Mobile animal management in the Mediterranean: Investigating Hellenistic (323-31 BCE) husbandry practices in Thessaly, Greece using δ13C, δ18O, and 87Sr/86Sr recorded from sheep and goat tooth enamel

Sequential analyses of bovid tooth enamel and dentine collagen (δ18O, δ13C, δ15N): new insights into animal husbandry between the Late Neolithic and the Early Bronze Age at Tana del Barletta (Ligurian Prealps)

“…Along with the potential for determining birth seasonality, the application of stable isotopes to detect seasonal mobility in archaeological herds has attracted the attention of the scholars since the early 2000s (Pederzani and Britton 2019) and remains a very frequent approach (Gerling et al 2017;Chazin et al 2019;Tomczyk et al 2019;Bishop et al 2020;Trentacoste et al 2020;Ventresca Miller et al 2020), due to the prominence of the debate revolving around ancient forms of mobile pastoralism (Arnold and Greenfield 2006;Jourdain-Annequin and Duclos 2006).…”

The geographic distribution of bioavailable strontium isotopes in Greece – A base for provenance studies in archaeology

“…In a study on mobility during the Iron Age, a range in bioavailable 87 Sr/ 86 Sr between 0.7078 and 0.7103 was reported for three archaeological sites in southeastern Thessaly based on modern snail shells and plant samples (Panagiotopoulou et al, 2018). In another study on animal husbandry practices, measurements of modern animal remains and plants along the southern border of Thessaly returned 87 Sr/ 86 Sr values between 0.70812 and 0.70938 (Bishop et al, 2020). Finally, Whelton et al (2018) and Vaiglova et al (2018) investigated seven archaeological settlements in south-western Macedonia constraining the range of bioavailable Sr isotope compositions of the area to values between 0.70822 and 0.71148 using faunal teeth and vegetation samples.…”

“…2. Map of published 87 Sr/ 86 Sr data for the different regions of Greece (Barton et al, 1983;Bishop et al, 2020;Brilli et al, 2005;Frank et al, 2021;Gale et al, 1988;Gärtner et al, 2011;Hoogewerff et al, 2019;Leslie, 2012;Nafplioti, 2008Nafplioti, , 2011Panagiotopoulou et al, 2018;Prevedorou, 2015;Tremba et al, 1975;Triantaphyllou et al, 2015;Vaiglova et al, 2018;Valsami-Jones and Cann, 1994;Voerkelius et al, 2010;Wang et al, 2019;Whelton et al, 2018). Bioavailable 87 Sr/ 86 Sr data (circles and triangles) was determined using animal remains (AR), human remains (HR), plants (P), soils (S), snail shells (SS) and water (W).…”

“…In order to conduct meaningful investigations of ancient human mobility, it is imperative to define robust bioavailable Sr isotope baselines of suspected areas of origin. As discussed in Section 2.2, quite a bit of bioavailable Sr baseline data has been published for Greece over the last years (Bishop et al, 2020;Frank et al, 2021;Hoogewerff et al, 2019;Leslie, 2012;Nafplioti, 2008Nafplioti, , 2011Panagiotopoulou et al, 2018;Richards et al, 2008;Triantaphyllou et al, 2015;Vaiglova et al, 2018;Voerkelius et al, 2010;Wang et al, 2019;Whelton et al, 2018). However, no comprehensive bioavailable Sr baselines exist for Greece as a whole to this date.…”

Shifting Baselines to Thresholds: Reframing Exploitation in the Marine Environment

“…Stable isotopic analysis is increasingly being applied to zooarchaeological remains providing a unique window into the past which can be used to compare to modern ecological studies (Pilaar Birch, 2013). These studies often focus on animal domestication (Hu et al, 2014), seasonality of birth (Frémondeau et al, 2015;Tornero et al, 2016), and husbandry practices (Cucchi et al, 2016;Manin et al, 2018;Bishop et al, 2020).…”