Sarah B. McClure

AEA 2012 Conference Reading: Socioecological dynamics at the time of Neolithic transition in Iberia

Abstract The Western Mediterranean, spanning southern Italy to Portugal, can be considered a single archaeological unit where the diagnostic characteristics of Early Neolithic contexts share common elements, marked by the spread of Cardium-Impressed ceramics. Although some consensus exists regarding the origin of these wares in southern Italy, the debate surrounding its process of expansion to the west remains open. Iberia is a key region for the analysis of the neolithisation process due to its location at the end of the Neolithic Mediterranean expansion. This view includes the problems linked with the mechanism of this spread and the evolutionary dynamics of the early agricultural societies. Our goals are to evaluate the rich archaeological and palaeoenvironmental database produced by recent decades of research in this area in order to address issues related to the Neolithic Transition. We especially deal with the role played by climatic events in the observed dynamics of the last Mesolithic and the Early Neolithic (ca. 8500–6900 cal BP).

Human Behavioral Ecology and Climate Change during the Transition to Agriculture in Valencia, Eastern Spain

Using the behavioral ecological model of ideal free distribution (IFD), McClure, Jochim, and Barton (2006) identified the tight linkage between agricultural subsistence strategies, herd management, and long-term dynamics of human land use. Missing from their discussion, however, was placing these changes into a broader environmental context. The IFD provides a useful heuristic device to illustrate cost-benefit decisions within a spatial context. This paper compares the previous interpretations of land use during the Neolithic with climatic data from the Holocene. Two main arid periods have been identified during the early and middle Holocene that correspond chronologically to Neolithic cultural horizons. Climate models recently generated for the area further suggest shifts in precipitation cycles may have exacerbated the impacts of broader climatic fluctuations on agricultural production.

AMS Dating of Human Bone from Cova de la Pastora: New Evidence of Ritual Continuity in the Prehistory of Eastern Spain

We present the results of 10 AMS radiocarbon dates for Cova de la Pastora (Alcoi, Alicante), a burial cave attributed to the Late Neolithic/Chalcolithic in eastern Spain. The direct dating of 10 human mandibles from Cova de la Pastora indicates that the cave was used as a burial place from the Late Neolithic/Chalcolithic to the Bronze Age. These dates reveal a continuity of ritual use not previously identified at the site. This case also serves to highlight the utility of revisiting historic excavations and museum collections with modern techniques to shed new light on the prehistoric human record.

Gender, Technology, and Evolution: Cultural Inheritance Theory and Prehistoric Potters in Valencia, Spain

In this paper I explore the potential of cultural inheritance theory to address the specific social contexts of craft production in prehistoric societies. Proponents of agency theory have criticized the “techno-science” approach of scholars working with other theoretical paradigms and their unwillingness or inability to focus on human behavior instead of material remains. By emphasizing the social and contextual nature of technological practices, the critique has successfully high-lighted the need to engender prehistoric technological practices. Cultural inheritance theory, one of several complementary currents in evolutionary archaeology, is particularly well suited to identify specific social contexts of craft production and provides a well-grounded framework for engendering prehistoric technological practices. Neolithic ceramic technology from Valencia, Spain provides a case study.

Neolithic animal management practices and stable isotope studies in the Adriatic

Abstract We examine bone samples of known domesticates (sheep, goat, cattle and pig) from five open-air village sites spanning most of the Neolithic period in Dalmatia, Croatia (cal 6000–4700 BC) to characterise diets of domestic animals and address questions of the origin and development of animal husbandry strategies in early farming communities. Carbon and nitrogen stable isotope values are analysed as proxies of diet and local environment that may indicate differences in herding and management practices between domesticated species. Results are compared to those reported for faunal remains found at other Neolithic sites from coastal Croatia and the wider Adriatic region. We find that isotopic values remain stable for cattle and ovicaprids during most of the Neolithic, suggesting that husbandry of these species remained fundamentally the same throughout the period in much of the Adriatic. However, temporal differences identified among pigs indicate changes in associated management practices through time, and may be a result of different foddering practices.

Holocene vegetation dynamics in Mediterranean Iberia: historical contingency and climate-human interactions

In this paper we illustrate how different internal and external forcings conditioned postglacial vegetation in southern Mediterranean areas. By comparing seven Holocene sequences, we emphasize the role of glacial refugia as postglacial vegetation dispersal centers. We also identify the importance of the systems inertia in the time lags observed for vegetation response to climate change and human pressure. Finally, we explore the cascade of effects triggered by the human-climate interface, specifically the vegetation and the environmental feedbacks implicated in the collapse of the Argaric culture that emerged in arid southeastern Spain about 4,000 years before the present.

Los Cerritos: an early fishing-farming community on the Pacific Coast of Mexico

Recent excavations at Los Cerritos, an earthen mound site on the Pacific Coast of Mexico, provide evidence for a sedentary fishing-farming community dating to the Early Formative period (3500-2800 cal BP). The site is one of nine known earthen mounds dated to this period within or near the present-day coastal wetlands surrounding the Acapetahua Estuary (FIGuRE 1). Similar sites are found in wetland contexts elsewhere in Mexico, particularly the Mazatan region (Clark 1994), and along the coast of Guatemala (Coe & Flannery 1967). In the Mazatdn region, sites in these wetland contexts are smaller than contemporary settlements in the interior and ceramic assemblages are dominated by globular gourdshaped vessels known locally as tecomates. Based on this, some archaeologists have hypothesized that they were seasonally occupied encampments used for collecting and processing estuarine resources (Lesure 1993). Our work on the Early Formative period occurs in the context of a long-term research programme focused on a series of Archaic Period shellmounds in the wetlands of the Acapetahua region (7500-3500, Voorhies et al. in press). This research suggests that they were special-purpose locations used to collect and process estuarine resources, an interpretation based on the absence of domestic features, low tool diversity, faunal assemblages dominated by shellfish and a distinctive stratigraphy characterized by alternating beds of burned and unburned shell. The excavations at Los Cerritos provide our first glimpse of the subsequent Early Formative period in the region. The site is a small earthen mound (0-25 ha) rising approximately 2-5 m above the natural ground surface. It is surrounded by mangrove forest on all sides (FIGURE 2), but is visible in aerial photos as a small lobe extending into the northern side of the Los Cerritos Lagoon. Intact sub-surface midden deposits were identified with auger probes, and excavation units (2x2 m) were placed in two promising areas of the site (FIGURE 3; A & B). Domestic features (floors, hearths and pits) were discovered in both areas, but the deposits were particularly well preserved in area B, where a series of living surfaces was associated with high concentrations of domestic refuse (FIGURE 4). Similar to other Early Formative sites on the Pacific Coast, tecomates with red-slipped rims were common, but highly decorated bowls were also present in lower frequencies. Obsidian flakes and cores, representing a relatively simple bipolar flake tool industry, were also present. Pottery from the site has been provisionally identified to the Cherla phase of the Early Formative, and a series of radiocarbon dates indicate occupation at the site from 3400 to 3100 cal BP. Faunal and floral remains from the site suggest a broad-based economy combining maize John Jones pers. comm.) with animal resources from the wetland environment. Shellfish from the adjacent shallow water lagoon were present but not abundant as in the nearby Archaic shellmounds. However, other resources from the upper estuary (e.g. fish) dominate the faunal assemblage. Preliminary oxygen isotopic seasonality data indicate that shellfish were collected throughout the year. Combined with evidence for substantial domestic features and diverse economic pursuits, the current evidence suggests that Los Cerritos was a relatively stable, sedentary fishing-farming community. This represents a fundamental departure from the logistical use of estuarine resources evident during the Archaic period. The broad-spectrum economic pursuits evident at Los Cerritos, however, can easily be interpreted as an outgrowth of subsistence strategies practiced in the area for thousands of years.

Local Actions in Global Context: The Pleistocene-Holocene Transition in Iberia

The transition from Pleistocene to Holocene remodeled the world in ways strikingly similar to those noted by the frameworks convention for the Kyoto Protocol on global climate change. Hunter-gatherer and early agricultural economies balanced local variables with global environmental change. Iberia is a natural laboratory for understanding these processes. From demographic shifts in the Cantabrian refugium to relative constancy in the Mediterranean region, it is a crossroads where widespread European influences overlapped distinctive Iberian traditions. The introduction of agriculture further diversified the patchwork of subsistence strategies. Adaptation to the Holocene in Iberia forms a baseline for understanding the social and economic dynamics of local human response to global climate change.

Farming with Animals: Domesticated Animals and Taxonomic Diversity in the Cardial Neolithic of the Western Mediterranean

The spread of farming into the Western Mediterranean is characterized by the appearance of domesticated plants and animals. This chapter summarizes the evidence for domesticated animals (cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, dogs) in the Cardial Neolithic of the Western Mediterranean. The management of these animals is tightly linked to economic, cultural, ecological, and spatial factors, and a variety of data sets such as herd composition, stable isotopic analyses, and culling practices are invoked to determine management strategies. However, the extent of data sets in the region varies, and interpretations span from small-scale household use to more spatially extensive transhumance practices. Comparability is limited due to contextual heterogeneity of samples (e.g., open-air villages or cave/rock shelter sites), differences in analytical procedures and reporting traditions, variation in sample sizes, and issues of taphonomy, chronological resolution, and final interpretations. This summary highlights some of the fundamental issues in assessing domesticated animal management and critically discusses our current understanding of domesticated animal use among the first farmers of the Western Mediterranean.

Fatty acid specific δ13C values reveal earliest Mediterranean cheese production 7,200 years ago

The earliest evidence for cheese production in the Mediterranean is revealed by stable carbon isotope analyses of individual fatty acids in pottery residues from the Dalmatian coast of Croatia. Lipid residue data indicate the presence of milk in the earliest pottery, Impressed Ware, by 5700 cal. BCE (7700 BP). In contrast, by 5200 cal BCE (7200 BP), milk was common in refined Figulina pottery, meat was mostly associated with Danilo ware, cheese occurred in Rhyta, and sieves contained fermented dairy, representing strong links between specific function and stylistically distinctive pottery vessels. Genetic data indicate the prevalence of lactose intolerance among early farming populations. However, young children are lactase persistent until after weaning and could consume milk as a relatively pathogen-free and nutrient rich food source, enhancing their chances of survival into adulthood. Fermentation of milk into yogurt and cheese decreases lactose content. The evidence for fermented dairy products by 5200 cal BCE indicates a larger proportion of the population was able to consume dairy products and benefit from their significant nutritional advantages. We suggest that milk and cheese production among Europe’s early farmers reduced infant mortality and helped stimulate demographic shifts that propelled farming communities to expand to northern latitudes.