4000 years of human dietary evolution in central Germany, from the first farmers to the first elites

Abstract

Investigation of human diet during the Neolithic has often been limited to a few archaeological cultures or single sites. In order to provide insight into the development of human food consumption and husbandry strategies, our study explores bone collagen carbon and nitrogen isotope data from 466 human and 105 faunal individuals from 26 sites in central Germany. It is the most extensive data set to date from an enclosed geographic microregion, covering 4,000 years of agricultural history from the Early Neolithic to the Early Bronze Age. The animal data show that a variety of pastures and dietary resources were explored, but that these changed remarkably little over time. In the human δ15N however we found a significant increase with time across the different archaeological cultures. This trend could be observed in all time periods and archaeological cultures (Bell Beaker phenomenon excluded), even on continuously populated sites. Since there was no such trend in faunal isotope values, we were able largely to exclude manuring as the cause of this effect. Based on the rich interdisciplinary data from this region and archaeological period we can argue that meat consumption increased with the increasing duration of farming subsistence.In δ13C, we could not observe any clear increasing or decreasing trends during the archaeological time periods, either for humans or for animals, which would have suggested significant changes in the environment and landscape use. We discovered sex-related dietary differences, with males of all archaeological periods having higher δ15N values than females, and an age-related increasing consumption of animal protein. An initial decrease of δ15N-values at the age of 1–2 years reveals partial weaning, while complete weaning took place at the age of 3–4 years.

Population Genetics and Signatures of Selection in Early Neolithic European Farmers

“…Successful settlement in new geographic regions, such as central Europe, would have required rapid adaptation to new environmental, economic, and social conditions. Lower meat consumption and increased caries lesions in teeth indicative of cereal consumption have been reported for the early Neolithic compared to later time periods ( Nicklisch et al 2016 ; Münster et al 2018 ). Moreover, increased prevalence of cribra orbitalia and porotic hyperostosis, which indicate either a significant burden of infectious diseases, low quality diet, or a combination of both ( Walker et al 2009 ), was found at LBK sites ( Ash et al 2016 ; Nicklisch 2017 ).…”

“…1 ). Previous studies using stable isotopes have shown that mean adult human values for carbon and nitrogen isotopes were typical for the region and suggested a mixed farming diet including domesticated plant and animal products ( Oelze et al 2011 ; Münster et al 2018 ). A previous study of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) lineages from the EEF, including the individuals in this study, showed that the mtDNA haplogroups of LBK individuals and their frequency distribution is more similar to the present-day population of Anatolia and the Near East ( Haak et al 2010 ).…”

How Fishy was the Inland Mesolithic? New Data from Friesack, Brandenburg, Germany

“…1977:7/M13 (IV Z D6N 31c), a cut-marked parietal bone, gave a δ 15 N value of only 4.0‰ (cf. in 466 Neolithic humans from Sachsen-Anhalt, the region neighboring Brandenburg, the lowest δ 15 N value was 6.3‰ [Münster et al 2018]). On closer inspection, it appears that the bone may not be human.…”

The concept of socio-environmental transformations in prehistoric and archaic societies in the Holocene: An introduction to the special issue

“…The identification and exploration of large transformations, such as Neoilthisation, at different scales and the comparison to transformations acting at a smaller scale, such as changes in resource exploitation or the organisation of space in Bronze Age village communities (cf. Brozio et al, this issue; Dietre et al, 2017; Kneisel et al, this issue; Knitter et al, this issue; Münster et al, 2018), enable a concrete, practical understanding of transformations. In the aforementioned examples, transformations are enduring: on the broader historical scale at a supra-regional level, and at a local scale for the whole living world of prehistoric communities.…”