Of cattle and feasts: Multi-isotope investigation of animal husbandry and communal feasting at Neolithic Makriyalos, northern Greece

Abstract

The aim of this study is to investigate livestock husbandry and its relationship to the mobilization of domestic animals for slaughter at large communal feasting events, in Late Neolithic Makriyalos, northern Greece. A multi-isotope approach is built that integrates analysis of: δ13C and δ15N values of human and animal bone collagen for understanding long-term dietary behavior,Incremental δ13C and δ18O values of domestic animal tooth enamel carbonate for assessing seasonal patterns in grazing habits and mobility, and87Sr/86Sr ratios of cattle tooth enamel for examining the possibility that some of the animals consumed at the site were born outside the local environment.The findings indicate that cattle had isotopically more variable diets than sheep, which may reflect grazing over a wider catchment area in the local landscape. Cattle products did not make a significant contribution to the long-term dietary protein intake of the humans, which may indicate that they were primarily consumed during episodic feasting events. There is no indication that pasturing of livestock was pre-determined by their eventual context of slaughter (i.e. large-scale feasting vs. more routine consumption events). Two non-local cattle identified among those deposited in a feasting context may have been brought to the site as contributions to these feasts. The evidence presented provides a more detailed insight into local land use and into the role of livestock and feasting in forging social relationships within the regional human population.

A strontium isoscape of north‐east Australia for human provenance and repatriation

“…and mammalian body tissue (Vaiglova et al, 2018;Wang, Tang, & Dong, 2018;Whelton et al, 2018). These factors are case-specific and altered by environmental proxies like topography, weathering rates, climate, and anthropogenic disturbance (Bentley, 2006).…”

“…Commonly, Sr isotope ratio distribution studies rely on a suite of different sample types, with little focus on how reliably geological Sr output is transferred through vegetation, hydrology, and mammalian body tissue (Vaiglova et al, ; Wang, Tang, & Dong, ; Whelton et al, ). These factors are case‐specific and altered by environmental proxies like topography, weathering rates, climate, and anthropogenic disturbance (Bentley, ).…”

Radiocarbon dating and isotope analysis on the purported Aurignacian skeletal remains from Fontana Nuova (Ragusa, Italy)

“…Other possible plants that may have been consumed by the C . elaphus in question are sedges and forbes or grasses (including weeds such as Cynodon dactylon ) [ 45 ] with C 4 photosynthetic pathway, neither of which have been attested for prehistoric wild mammals on the northern side of the Mediterranean basin. Similarly, high δ 13 C values have been recorded in modern C .…”

“…elaphus was common in Sicily during the early Holocene, it is not clear why these animals should have been introduced. To date the only prehistoric ungulates from southern European contexts that have been found to have δ 13 C values as high as the three deer specimens from Fontana Nuova are domestic cattle specimens from the Late Neolithic site of Makriyalos in northern Greece [ 45 ]. Recent analyses on Bos taurus from this site have shown that some individuals acquired large proportions of their feed from pastures rich in C 4 vegetation that may have included weeds such as Cynodon dactylon or, more likely, plants in marshy coastal environments enriched in 13 C. In the case of the cattle from Makriyalos, their feeding areas were influenced by human management, whilst it is not clear why, if the 13 C-enriched C .…”

Archaeology, chronology, and age‐diet insights of two late fourth millennium cal BC pit graves from central southern Iberia (Córdoba, Spain)

“…In the current case, the collagen values obtained from a bovine rib of Structure VI of Arruzafa (δ 15 N = +5.14 and δ 13 C = −22.56) line up with those of pasturing animals nourished by C3 plants(Vaiglova et al, 2018). The adult humans of the study, in turn, display approximate δ 15 N values of 4.46‰ with respect to bovine individual, showing a higher position in the trophic chain.…”