Investigating Neolithic caprine husbandry in the Central Pyrenees: Insights from a multi-proxy study at Els Trocs cave (Bisaurri, Spain)

Abstract

Sheep remains constitute the main archaeozoological evidence for the presence of Early Neolithic human groups in the highlands of the Southern Pyrenees but understanding the role of herding activities in the Neolithisation process of this mountain ecosystem calls for the analysis of large and well-dated faunal assemblages. Cova de Els Trocs (Bisaurri, Huesca, Spain), a cave located at 1564 m a.s.l on the southern slopes of the Central Pyrenees, is an excellent case study since it was seasonally occupied throughout the Neolithic (ca. 5312–2913 cal. BC) and more than 4000 caprine remains were recovered inside. The multi-proxy analytical approach here presented has allowed us to offer new data elaborating on vertical mobility practices and herd management dynamics as has not been attempted up until now within Neolithic high-mountain sites in the Iberian Peninsula. For the first time, δ18O and δ13C stable isotope analyses offer direct evidence on both the regular practice of altitudinal movements of sheep flocks and the extended breeding season of sheep. Autumn births are recorded from the second half of the fifth millennium cal. BC onwards. Age-at-death distributions illustrate the progressive decline in caprine perinatal mortality together with the rising survival rate of individuals older than six months of age and the larger frequency of adults. This trend alongside the ‘off-season’ lambing signal at the implementation of husbandry techniques over time, probably aiming to increase the size of the flocks and their productivity. Palaeoparasitological analyses of sediment samples document also the growing reliance on herding activities of the human groups visiting the Els Trocs cave throughout the Neolithic sequence. In sum, our work provides substantial arguments to conclude that the advanced herding management skills of the Early Neolithic communities arriving in Iberia facilitated the anthropisation process of the subalpine areas of the Central Pyrenees.

Early sheep herd management in the inland of the Iberian Peninsula: results of the incremental isotopic analyses of dental remains from El Mirador cave (Sierra de Atapuerca, Spain)

“…Archaeological and isotopic evidence indicates a fast adaptation of domestic sheep in the inland of the Iberian Peninsula during the Early Neolithic (Saña et al 2020;Tejedor-Rodríguez et al 2021). This is the reason why, although the influence of natural factors (such as climatic conditions) cannot be ruled out to explain the seasonality of the births at El Mirador and a larger sample is needed, it is reasonable to hypothesise the intervention should also be assessed.…”

“…Beyond the composition of the herds, in Iberian Peninsula assemblages, there are few studies on mortality profiles that would provide information on different aspects of management and exploitation of these species. Although it is difficult to generalise, the few published zooarchaeological studies would indicate a tendency to slaughter immature animals (0-24 months) with the intention of using the meat and/or milk (Castaños 2004;Iborra and Martínez 2009;Saña 2011;Sierra et al 2019;Tejedor-Rodríguez et al 2021). Milk use was also documented by means of lipid residue analysis (Debono Spiteri et al 2016;Cubas et al 2020).…”

“…One of the most poorly understood features of Neolithic sheep management in the Iberian Peninsula is the breeding and lambing periods. Until now, only data on the Neolithic sheep in the Els Trocs cave is available (Tejedor- Rodríguez et al 2021) where winter/spring and autumn births were documented.…”

The Pastoralism in the Silesian Beskids (South Poland): In the Past and Today

“…The tradition of transhumance was common to all Mediterranean countries and for human and physical reasons was fully developed in the Iberian Peninsula [17]. According to recent archaeological studies conducted in Pyrenees in Spain, the system of altitudinal movements of sheep flocks was known already a few millennia before our era [18]. It was shown that sheep flocks with shepherds wandered from the pre-Pyrenean territories to the uplands to intermediate pastures placed between 1400 m and 1700 m a.s.l.…”

“…The sheep were taken to summer pastures at the end of April, shortly after the snow had melted, just after the beginning of the vegetation season (Figure 4a) [12,[18][19][20][21]. In some regions the sheep were accompanied by whole families [12].…”