farmers (either through cultural exchange or immigration). The presence of personal ornaments of Neolithic type in some Late Mesolithic (8.3–8.0 kya) graves at Lepenski Vir and Vlasac [13] and the recovery of cereal starch granules from dental calculus on Mesolithic teeth from Vlasac [12] further support the hypothesized adoption of new practices by local hunter-gatherers in the Lower Danube basin [11].

Figure 1Geographical, Archaeological, and Genetic Information for the Ancient Spanish and Romanian Samples(A) Map showing the location of the archaeological sites: Chan do Lindeiro (Chan_Meso), Canes (Canes1_Meso), Schela Cladovei (SC1_Meso and SC2_Meso), Ostrovul Corbului (OC1_Meso), and Gura Baciului (GB1_Eneo).

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Archaeological Starch

“…Starch has been found in samples of dental calculus ranging from Lower Palaeolithic hominins to Victorians [41][42][43][44][45][46][47], including from sources as diverse as Norse Shetland (Scotland), pre-Mesolithic Sudan [44], from chimpanzees [56] early Balkan agricultural populations [81] and from tropical environments [53,82]. Recovery of data on the use of plants, particularly for the early stages of the Palaeolithic, is very limited [83].…”

Ferns as healing plants in medieval Mallorca, Spain? Evidence from human dental calculus

“…Due to its often extraordinary preservation, including microfossils embedded in situ within the oral cavity, its recovery and identification can shed new light on the diet, health, lifestyle, and environment of past human populations. Although bioarchaeologists have recorded and interpreted the presence of calculus on the teeth of skeletons for a long time (e.g., see Brothwell, ; Dobney & Brothwell, ), in the last decade, many studies have been carried out in order to increase knowledge of this “material” (for instance; Adler et al, ; Cristiani, Radini, Edinborough, & Borić, ; Lazzati et al, ; Mackie et al, ; Weyrich et al, ).…”

“…instance; Adler et al, 2013;Cristiani, Radini, Edinborough, & Borić, 2016;Lazzati et al, 2016;Mackie et al, 2017;Weyrich et al, 2017). Therefore, depending on the chosen method, dental calculus research holds the potential to make a significant contribution to archaeological and anthropological debates.…”