Natural environment and resources, and the long life of the Neolithic settlement at Vinča, southeast Europe

Of herds and societies—Seasonal aspects of Vinča culture herding and land use practices revealed using sequential stable isotope analysis of animal teeth

“…At both sites, caprines and domestic pigs consumed a diet enriched in 15 N, which strongly suggests these animals were raised on either crop residue from cultivars raised on manured soils or pastures repeatedly visited by livestock [ 23 ]. We previously proposed this supports the hypothesis that caprines herds and pigs were fed crop by-products while penned within the settlement [ 11 ], with access to the seasonal flooded landscape limited by herders to reduce foot rot in livestock [ 21 ]. The δ 13 C and δ 18 O values from incremental bioapatite samples presented here provides us with the opportunity to test these hypotheses through integration of seasonal short-term stable isotopic records with those from bone collagen.…”

“…Focusing on Vinča-Belo Brdo, at present the Danube runs close to the site, however in the past it may have flowed further east. There is no evidence of flooding during the occupation levels, which suggests that the site was not as close to the river as today [ 21 ]. Areas of standing water or vernal pools may form during flooding within extinct paleochannels [ 88 ].…”

“…Several communication lines (“streets”) were placed between houses in some areas, with no open spaces within settlements have been identified, suggesting that animal pens, gardens or cultivation areas were external to settlements during the late Vinča phases. Next to Vinča-Belo brdo is the Bolečica river, a tributary of the Danube, which annually floods part of the landscape surrounding the site [ 21 ]. Damp alluvial soils in the river floodplain would have supported gallery forests and wetland vegetation, such as willow sp .…”

“…and reeds ( Phragmites communis ). Thermophilous taxa, particularly oak, grew on rich chernozem soils and dominated forests that spread over hilltops and slopes [ 21 ].…”

“…Provisioning Vinča communities with an adequate supply of animal products would have required a high level of animal maintenance to ensure herd growth and productivity, in particular a sufficient source of good pasture and forage. Vinča herders may have employed at various times within the seasonal cycle complementary strategies that served to further provision their hungry herds by leading animals to crop stubble, or provisioning them with cut branches or leafy hay [ 20 ] collected from woodlands as has been previously hypothesised for Vinča domesticated pigs and cattle [ 21 , 22 ]. Waterlogged pastures caused by seasonal river flooding may have encouraged the development of mobile herding strategies where animals were moved to different, drier pastures within the seasonal calendar [ 11 , 21 ].…”