Dietary inferences through stable isotope analysis at the Neolithic and Bronze Age in the southern Caucasus (sixth to first millenium BC, Azerbaijan): From environmental adaptation to social impacts

Abstract

ObjectivesSubsistence strategies are of great interest for understanding how prehistoric societies adapted to their environment. This is particularly the case for the southern Caucasus where relationships have been shown with the northern Caucasus and Mesopotamia since the Neolithic and where societies are alternately described as sedentary and mobile. This article aims, for the first time, to characterize human diets and their evolution using biochemical markers, from the Neolithic to the Bronze Age (sixth‐first millenium BC), at Mentesh Tepe, a site in the middle Kura valley in Azerbaijan.Materials and MethodsThe data set belongs to 40 humans, 32 domestic and wild animals, and 42 charred seeds discovered in situ and perfectly dated. Stable isotope analyses were performed, including (a) δ13Cco and δ15N for animal and human bone collagens and for seeds, and (b) δ13Cap for human bone apatite.ResultsAlmost all the data (25/31) suggest an increased contribution of cereals, lentils, and freshwater fish during the Neolithic, whereas afterwards, until the Late Bronze Age, all individuals consumed more animal proteins from their livestock. None of the biological criteria (age at death and sex) and burial types (mass/single graves) were found to be related to a specific diet over time. Comparisons with other isotopic data from contemporary sites in Georgia argue in favor of a wide variety of dietary sources in the vicinity of the Kura valley and for highly mobile populations. Clear evidence of millet consumption has only been found for the Late Bronze Age.

Emergence and intensification of dairying in the Caucasus and Eurasian steppes

“…As such, environmental factors may have played a role in influencing the selection of dairy livestock in these two regions. During the third millennium bc , it is known that the economic importance of pastoralism increased in the South Caucasus, especially during the Kura–Araxes period 56 , 87 , but we did not have corresponding samples to examine this. Although steppe cultural elements, such as kurgans (burial mounds), had been present in the South Caucasus since the Late Chalcolithic 88 , kurgans greatly increased during the Middle Bronze Age 89 , and we next observed dairy product consumption at the Middle Bronze Age fortified agropastoral site of Qızqala, with ruminant dairy proteins present in both individuals analysed for this study.…”

“…Nevertheless, current evidence for early dairying in the Pontic–Caspian steppe is, until now, only attested on its eastern fringes 7 . Previous isotopic studies have been unable to identify clear indications of dairy consumption, finding instead non-specific evidence for high consumption of animal protein and a highly complex isoscape, reflecting both ecological diversity and temporal climatic shifts 41 , 48 , 56 . However, the isotopic data suggest a stronger contribution of sheep or goat products to the human diet than those from cattle 41 .…”

New AMS 14C dates track the arrival and spread of broomcorn millet cultivation and agricultural change in prehistoric Europe

“…The few early grain-dates from Ukraine cannot clarify this. Potentially earlier dates for the first millet occurrences in the southern Caucasus—late first half, or middle of the 2nd millennium bc 59 , 60 —leaves a possibility of broomcorn millet appearing at a similar time in the southern and northern Caucasus. The intensive interaction that "crisscrossed the whole of the Caucasus and extended well beyond its boundaries" 61 [380] would have facilitated this, especially from the mid-2nd millennium bc onwards (Late Bronze–Early Iron Age) when it was promoted by increasing production and circulation of metal objects and metalworking skill 61 [378–379, 422].…”

The place of millet in food globalization during Late Prehistory as evidenced by new bioarchaeological data from the Caucasus

“…One of the main results of this study is that stable isotopic analysis is in accordance with the oldest radiocarbon dates obtained on millet grains, and that before the MBA and especially during the Kura-Araxes period (ca. 3300–3000 cal BC), no C 4 plant consumption signal is recorded, at least on the recently analyzed sites in the northern Caucasus 39 , 49 as in the South 37 , 50 , 51 .

Figure 3 Animal and human stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios according to geographical area for Middle Bronze Age ( A ) and Late Bronze Age to late Iron Age ( B ).

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