Kurt J. Gron

Carbon and nitrogen stable isotope values in freshwater, brackish and marine fish bone collagen from Mesolithic and Neolithic sites in central and northern Europe

The aim of this research is to examine the isotopic characterisation of archaeological fish species as it relates to freshwater, brackish and marine environments, trophic level and migration patterns, and to determine intraspecies variation within and between fish populations in different locations within central and northern Europe. Carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analysis was undertaken on collagen extracted from 72 fish bone samples from eight Mesolithic and Neolithic archaeological sites in this region. Thirty-six (50%) of the specimens analysed produced results with acceptable carbon to nitrogen atomic ratios (2·9–3·6). The fish remains encompassed a wide spectrum of freshwater, brackish and marine taxa (n = 12), which were reflected in the δ13C values (−24·5 to −7·8‰). The freshwater/brackish fish (pike, Esox lucius; perch, Perca fluviatilis; zander, Sander lucioperca) had δ13C values that ranged from −24·2 to −19·3‰, whereas the brackish/marine fish (spurdog, Squalus acanthias; flatfish, Pleuronectidae; codfish, Gadidae; garfish, Belone belone; mackerel, Scomber scombrus) ranged from −14·9 to −9·4‰. Salmonidae, an anadromous taxon, and eel (Anguilla anguilla), a catadromous species, had carbon isotope values consistent with marine origin, and no evidence of freshwater residency (−12·7 to −11·7‰). The δ15N values had a range of 6·2‰ (6·5–12·7‰) indicating that these fish were on average feeding at 1·7 trophic levels higher than their producers in these diverse aquatic environments. These results serve as an important ecological baseline for the future isotopic reconstruction of the diet of human populations dating to the late Mesolithic and early Neolithic of the region.

Cattle Management for Dairying in Scandinavia’s Earliest Neolithic

New evidence for cattle husbandry practices during the earliest period of the southern Scandinavian Neolithic indicates multiple birth seasons and dairying from its start. Sequential sampling of tooth enamel carbonate carbon and oxygen isotope ratio analyses and strontium isotopic provenancing indicate more than one season of birth in locally reared cattle at the earliest Neolithic Funnel Beaker (EN I TRB, 3950-3500 cal. B.C.) site of Almhov in Scania, Sweden. The main purpose for which cattle are manipulated to give birth in more than one season is to prolong lactation for the production of milk and dairy-based products. As this is a difficult, intensive, and time-consuming strategy, these data demonstrate complex farming practices by early Neolithic farmers. This result offers strong support for immigration-based explanations of agricultural origins in southern Scandinavia on the grounds that such a specialised skill set cannot represent the piecemeal incorporation of agricultural techniques into an existing hunter-gatherer-fisher economy.

Flexibility and diversity in subsistence during the late Mesolithic: faunal evidence from Asnæs Havnemark

In 2007, excavations at the late Mesolithic (Ertebølle) coastal site of Asnæs Havnemark recovered a wealth of flint, bone, and ceramic artefacts. A comprehensive analysis of the faunal remains resulted in over 50,000 identified specimens. Roe deer and gadids predominate, but there are a wide variety of other species represented. Stable isotope analyses of dog bones point to the importance of marine resources. Oxygen isotope analyses of otoliths indicate that fishing was conducted in multiple seasons of the year. Comparison with other late Mesolithic sites demonstrates that while generally the same species of animals were exploited everywhere, there are major differences in the relative abundances of species. The broad subsistence base available and flexibility in how it was exploited weaken arguments for a subsistence crisis brought on by environmental stresses as the causal mechanism for the adoption of domesticated plants and animals at the onset of the Neolithic.

Herbivore diets and the anthropogenic environment of early farming in southern Scandinavia

Farming practice in the first period of the southern Scandinavian Neolithic (Early Neolithic I, Funnel Beaker Culture, 3950–3500 cal. BC) is not well understood. Despite the presence of the first farmers and their domesticated plants and animals, little evidence of profound changes to the landscape such as widespread deforestation has emerged from this crucial early period. Bone collagen dietary stable isotope ratios of wild herbivores from southern Scandinavia are here analysed in order to determine the expected range of dietary variation across the landscape. Coupled with previously published isotope data, differences in dietary variation between wild and domestic species indicate strong human influence on the choice and creation of feeding environments for cattle. In context with palynological and zooarchaeological data, we demonstrate that a human-built agricultural environment was present from the outset of farming in the region, and such a pattern is consistent with the process by which expansion agriculture moves into previously unfarmed regions.

Sex determination of human remains from peptides in tooth enamel

Significance The ability to assign biological sex to human skeletal remains is a fundamental requirement in archaeology, paleoanthropology, and medico-legal sciences. While DNA sequencing can be used, it is expensive, time-consuming, and often fails due to the poor quality of the remaining DNA. An easier, more reliable, and consistently applicable method is needed. We present a method for sex determination of human remains using peptides retrieved from tooth enamel. Amelogenin is an enamel-forming protein encoded for by both chromosomes X and Y, with slight differences in their amino acid sequences. Peptides with these differences were identified by nanoflow liquid chromatography mass spectrometry and found to correctly assign sex to archaeological human remains of various chronological ages, from hundreds to thousands of years old. The assignment of biological sex to archaeological human skeletons is a fundamental requirement for the reconstruction of the human past. It is conventionally and routinely performed on adults using metric analysis and morphological traits arising from postpubertal sexual dimorphism. A maximum accuracy of ∼95% is possible if both the cranium and os coxae are present and intact, but this is seldom achievable for all skeletons. Furthermore, for infants and juveniles, there are no reliable morphological methods for sex determination without resorting to DNA analysis, which requires good DNA survival and is time-consuming. Consequently, sex determination of juvenile remains is rarely undertaken, and a dependable and expedient method that can correctly assign biological sex to human remains of any age is highly desirable. Here we present a method for sex determination of human remains by means of a minimally destructive surface acid etching of tooth enamel and subsequent identification of sex chromosome-linked isoforms of amelogenin, an enamel-forming protein, by nanoflow liquid chromatography mass spectrometry. Tooth enamel is the hardest tissue in the human body and survives burial exceptionally well, even when the rest of the skeleton or DNA in the organic fraction has decayed. Our method can reliably determine the biological sex of humans of any age using a body tissue that is difficult to cross-contaminate and is most likely to survive. The application of this method will make sex determination of adults and, for the first time, juveniles a reliable and routine activity in future bioarcheological and medico-legal science contexts.

Environmental Archaeology in Southern Scandinavia

Environmental archaeology was first developed in southern Scandinavia and has a longer history there than anywhere else. We argue that environmental archaeology has always been a central aspect of archaeology as a whole, not a subsidiary sub-specialisation. Major archaeological theories are often based on the findings of environmental archaeology, and in this chapter we take the perspective of its application to the question of agricultural origins in Scandinavia. To do so, we review its early history, starting with J.J.S. Steenstrup’s work on the stratigraphy of peat bogs in 1842 and the subsequent identification of shell middens as human habitation sites by him and J.J.A. Worsaae. By the mid-twentieth century, environmental archaeologists such as Johannes Iversen and Jorgen Troels-Smith were setting much of the archaeological agenda, and their results were central to archaeological interpretations all over Europe. In recent decades environmental archaeology has expanded hugely. We review recent developments including major regional projects, archaeological chemistry and diet, ancient DNA, ecosystem modelling, and the results from recent zooarchaeology and archaeobotany. There remain many lacunae in our knowledge, but the capacity of environmental archaeology to examine topics both broadly and in close detail means that it remains central to our understanding of the lives of prehistoric people.

Aurochs hunters : the large animal bones from Blick Mead.

The site of Blick Mead has attracted an unusual degree of interest. In addition to its intrinsic importance as a Mesolithic site, its location less than two kilometres east of Stonehenge and its temporal overlap with the massive Mesolithic posts in the Stonehenge carpark mean that it is the earliest settlement site in the region of the monument (e.g. Parker-Pearson et al. 2015). The site has provided an animal bone sample of modest size but great importance. Faunal remains reveal much about the socio-economic basis and cultural practices of their time. Very few Mesolithic faunal assemblages are known from Britain, so any new discovery greatly advances our understanding of the period. In the following report we do two things. First, we present a zooarchaeological analysis of the material; the most remarkable aspect of this is the high proportion of aurochs (Bos primigenius), so far unequalled at any other Mesolithic site in Britain and the near continent. Second, we present a stable isotopic analysis of aurochs teeth. We thus aim not only to get a better understanding of the site and its inhabitants, but also of the life of the extinct ancestor of modern domestic cattle, by focusing on their diet and migratory habits. The current excavations at Blick Mead began in 2005. Mesolithic remains have been discovered in Trenches 19, 22 and 23. The assemblages of struck flint and burnt stone are considerably larger than those at most other Mesolithic sites in Britain (Jacques, this volume), and indicate a substantial Mesolithic occupation at the site. The quantity of flint suggests that this was a home-base used over many years. The radiocarbon dates from six animal bone and tooth enamel fragments, which span the period between 7596-7542 cal BC and 4846-4695 cal BC, reinforce the suggestion that the site marks a ’persistent place’ in the landscape (Jacques, this volume). Parts of this assemblage were initially examined, and its importance understood, by the late Tony Legge. We dedicate this study to his memory.

Cultural and economic negotiation: a new perspective on the Neolithic Transition of Southern Scandinavia

The diversity of archaeological evidence for the adoption of farming in Northern Europe has led to competing hypotheses about this critical shift in subsistence strategy. Through a review of the archaeological material alongside ethnographic evidence, we reconsider the Neolithic Transition in Southern Scandinavia, and argue for both continuity and change during the early Funnel Beaker Culture (c. 4000–3500 cal BC). A new model is proposed for understanding the processes of regional transition—one which allows for compromise between the dominant explanatory frameworks. We conclude that the first centuries of the Scandinavian Neolithic saw cultural and economic negotiation between the last foragers and the first farmers. This has major implications for the understanding of agricultural origins in Northern Europe.