Sequential analyses of bovid tooth enamel and dentine collagen (δ18O, δ13C, δ15N): new insights into animal husbandry between the Late Neolithic and the Early Bronze Age at Tana del Barletta (Ligurian Prealps)

Abstract

Tana del Barletta is an upland cave used from the Late Neolithic to the Middle Bronze Age, located in the vicinity of the coast in Liguria (NW Italy). The excavation revealed the presence of a faunal assemblage dominated by caprine and cattle remains. In order to gain new data on late prehistoric farming strategies (e.g. seasonal mobility, coastal grazing, animal diet), intra-tooth series of stable oxygen and carbon isotopes have been obtained from cattle and sheep/goat tooth enamel, along with intra-tooth series of nitrogen and carbon isotopes from cattle dentine collagen. Due to the prevalence of maxillary teeth, a modern calf has also been analysed to assess intra-individual isotopic differences between the maxillary and mandibular dentition. Modern data on oxygen isotope values of meteoric water from different altitudes around the area of the site were used as a reference for interpretation. The results indicate that the water ingested by the herd was mostly characterised by particularly low δ18O values, highlighting the importance of the uplands for the late prehistoric farmers of the region. However, the input of water sourced from lower elevations, especially during the winter months, cannot be dismissed. In addition, the nitrogen isotopic composition of cattle collagen rules out the ingestion of salt-tolerant vegetation or seaweed, suggesting that grazing did not occur directly on the coastal plain.

A multi-proxy bioarchaeological approach reveals new trends in Bronze Age diet in Italy

“…From the end of the Neolithic, transhumant pastoralism spread and contributed to the thinning out of coniferous forests in the mountains to obtain, through the practice of controlled fires, new highland pastures 17 . During the Eneolithic and Bronze Age, when the climate deteriorated, the practice of transhumance towards highland pastures was consolidated 145 .…”

New Chronology for Megalithic Burials in Vidarbha (Central India): Insights Into Contemporary Hydro-Climate and Food Habits

“…Many studies have inferred that skeletons of mammalian herbivores contained the isotopic signature(s) of vegetation and habitat (δ 13 C and δ 18 O values) in which they have lived (Cerling et al 2004;Kohn et al 2005;Ventresca et al 2018;Morandi et al 2021;Sandhu et al 2021). Thus hydroxyapatite from animal bone and tooth enamel are appropriate for isotopic analyses when skeletal remains are poorly preserved, and they retain a secure stable isotopic record for thousands of years (Schoeninger and DeNiro 1982;Thorp and van der Merwe 1987;Wang and Cerling 1994).…”