Neolithic to Bronze Age economy and animal management revealed using analyses lipid residues of pottery vessels and faunal remains at El Portalón de Cueva Mayor (Sierra de Atapuerca, Spain)

Investigating livestock management in the early Neolithic archaeological site of Cabecicos Negros (Almería, Spain) from the organic residue analysis in pottery

“…Previous studies on lipid residues extracted from prehistoric ceramics in the Iberian Peninsula have shown that only a few vessels contain porcine lipids. The presence of non-ruminant fats in the Early Neolithic vessels of the Iberian Peninsula does not exceed 20%, being lower than 16% in the west 22 , around 19% in the north 22,25 and around 18% in the northeast of the Iberian Peninsula 20,21,24,27,28 . At the moment, only one case study has showed the evidence of non-ruminant fat in vessels from the early Neolithic period in the south of the Iberian Peninsula.…”

“…The high abundance of animal fats detected in ceramic vessels is consistent with the faunal assemblages and reflects the presence of animals in the diet. Investigations of early Neolithic pottery in Iberian Peninsula [20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28] have revealed that ruminant (40%) and non-ruminant (20%) carcass fats were prevalent in pottery vessels with little evidence for the exploitation of dairy products (less than 10%).Pig remains are usually scarce in the peninsular sites of the early Neolithic (less than 20% of sites exceed 100 remains) 16,29 , despite the fact that it was already widespread throughout the Iberian Peninsula by the middle of the sixth millennium BC. This specie present the problem of its differentiation from the wild boar 15 .…”

“…The high abundance of animal fats detected in ceramic vessels is consistent with the faunal assemblages and reflects the presence of animals in the diet. Investigations of early Neolithic pottery in Iberian Peninsula [20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28] have revealed that ruminant (40%) and non-ruminant (20%) carcass fats were prevalent in pottery vessels with little evidence for the exploitation of dairy products (less than 10%).…”

The Genomic Legacy of Human Management and sex-biased Aurochs hybridization in Iberian Cattle

“…This period also coincides with several other societal changes; including the Bell Beaker complex, and the introduction of human ancestry from the Pontic steppe and domestic horses into the Iberian Peninsula (9, 52–54). Around this time, humans also started processing a significantly higher amount of dairy products connected with the “secondary product revolution” (55, 56). Aurochs were probably present in Iberia until Roman times (28) leaving possibilities for interbreeding but we cannot exclude that various factors such as hunting or changing vegetation had led to a substantial decline in the wild aurochs population around the early Bronze Age.…”

Lipids in Archaeological Pottery: A Review on Their Sampling and Extraction Techniques

“…The Isotopic analysis of the δ 13 C values of the main C 16:0 and C 18:0 FFAs [ 50 ], their difference (Δ 13 C = δ 13 C 18:0 – − δ 13 C 16:0 ) [ 3 ], as well as the proportions of selected SFAs [ 42 ], are particularly useful to obtain information about the origin of lipids determined in pottery [ 3 , 14 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 ]. Regert suggested that if the lipidic residue derives from non-ruminant animals, C 16:0 and C 18:0 FFAs are isotopically enriched in 13 C with respect to those found in ruminants and Δ 13 C > −1‰, whereas goat adipose fats are featured by −3‰ < Δ 13 C < −1‰ [ 3 ].…”