Les conséquences écologiques de la néotithisation dans l'histoire humaine

Abstract

In this short article, the author proposes to redefine the identifying criteria for neolithicisation, no longer on the basis of sociocultural data traditionally accepted by the authors concerned but by means of observations of a biological, i.e. ecological nature. Neolithic man gradually got rid of his original and animal status of predator, transforming himself into food-producing farmer, thus breaking adrift from the natural environment from which he came. This catastrophe - in the mathematical sense of the term - the first of the history of humanity, caused an immediate sanction: the occurrence of intensive epidemics affecting both animals and human beings, corresponding to the control of animals whose germs passed to humans, prefiguring all historical and modern epidemics. Other consequences of this Neolithic ecological catastrophe (deterioration of the climate, violence and war, deforestation, genetic diseases, etc.) are also analysed, insofar as they are the first steps of our current interference in a World increasingly devastated by mankind.

Investigating Neolithic caprine husbandry in the Central Pyrenees: Insights from a multi-proxy study at Els Trocs cave (Bisaurri, Spain)

“…In sum, the ecological data derive from the Trematodes point towards the occupation of different ecosystems, in agreement with the practice of mobile herding. Also, the exponential increase in the number of collected eggs per sample and in biodiversity along the chronological sequence may be reflecting an intensifying frequency of people and animals using the cave that might have potentially favoured the outburst and development of new pathogens and contagious stages over time [77,78].…”

More than the sum of their parts: reconstituting the paleopathological profile of the individual and commingled Neolithic populations of Western Switzerland

“…More than a switch in funerary traditions, these could reflect changes in the social and/or cultural order of the world these individuals lived in. As a sedentary lifestyle became the norm, so did the notions of territory, of hierarchy, with people becoming increasingly specialised, changing their natural environment to suit their needs (Zammit 2005;Demoule 2007;Bentley 2013;Olsson and Paik 2016). Populations were sedentary, but individuals still travelled to acquire or exchange resources, allowing materials, ideas and pathogens to circulate far and wide (Köhler et al 2014;Rascovan et al 2018;Goude et al 2019).…”

Spatializing data in paleoparasitology: Application to the study of the Neolithic lakeside settlement of Zürich-Parkhaus-Opéra, Switzerland

“…The Neolithic period is of particular interest because of the drastic ecological changes that occurred at that time, such as the transition to a sedentary lifestyle, the establishment of livestock and agriculture, resulting in increased proximity between humans and animals, and animals themselves (Zammit, 2005). Since the early 1990s, many archaeological sites dated to the Neolithic period have been investigated by paleoparasitologists, mostly in Europe.…”