Sheep exploitation and husbandry in first farming societies: from production to consumption in Central Pyrenees in the Early Neolithic

Sierra, Alejandro; Bréhard, Stéphanie; Montes, Lourdes; Utrilla, Pilar; Seguí, María Sañá

doi:10.1007/s12520-019-00907-3

Cited by 14 publications

(18 citation statements)

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“…BC interval [1][2][3][4][5]. Through the river valleys they also advanced fast to inland areas such as the Upper Ebro Valley and the pre-Pyrenean territories [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13]. Increasing fieldwork and archaeological studies show the great variability of environmental and socio-economic scenarios where early Neolithic communities of different identity and origin unfolded their farming practices in Iberia [14][15][16][17][18].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

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Sheep remains constitute the main archaeozoological evidence for the presence of Early Neolithic human groups in the highlands of the Southern Pyrenees but understanding the role of herding activities in the Neolithisation process of this mountain ecosystem calls for the analysis of large and well-dated faunal assemblages. Cova de Els Trocs (Bisaurri, Huesca, Spain), a cave located at 1564 m a.s.l on the southern slopes of the Central Pyrenees, is an excellent case study since it was seasonally occupied throughout the Neolithic (ca. 5312–2913 cal. BC) and more than 4000 caprine remains were recovered inside. The multi-proxy analytical approach here presented has allowed us to offer new data elaborating on vertical mobility practices and herd management dynamics as has not been attempted up until now within Neolithic high-mountain sites in the Iberian Peninsula. For the first time, δ18O and δ13C stable isotope analyses offer direct evidence on both the regular practice of altitudinal movements of sheep flocks and the extended breeding season of sheep. Autumn births are recorded from the second half of the fifth millennium cal. BC onwards. Age-at-death distributions illustrate the progressive decline in caprine perinatal mortality together with the rising survival rate of individuals older than six months of age and the larger frequency of adults. This trend alongside the ‘off-season’ lambing signal at the implementation of husbandry techniques over time, probably aiming to increase the size of the flocks and their productivity. Palaeoparasitological analyses of sediment samples document also the growing reliance on herding activities of the human groups visiting the Els Trocs cave throughout the Neolithic sequence. In sum, our work provides substantial arguments to conclude that the advanced herding management skills of the Early Neolithic communities arriving in Iberia facilitated the anthropisation process of the subalpine areas of the Central Pyrenees.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

et al. 2021

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“…Domestic caprines were the most abundant in the Early Neolithic herds in the Iberian Peninsula, among which sheep predominated goat in almost all sites (Saña et al, 2020). Sheep were exploited mainly for meat and milk (Debono Spiteri et al, 2016;Sierra et al, 2019). This species was a fundamental part of the small-scale mixed intensive farming system proposed for the Early Neolithic in the Iberian Peninsula (Antolín, 2016(Antolín, , 2015Antolín et al, 2018), in which livestock farming would have been intensive and with multipurpose animal exploitation (Antolín et al, 2014;Sierra et al, 2019), resembling systems described for other Mediterranean regions such as Greece (Halstead, 2006(Halstead, , 1996(Halstead, , 1981.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Animal husbandry would have been restricted to crop fields (because woodland clearings are limited), where small numbers of sheep would have been grazed at some time of the year, resulting in direct manuring (Halstead 1981). Animal husbandry would have been diversified into different species and different products (meat, milk and traction) (Halstead 1996), as documented in the Neolithic period on the Iberian Peninsula (Antolín et al, 2014;Helmer et al, 2018;Sierra et al, 2019). Intensively managed herds would generally be kept on the settlement, especially during the winter.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Sheep husbandry in the early Neolithic of the Pyrenees: New data on feeding and reproduction in the cave of Chaves

Sierra

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et al. 2021

Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports

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Sheep predominate the Early Neolithic faunal assemblages in the Iberian Peninsula. Their exploitation for meat and milk production made them key to the economy of these early farming societies. Management of sheep breeding season and feeding in the context of the local environment were decisive in obtaining these livestock products. This work focuses on these aspects through stable isotope and dental microwear analyses on sheep teeth from the cave of Chaves (Huesca, Spain). The results show the existence of "out of season" (autumn/early winter) sheep births in the Early Neolithic, contrasting significantly with spring lambing prevailing in Neolithic husbandries elsewhere in Europe and confirming the antiquity of a western Mediterranean characteristic in this regard. Furthermore, little changes in sheep diet throughout the year have been documented, as far as could be evidenced from stable carbon isotope ratios and dental microwear. Only two individuals showed higher variability in diet on a seasonal scale with possible contribution of C 4 plants, possibly from grazing in the valley steppes at lower altitudes. Overall the results suggest good adaptation of sheep to the Pyrenean mid-altitude environment and strong zootechnical knowledge of the earliest shepherds in this area.

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“…Traditionally, such high altitude mountain areas were mainly considered as transit zones [102,103]. However, recent fieldwork has demonstrated that archaeological sites located in this ecosystem have a lot to contribute to the present debate on the Neolithisation process and the definition of early Neolithic communities [12,13,25,30]. The reasons for that are twofold.…”

Section: Caprine Mobile Herding and Management: Implications For The mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Sheep exploitation and husbandry in first farming societies: from production to consumption in Central Pyrenees in the Early Neolithic

Cited by 14 publications

References 63 publications

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

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

Sheep husbandry in the early Neolithic of the Pyrenees: New data on feeding and reproduction in the cave of Chaves

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