Ecological flexibility and adaptation to past climate change in the Middle Nile Valley: A multiproxy investigation of dietary shifts between the Neolithic and Kerma periods at Kadruka 1 and Kadruka 21
Abstract:Human responses to climate change have long been at the heart of discussions of past economic, social, and political change in the Nile Valley of northeastern Africa. Following the arrival of Neolithic groups in the 6th millennium BCE, the Northern Dongola Reach of Upper Nubia witnessed a cultural florescence manifested through elaborate funerary traditions. However, despite the wealth of archaeological data available from funerary contexts, including evidence for domesticated animals and plants as grave goods… Show more
“…These results are consistent with the archaeobotanical evidence from the region and allow us to support the hypothesis of increased reliance on agriculture from the Neolithic onwards. Similar trends have been reported for Northern and Central Sudan, where archaeological dental calculus and isotopic analyses also suggest the exploitation of the same resources 6 , 7 , 36 , 37 .…”
Section: Discussionsupporting
confidence: 82%
“…Overall, this paper aims (a) to contribute to an understanding of the plants selected for food during the Neolithic in Eastern Sudan, also concerning data already known for other areas of Sudan; (b) to provide evidence for plant and crop processing activities; (c) to assess whether changes in dietary composition during the Neolithic could potentially be linked to the increase in oral pathologies observed across the Neolithic phases. While previous studies of archaeological dental calculus from prehistoric Northern and Central Sudan have provided important data on past subsistence in these areas 4 , 6 , 7 , 35 – 37 , this contribution adds new information on the role of plants in economic strategies in Neolithic Eastern Sudan, being the first study undertaken for this area.…”
The Neolithic communities of Eastern Sudan combined intensive pastoralism with plant exploitation as their main subsistence strategies. However, to date, it remains unclear which plant species were part of the human diet during the Neolithic. This contribution presents direct data on plant consumption in Eastern Sudan from the Early to Late Neolithic, obtained through the analysis of microdebris inclusions in the dental calculus of 37 individuals, integrated by dentoalveolar pathology analysis of 78 individuals, from the sites UA53 (4th millennium BCE) and Mahal Teglinos (3rd–2nd millennium BCE), located in the Gash Delta/Kassala region. Dental calculus inclusions indicate a diverse intake of cereals, legumes, and tubers during the Middle Neolithic, thus supporting the hypothesis of high reliance on plant resources. Dentoalveolar pathologies, possibly related to the consumption of carbohydrate-rich foods, have also been recorded. For the Late Neolithic, consistent with the shift towards aridity that occurred in the Middle/Late Holocene, dental calculus exclusively indicates the exploitation of sorghum and tubers—species well adapted to arid conditions—showing how the Neolithic communities modified their subsistence in response to environmental changes. Evidence of plant processing techniques, such as cooking/heating, was also revealed from the dental calculus analysis.
“…These results are consistent with the archaeobotanical evidence from the region and allow us to support the hypothesis of increased reliance on agriculture from the Neolithic onwards. Similar trends have been reported for Northern and Central Sudan, where archaeological dental calculus and isotopic analyses also suggest the exploitation of the same resources 6 , 7 , 36 , 37 .…”
Section: Discussionsupporting
confidence: 82%
“…Overall, this paper aims (a) to contribute to an understanding of the plants selected for food during the Neolithic in Eastern Sudan, also concerning data already known for other areas of Sudan; (b) to provide evidence for plant and crop processing activities; (c) to assess whether changes in dietary composition during the Neolithic could potentially be linked to the increase in oral pathologies observed across the Neolithic phases. While previous studies of archaeological dental calculus from prehistoric Northern and Central Sudan have provided important data on past subsistence in these areas 4 , 6 , 7 , 35 – 37 , this contribution adds new information on the role of plants in economic strategies in Neolithic Eastern Sudan, being the first study undertaken for this area.…”
The Neolithic communities of Eastern Sudan combined intensive pastoralism with plant exploitation as their main subsistence strategies. However, to date, it remains unclear which plant species were part of the human diet during the Neolithic. This contribution presents direct data on plant consumption in Eastern Sudan from the Early to Late Neolithic, obtained through the analysis of microdebris inclusions in the dental calculus of 37 individuals, integrated by dentoalveolar pathology analysis of 78 individuals, from the sites UA53 (4th millennium BCE) and Mahal Teglinos (3rd–2nd millennium BCE), located in the Gash Delta/Kassala region. Dental calculus inclusions indicate a diverse intake of cereals, legumes, and tubers during the Middle Neolithic, thus supporting the hypothesis of high reliance on plant resources. Dentoalveolar pathologies, possibly related to the consumption of carbohydrate-rich foods, have also been recorded. For the Late Neolithic, consistent with the shift towards aridity that occurred in the Middle/Late Holocene, dental calculus exclusively indicates the exploitation of sorghum and tubers—species well adapted to arid conditions—showing how the Neolithic communities modified their subsistence in response to environmental changes. Evidence of plant processing techniques, such as cooking/heating, was also revealed from the dental calculus analysis.
Although phytolith research has come of age in archaeology and palaeoecology internationally, it has remained relatively marginalised from mainstream practice in Australasia. The region’s initial isolation from international scientific communities and uniqueness of its vegetation communities, has led to an exclusive set of challenges and interruptions in phytolith research. Examining a history of Australasian phytolith research presents the opportunity to recognise developments that have made phytoliths a powerful tool in reconstructing past environments and human uses of plants. Phytolith research arrived early in Australia (1903), after a convoluted journey from Germany (1835–1895) and Europe (1895–1943), but phytoliths were initially misidentified as sponge spicules (1931–1959). Formal understanding of phytoliths and their applications began in Australasia during the late 1950s, continuing throughout the 1960s and 1970s (1959–1980). After a brief hiatus, the modern period of phytolith analyses in Australasian archaeological and palaeoenvironmental research began in the 1980s (1984–1992), focusing on investigating the deep past. Advancements continued into the 1990s and early 2000s. Wallis and Hart declared in 2003 that Australian phytolith research had finally come of age, but more a fitting description would be that it had peaked. Since then phytolith research in Australasia slowed down considerably (2005-present). Local phytolith reference collections for Australasian flora, critical for identifying ancient phytoliths, are essentially no longer produced.
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