Isotopic evidence of strong reliance on animal foods and dietary heterogeneity among Early-Middle Neolithic communities of Iberia

Abstract

Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope research on past populations in the Iberian Neolithic has emphasized the Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts. This study provides the first isotopic insights into the diet and subsistence economy of Early and Middle Neolithic populations from open-air sites in interior north-central Iberia. We present bone collagen carbon (δ 13 C) and nitrogen (δ 15 N) isotope ratios for 44 humans and 33 animals recovered from six cemeteries of the Ebro valley and the northern Iberian Plateau. The results obtained are consistent with the C 3 terrestrial diets typical of other contemporary south-western European populations, but the spacing between human and herbivore values from Los Cascajos and Paternanbidea sites is higher than expected, and a significant positive correlation is identified between the δ 13 C and δ 15 N human values at both. Moreover, the results clearly differ from those of the Late Neolithic/Early Chalcolithic in the same region, which show significantly lower δ 13 C and δ 15 N values. These findings contribute to an understanding of the implementation of an agro-pastoral economy in interior Iberia, suggesting a stronger reliance on animal foods among the first Neolithic groups of inner Iberia than in subsequent periods as well as differential access to some resources (possibly suckling herbivores) in the diet, which may point to the existence of early social or economic inequalities that do not seem to be linked to age and sex parameters or to mortuary treatment.

Early Colonial Diet in El Japón, Xochimilco, Mexico: Examining dietary continuity through stable isotope analysis of bone collagen and bioapatite

“…Low correlation between δ 13 C diet protein and Δ bioapatite–collagen at El Japón is linked to protein sources of low trophic level in both the pooled male and female sample: plant foods or low trophic level animals. In contrast, strong correlations between δ 13 C whole diet and Δ bioapatite–collagen are observed in compared neolithic Iberians (Figure 5) where zooarchaeological evidence indicates high animal product consumption (Fernández‐Crespo et al, 2019). There, meat and animal byproducts likely provided a large share of both dietary protein and energy.…”

“…Summary statistics and sources of faunal and botanical samples used as proxies are presented in Supplemental Tables 3–6. Human isotopic data: Cholula (Alcantara‐Russell, 2020), Campeche (Price et al, 2012), Ecatepec (Moreiras Reynaga et al, 2020), and Neolithic Iberia (Fernández‐Crespo et al, 2019).…”

“…The neolithic individuals also predate introduction of American C 4 domestic foods in Iberia which contributed to Iberian diets only decades after American‐European contact (Moreno‐Larrazabal et al, 2015; Sarkic et al, 2019). Three neolithic Iberian sites are employed as a C 3 ‐based comparison outside Mesoamerica: Los Cascajos and Paternabidea (Fernández‐Crespo et al, 2019), and Tossal de les Basses (Salazar‐García et al, 2016). The varied contexts of the comparative sites permit inference of food sources and discussion of their economic importance in El Japón where isotopic methods have not been applied to zooarchaeological material.…”

Regional long-term analysis of dietary isotopes in Neolithic southeastern Italy: new patterns and research directions

“…Our estimates do not differ from the conclusions of other studies that explore the Neolithic diet in other parts of Europe. For example, using stable isotope analysis of human bone collagen, it was observed that the majority of the diet of Neolithic communities in England and Scotland have an animal origin 60 – 62 and considerable consumption of animal proteins was suggested in Neolithic Switzerland 63 , Germany 64 – 66 , Hungary 67 , north and central France 68 – 70 , Spain 71 , 72 , Greece 73 and Croatia 74 . Recently, animal products have been estimated to contribute more than 50% of the diet in Neolithic Malta, probably due to a high reliance on dairy 75 .…”

From Galena to Lead: Divergent Paths in Early Metallurgy in the Western Mediterranean

“…There is no 14 C date for this burial, but the context suggests a date in the Early Neolithic, probably ca. 4650-4400 cal BC (subphase Iii) (Fernández-Crespo, et al, 2019).…”