Neolithic Dietary Practices: Comparison of Stable Isotopes and Dental Microwear

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The aim of the paper is to reconstruct Middle and Late Neolithic dietary practices in Central Europe with the help of complementary evidence of stable isotope and dental microwear analysis. From a total of 171 individuals, carbon and nitrogen isotopic values were measured in bone collagen from 146 humans and 64 animals, and 113 individuals were included in buccal dental microwear analysis. The samples were divided into two newly established chronological phases: Neolithic B (4900–4000 BC) and Neolithic C (3800–3400 BC). A small but statistically significant shift in human carbon isotopic values to higher δ13C was observed during the Neolithic C, probably reflecting the underlying change in plant growth conditions. Dental microwear results showed a tendency toward higher meat consumption in adults during Neolithic C but was not reflected in the δ15N values. The positive correlation between nitrogen isotopic values and dental microwear characteristics of a meaty diet observed in the adult sample suggests that meat rather than milk was a dominant source of animal protein. We believe that the documented shift represents the change between the early Neolithic way of life and the new economy and social structures of the later period.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 35850.0