Exploring Neolithic animal husbandry practices in Croatia through stable isotope analyses

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Global Perspectives on Biomolecular Approaches to Human-Animal Interactions Past and Present" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The arrival of the Neolithic in Europe marked a pivotal transition in human history, defined by the introduction of agriculture and profound changes in human-animal relationships. Croatia, a major corridor for the spread of the Neolithic through Europe, offers a key setting to study these interactions. The Neolithization in Croatia itself was complex, with varying rates of adoption and adaptation of the “Neolithic package” influenced by local climates and cultures. Zooarchaeological data reveal distinct trends: the Adriatic coast shows consistent early Neolithic faunal assemblages dominated by ovicaprines, while inland regions show diverse assemblages with varied proportions of wild and domestic species. However, zooarchaeology alone cannot fully capture how animal husbandry was integrated and managed by human communities. Integrating stable isotope analysis with zooarchaeological data can significantly enhance our understanding of how the Neolithic package was adopted and adapted over time. This study presents the largest isotopic dataset for the Neolithic in Croatia to date, including 65 human and 46 faunal remains from the Early to the Late Neolithic. Our findings further our understanding of Neolithic practices in Croatia, revealing both continuity and change in animal husbandry throughout the period, and underscore the complex interplay between human communities and their environment.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 90th Annual Meeting, Denver, CO (2025)   •
• Global Perspectives on Biomolecular Approaches to Human-Animal Interactions Past and Present

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 50817