New insights on Neolithic food and mobility patterns in Mediterranean coastal populations

Gwenaëlle Goude (1) , Domingo Salazar‐garcía , Robert Power , Maïté Rivollat (2) , Lionel Gourichon (3) , Marie‐france Deguilloux , Marie‐hélène Pemonge , Laurent Bouby (4) , Didier Binder (5)

1 LAMPEA - Laboratoire méditerranéen de préhistoire Europe-Afrique
2 PACEA - De la Préhistoire à l'Actuel : Culture, Environnement et Anthropologie
3 GReNES - Gestion des ressources naturelles , environnements et sociétés
4 UMR ISEM - Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution de Montpellier
5 CEPAM - Centre d'Études Préhistoire, Antiquité, Moyen-Age

Objectives: The aims of this research are to explore the diet, mobility, social organization , and environmental exploitation patterns of early Mediterranean farmers, particularly the role of marine and plant resources in these foodways. In addition, this work strives to document possible gendered patterns of behavior linked to the neolithization of this ecologically rich area. To achieve this, a set of multiproxy analyses (isotopic analyses, dental calculus, microremains analysis, ancient DNA) were performed on an exceptional deposit (n = 61) of human remains from the Les Bréguières site (France), dating to the transition of the sixth to the fifth millennium BCE. Materials and Methods: The samples used in this study were excavated from the Les Bréguières site (Mougins, Alpes-Maritimes, France), located along the southeastern Mediterranean coastline of France. Stable isotope analyses (C, N) on bone collagen (17 coxal bones, 35 craniofacial elements) were performed as a means to infer protein intake during tissue development. Sulfur isotope ratios were used as indicators of geographical and environmental points of origin. The study of ancient dental calculus helped document the consumption of plants. Strontium isotope analysis on tooth enamel (n = 56) was conducted to infer human provenance and territorial mobility. Finally, ancient DNA analysis was performed to study maternal versus paternal diversity within this Neolithic group (n = 30). Results: Stable isotope ratios for human bones range from −20.3 to −18.1‰ for C, from 8.9 to 11.1‰ for N and from 6.4 to 15‰ for S. Domestic animal data range

Domaines: Sciences de l'Homme et Société; Anthropologie biologique; Archéologie et Préhistoire

Gwenaëlle Goude, Domingo Salazar‐garcía, Robert Power, Maïté Rivollat, Lionel Gourichon, et al.. New insights on Neolithic food and mobility patterns in Mediterranean coastal populations. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 2020, ⟨10.1002/ajpa.24089⟩. ⟨hal-02874873⟩