1. Latitudinal gradient in dairy production with the introduction of farming in Atlantic Europe
- Author
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Denis Jan, Roberto Ontañon-Peredo, Pablo Arias, Sylvain Mazet, João Zilhão, Mariana Diniz, Laurent Juhel, Miriam Cubas, Arturo de Lombera-Hermida, Cyril Marcigny, Grégor Marchand, César Neves, Oliver E. Craig, Harry K. Robson, Xosé Pedro Rodríguez-Álvarez, Bruno Aubry, Cyrille Billard, Alexandre Lucquin, André Carlo Colonese, Cécile Germain-Vallée, T. Simões, Ricardo J. Fernandes, Ramón Fábregas Valcarce, Universidad de Cantabria, Repositório da Universidade de Lisboa, Departments of Archaeology [York] (BioArch), University of York [York, UK], Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Universidad de Cantabria [Santander], Institut national de recherches archéologiques préventives (Inrap), Service régional de l'archéologie de Normandie (SRA Normandie), Ministère de la Culture (MC), Centre de Recherche en Archéologie, Archéosciences, Histoire (CReAAH), Université de Nantes (UN)-Le Mans Université (UM)-Université de Rennes 2 (UR2), Université de Rennes (UNIV-RENNES)-Université de Rennes (UNIV-RENNES)-Université de Rennes 1 (UR1), Université de Rennes (UNIV-RENNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Ministère de la Culture (MC), Service départemental d'archéologie du Calvados, Conseil général du Calvados, Universidade de Lisboa (ULISBOA), UNIARQ, School of Archaeology [Oxford], University of Oxford [Oxford], Universidade de Santiago de Compostela [Spain] (USC ), Instituto Internacional de Investigaciones Prehistoricas de Cantabria, IPHES - Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social, Museu Arqueológico de São Miguel de Odrinhas, Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies, Le Mans Université (UM)-Université de Rennes 1 (UR1), Université de Rennes (UNIV-RENNES)-Université de Rennes (UNIV-RENNES)-Université de Rennes 2 (UR2), Université de Rennes (UNIV-RENNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Nantes - UFR Histoire, Histoire de l'Art et Archéologie (UFR HHAA), Université de Nantes (UN)-Université de Nantes (UN)-Ministère de la Culture (MC), Le Mans Université (UM)-Université de Rennes (UR)-Université de Rennes 2 (UR2)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Nantes - UFR Histoire, Histoire de l'Art et Archéologie (UFR HHAA), Universidade de Lisboa = University of Lisbon (ULISBOA), University of Oxford, Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social (IPHES), Nantes Université (NU)-Ministère de la Culture (MC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Rennes 1 (UR1), and Université de Rennes (UNIV-RENNES)-Le Mans Université (UM)
- Subjects
Ceramics ,010506 paleontology ,[SHS.ARCHEO]Humanities and Social Sciences/Archaeology and Prehistory ,Science ,General Physics and Astronomy ,01 natural sciences ,Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry ,Article ,General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology ,Indigenous ,Animals ,Humans ,0601 history and archaeology ,Animal Husbandry ,[SDV.BBM.BC]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Biochemistry, Molecular Biology/Biochemistry [q-bio.BM] ,Domestication ,lcsh:Science ,History, Ancient ,0105 earth and related environmental sciences ,Isotope analysis ,Carbon Isotopes ,Multidisciplinary ,Geography ,060102 archaeology ,Ecology ,business.industry ,Agriculture ,06 humanities and the arts ,General Chemistry ,Lipids ,Europe ,Dairying ,Lactase persistence ,Archaeology ,Anthropology ,lcsh:Q ,Dairy Products ,Pottery ,business ,[SDV.AEN]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Food and Nutrition - Abstract
The introduction of farming had far-reaching impacts on health, social structure and demography. Although the spread of domesticated plants and animals has been extensively tracked, it is unclear how these nascent economies developed within different environmental and cultural settings. Using molecular and isotopic analysis of lipids from pottery, here we investigate the foods prepared by the earliest farming communities of the European Atlantic seaboard. Surprisingly, we find an absence of aquatic foods, including in ceramics from coastal sites, except in the Western Baltic where this tradition continued from indigenous ceramic using hunter-gatherer-fishers. The frequency of dairy products in pottery increased as farming was progressively introduced along a northerly latitudinal gradient. This finding implies that early farming communities needed time to adapt their economic practices before expanding into more northerly areas. Latitudinal differences in the scale of dairy production might also have influenced the evolution of adult lactase persistence across Europe., The transition to agriculture brought major changes to human populations in Europe during the Neolithic period. Here, Cubas and colleagues analyse lipid residues from Neolithic pottery from along the Atlantic coast of Europe to trace the spread of dairy production and shifts in diet.
- Published
- 2020