Que ce soient les arguments morphométriques ou. d'autres plus indirects, la domestication du mouton et fort probablement celle de la chèvre prend place durant, le PPNB ancien dans les piémonts sud du Taurus. Même si l'élevage se généralise dans le Levant Nord, au cours du PPNB moyen, les fréquences de chèvres et de moutons ne dépassent pas 30 % des restes osseux de cette période. Ainsi, l'introduction de ces petits ruminants dans l'économie de ces sites anciens parait moins « révolutionnaire » que l'expression « Révolution Néolithique » ne l'implique. Au cours du PPNB moyen, deux autres espèces acquièrent un statut domestique dans deux régions différentes : Bos dans le bassin du moyen Euphrate et Sus dans le sud-est de la Turquie. A la fin du. PPNB l'élevage du bétail formait une importante composante de l'économie de subsistance humaine dans tout le Levant nord. À l'exception d''Ovis qui semble avoir été introduit dans le Levant sud à partir du Nord, les modalités du processus de diffusion des animaux de ferme depuis leur(s) centre(s) de domestication vers les régions adjacentes, ont encore besoin d'être étudiées. Même si nous sommes assurés que les changements socioculturels du 11e et du 10e millénaire ВС calibré se complexifient et que les sociétés socialement stratifiées du Levant nord bâtissent l'arrière-plan culturel, dans lequel la domestication des caprines prend place, nous continuons encore à nous interroger sur les causes de l'introduction du bétail dans l'économie du Néolithique précéramique. En. nous fondant sur les évidences archéozoologiques et paléobotaniques, les changements climatiques de grande amplitude et/ou les détériorations du milieu nous paraissent maintenant improbables dans cette région. Ceci nous renforce dans l'idée que les facteurs socioculturels ont été à l'origine du changement d'exploitation des animaux.

In the absence of any direct evidence, the relative importance of meat and dairy productions to Neolithic prehistoric Mediterranean communities has been extensively debated. Here, we combine lipid residue analysis of ceramic vessels with osteo-archaeological age-at-death analysis from 82 northern Mediterranean and Near Eastern sites dating from the seventh to fifth millennia BC to address this question. The findings show variable intensities in dairy and nondairy activities in the Mediterranean region with the slaughter profiles of domesticated ruminants mirroring the results of the organic residue analyses. The finding of milk residues in very early Neolithic pottery (seventh millennium BC) from both the east and west of the region contrasts with much lower intensities in sites of northern Greece, where pig bones are present in higher frequencies compared with other locations. In this region, the slaughter profiles of all domesticated ruminants suggest meat production predominated. Overall, it appears that milk or the by-products of milk was an important foodstuff, which may have contributed significantly to the spread of these cultural groups by providing a nourishing and sustainable product for early farming communities.

Ancient DNA (aDNA) provides direct evidence of historical events that have modeled the genome of modern individuals. In livestock, resolving the differences between the effects of initial domestication and of subsequent modern breeding is not straight forward without aDNA data. Here, we have obtained shotgun genome sequence data from a sixteenth century pig from Northeastern Spain (Montsoriu castle), the ancient pig was obtained from an extremely well-preserved and diverse assemblage. In addition, we provide the sequence of three new modern genomes from an Iberian pig, Spanish wild boar and a Guatemalan Creole pig. Comparison with both mitochondrial and autosomal genome data shows that the ancient pig is closely related to extant Iberian pigs and to European wild boar. Although the ancient sample was clearly domestic, admixture with wild boar also occurred, according to the D-statistics. The close relationship between Iberian, European wild boar and the ancient pig confirms that Asian introgression in modern Iberian pigs has not existed or has been negligible. In contrast, the Guatemalan Creole pig clusters apart from the Iberian pig genome, likely due to introgression from international breeds.

A combined analysis of the faunal and charred plant macroremains from the early Neolithic lakeshore site of La Draga (Banyoles, Spain) is presented. The aim was to characterise the farming strategies practiced by the first Neolithic communities in the north-east of the Iberian Peninsula in terms of their degree of intensity. The joint discussion of the data allowed the observation that permanent plots could have been kept, that a high harvest would have been practiced and that a low-scale processing of the crop could have taken place within the domestic space, where the grain would be stored. This type of crop husbandry would permit the livestock to access the fields and graze the stubble, which would result in the manuring of the plots. Herds were kept close to the dwellings and different management and consumption practices were observed between the larger and the smaller animals. Smaller animals were probably produced and consumed at a household scale while larger animals would require a cooperative management and consumption. It is concluded that the available evidence points towards an intensive mixed farming model. La Draga: a unique case in the early Neolithic of the Iberian PeninsulaThe settlement of La Draga is located on the eastern side of the Lake of Banyoles (Banyoles, Spain), at 170 m asl (Fig. 1). The surface of the site is thought to be around 8000 m 2 . It most probably stretched for over 100 m along the lake shoreline and around 80 m inland (Bosch et al. 2000, 24;Tarrús 2008).It was discovered in 1990. Four areas were excavated to date (Fig. 1): sector A, of approximately 284 m 2 ; sector B, of 126 m 2 ; sector C, of 310 m 2 ; and sector D, of 56 m 2 . Sectors B, C and D remained under waterlogged conditions since the Neolithic period and excellent conditions of preservation of the archaeobiological record were possible. The excavated sectors B and D are the only areas for which a combined analysis is possible, since they are side by side (Fig. 1). The stratigraphy of sectors A and C was not fully correlated with the rest of the site.After the recent excavations of sector D, two early Neolithic settlement phases were distinguished.

Paleoparasitological analyses were conducted on samples from the Neolithic lakeside settlement of La Draga in Spain (5320-4980 BC). Conventional microscopic analysis revealed the presence of tapeworms (genus Taenia/Echinoccocus and Diphyllobothrium), roundworms (genus Trichuris, Capillaria, and Ascaris), rumen fluke (genus Paramphistomum), and Acanthocephalan (genus Macracanthorhynchus). In addition, genetic analysis demonstrated the presence of the lancet liver fluke (Dicrocoelium dendriticum) and the human pinworm (Enterobius vermicularis) at the site. These results represent the first parasitological data from a Neolithic lakeside settlement related to the Cardial Pottery Culture. Some parasites are comparable with those retrieved from Neolithic lakeside sites studied in France, Germany, and Switzerland, which stem from and are posterior to the Linear Band Keramic Culture. However, some taxa were identified here for the first time during the Neolithic period, or represent the oldest mention of these parasites. This new paleoparasitological contribution reinforces our knowledge of intestinal parasites in Neolithic populations and provides new data on their history.