‘Celtic cowboys’ reborn: Application of multi-isotopic analysis (δ13C, δ15N, and δ34S) to examine mobility and movement of animals within an Iron Age British society

Abstract

G. T. (2019) 'Celtic Cowboys' reborn: application of multiisotopic analysis (δ13C, δ15N, and δ34S) to examine mobility and movement of animals within an Iron Age British society.

Iron Age ‘Predatory Landscapes’: A Bioarchaeological and Funerary Exploration of Captivity and Enslavement in Britain

“…Schulting (2019) observes that in the Irish accounts, cattle-raiding activities included the capturing of women. Therefore, evidence for the longdistance movement of cattle may reflect raiding activities, particularly given that animal hobbles have also been found (see Hamilton et al 2019;Schulting et al 2019;Thompson 1993). 10.…”

“…olive oil) being the clearest evidence for these networks (Cunliffe 2009). Isotope research on faunal remains has provided further evidence, with some animals travelling over 100 km (Bendrey et al 2008; Hamilton et al 2019; Montgomery et al 2007; Schulting et al 2019; Stevens et al 2013a). This provides further evidence for short-term, seasonally based movement by communities, which has previously been suggested from the exploitation of natural resources (Champion et al 2001): for example, in Dorset, where shale was extracted at Kimmeridge and exported as blanks or made objects (e.g.…”

Equine diet during protohistoric times in the Northeast of the Iberian Peninsula: Stable isotope data (C, N) from bone collagen

“… Isotopic analyses of first domesticated horses are scarce [4] . Normally these studies focus of animal mobility without analyzing their paleodiet [5] , [6] , [7] . Can Roqueta data provide an approximation to the diet, as a model of equine herd management in the Early Iron Age in the western Mediterranean.…”

Bog bodies

“…In such a tightly knit yet pressurised community, he argues that domestic and neighbourly violence may have been elevated, stoked by fears of malign, supernatural activity: what we might loosely describe as witchcraft. The movement of stock around an increasingly patrolled landscape (indicated in stable isotope analysis by Hamilton et al 2019) no doubt created other moments of inter-group friction and violence. Like the staked bog bodies, some pit 'burials' were tied up (deposition 22 in pit 497: an adult woman with her hands 'crossed' as if tied), 'stoned' or covered over by slingshots (pit 935), and weighted down with flint or chalk blocks (see Cunliffe 1993: 12-13).…”