An integrated perspective on farming in the early Neolithic lakeshore site of La Draga (Banyoles, Spain)

Abstract

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.

Mid-Holocene vegetation history and Neolithic land-use in the Lake Banyoles area (Girona, Spain)

“…Although the first evidence of husbandry practices are documented in this phase at La Draga site (Saña, 2011;Navarrete and Saña, 2013;Antolín et al, 2014), no spores of coprophilous fungi are documented at this time, due to their short distance dispersal. Later, the main feature of the first half of the 6th millennium cal BP (sub-zone B1b) is the stabilisation of decreased pollen percentages of deciduous Quercus and the co-occurrence of sedimentary charcoal, pointing to clearances in the oak forest by Early Neolithic communities.…”

“…The intensive exploitation of oak forest to obtain firewood (Piqué, 2000;Caruso-Fermé and Piqué, 2014) and raw materials for the construction of dwellings was responsible for the major impact on vegetation dynamics (Revelles et al, 2014). The opening of farming plots, which were probably small and intensively managed (Antolín, 2013;Antolín et al, 2014), and without use of fire, had a relatively minor impact on the landscape.…”

Wild fruit use among early farmers in the Neolithic (5400–2300 cal bc) in the north-east of the Iberian Peninsula: an intensive practice?

“…Following the same logic of the argument, the low representation of edible ruderal taxa might be due to the small number of fallow or abandoned fields in the immediate surroundings of the settlements, also as in intensive systems. Recent archaeobotanical evaluations have presented intensive farming (sensu Bogaard 2004a) as the most plausible option for farming practices in the region, at least during the early Neolithic (Antolín 2013;Antolín et al 2014). Alternatively, one should also consider the possibility that ruderal plants are underrepresented in dry sites because they were eaten as green vegetables.…”

Characterizing prehistoric archery: technical and functional analyses of the Neolithic bows from La Draga (NE Iberian Peninsula)

“…In the case of La Draga, the economic system was based on agriculture and husbandry practices (Antolin and Bux o, 2011;Saña, 2011;Antolín et al, 2014). Archaeozoological studies (Saña, 2011) evidence that hunting played a minor role in food supply strategies (Tables 1 and 2).…”