Regional asynchronicity in dairy production and processing in early farming communities of the northern Mediterranean

Cynthianne Debono Spiteri; Rosalind E. Gillis; Mélanie Roffet-Salque; Laura Castells Navarro; Jean Guilaine; Claire Manen; Italo M. Muntoni; Maria Saña Segui; Dushka Urem-Kotsou; Helen L. Whelton; Oliver E. Craig; Jean-Denis Vigne; Richard P. Evershed

doi:10.1073/pnas.1607810113

Regional asynchronicity in dairy production and processing in early farming communities of the northern Mediterranean

Cynthianne Debono Spiteri, Rosalind E. Gillis, Mélanie Roffet-Salque, Laura Castells Navarro, Jean Guilaine, Claire Manen, Italo M. Muntoni, Maria Saña Segui, Dushka Urem-Kotsou, Helen L. Whelton, Oliver E. Craig, Jean-Denis Vigne, Richard P. Evershed

Archaeology

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

In the absence of any direct evidence, the relative importance of meat and dairy productions to Neolithic prehistoric Mediterranean communities has been extensively debated. Here, we combine lipid residue analysis of ceramic vessels with osteo-archaeological age-at-death analysis from 82 northern Mediterranean and Near Eastern sites dating from the seventh to fifth millennia BC to address this question. The findings show variable intensities in dairy and nondairy activities in the Mediterranean region with the slaughter profiles of domesticated ruminants mirroring the results of the organic residue analyses. The finding of milk residues in very early Neolithic pottery (seventh millennium BC) from both the east and west of the region contrasts with much lower intensities in sites of northern Greece, where pig bones are present in higher frequencies compared with other locations. In this region, the slaughter profiles of all domesticated ruminants suggest meat production predominated. Overall, it appears that milk or the by-products of milk was an important foodstuff, which may have contributed significantly to the spread of these cultural groups by providing a nourishing and sustainable product for early farming communities.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	13594-13599
Number of pages	6
Journal	Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Volume	113
Issue number	48
Early online date	14 Nov 2016
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1607810113
Publication status	Published - 29 Nov 2016

Bibliographical note

© 2016 National Academy of Sciences. This is an author-produced version of the published paper. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher’s self-archiving policy. Further copying may not be permitted; contact the publisher for details.

Keywords

Archaeology
Archaeozoology
Lipid residue analyses
Milk
Neolithic
History, Ancient
Humans
Milk/chemistry
Animals, Domestic
Dairying/history
Animals
Cattle
Lipids/analysis
Agriculture
Mediterranean Region
Ruminants
Animal Husbandry/history

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10.1073/pnas.1607810113

379815_0_unknown_upload_6084932_48k6ng
© 2016 National Academy of Sciences. This is an author-produced version of the published paper. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher’s self-archiving policy. Further copying may not be permitted; contact the publisher for details.
Accepted author manuscript, 0.98 MB

Cite this

Debono Spiteri, C., Gillis, R. E., Roffet-Salque, M., Castells Navarro, L., Guilaine, J., Manen, C., Muntoni, I. M., Saña Segui, M., Urem-Kotsou, D., Whelton, H. L., Craig, O. E., Vigne, J.-D., & Evershed, R. P. (2016). Regional asynchronicity in dairy production and processing in early farming communities of the northern Mediterranean. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 113(48), 13594-13599. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1607810113

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abstract = "In the absence of any direct evidence, the relative importance of meat and dairy productions to Neolithic prehistoric Mediterranean communities has been extensively debated. Here, we combine lipid residue analysis of ceramic vessels with osteo-archaeological age-at-death analysis from 82 northern Mediterranean and Near Eastern sites dating from the seventh to fifth millennia BC to address this question. The findings show variable intensities in dairy and nondairy activities in the Mediterranean region with the slaughter profiles of domesticated ruminants mirroring the results of the organic residue analyses. The finding of milk residues in very early Neolithic pottery (seventh millennium BC) from both the east and west of the region contrasts with much lower intensities in sites of northern Greece, where pig bones are present in higher frequencies compared with other locations. In this region, the slaughter profiles of all domesticated ruminants suggest meat production predominated. Overall, it appears that milk or the by-products of milk was an important foodstuff, which may have contributed significantly to the spread of these cultural groups by providing a nourishing and sustainable product for early farming communities.",

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Debono Spiteri, C, Gillis, RE, Roffet-Salque, M, Castells Navarro, L, Guilaine, J, Manen, C, Muntoni, IM, Saña Segui, M, Urem-Kotsou, D, Whelton, HL, Craig, OE, Vigne, J-D & Evershed, RP 2016, 'Regional asynchronicity in dairy production and processing in early farming communities of the northern Mediterranean', Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol. 113, no. 48, pp. 13594-13599. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1607810113

Regional asynchronicity in dairy production and processing in early farming communities of the northern Mediterranean. / Debono Spiteri, Cynthianne; Gillis, Rosalind E.; Roffet-Salque, Mélanie et al.
In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Vol. 113, No. 48, 29.11.2016, p. 13594-13599.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

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AU - Debono Spiteri, Cynthianne

AU - Gillis, Rosalind E.

AU - Roffet-Salque, Mélanie

AU - Castells Navarro, Laura

AU - Guilaine, Jean

AU - Manen, Claire

AU - Muntoni, Italo M.

AU - Saña Segui, Maria

AU - Urem-Kotsou, Dushka

AU - Whelton, Helen L.

AU - Craig, Oliver E.

AU - Vigne, Jean-Denis

AU - Evershed, Richard P.

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N2 - In the absence of any direct evidence, the relative importance of meat and dairy productions to Neolithic prehistoric Mediterranean communities has been extensively debated. Here, we combine lipid residue analysis of ceramic vessels with osteo-archaeological age-at-death analysis from 82 northern Mediterranean and Near Eastern sites dating from the seventh to fifth millennia BC to address this question. The findings show variable intensities in dairy and nondairy activities in the Mediterranean region with the slaughter profiles of domesticated ruminants mirroring the results of the organic residue analyses. The finding of milk residues in very early Neolithic pottery (seventh millennium BC) from both the east and west of the region contrasts with much lower intensities in sites of northern Greece, where pig bones are present in higher frequencies compared with other locations. In this region, the slaughter profiles of all domesticated ruminants suggest meat production predominated. Overall, it appears that milk or the by-products of milk was an important foodstuff, which may have contributed significantly to the spread of these cultural groups by providing a nourishing and sustainable product for early farming communities.

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KW - Archaeology

KW - Archaeozoology

KW - Lipid residue analyses

KW - Milk

KW - Neolithic

KW - History, Ancient

KW - Humans

KW - Milk/chemistry

KW - Animals, Domestic

KW - Dairying/history

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KW - Agriculture

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KW - Ruminants

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Debono Spiteri C, Gillis RE, Roffet-Salque M, Castells Navarro L, Guilaine J, Manen C et al. Regional asynchronicity in dairy production and processing in early farming communities of the northern Mediterranean. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 2016 Nov 29;113(48):13594-13599. Epub 2016 Nov 14. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1607810113

Regional asynchronicity in dairy production and processing in early farming communities of the northern Mediterranean

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

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Oliver Edward Craig

Cite this

Regional asynchronicity in dairy production and processing in early farming communities of the northern Mediterranean

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

Access to Document

Other files and links

Profiles

Oliver Edward Craig

Cite this