Early evidence of sheep lambing de-seasoning in the Western Mediterranean in the sixth millennium BCE

Carlos Tornero,Denis Fiorillo,Jean Guilaine,Stéphanie Bréhard,Marie Balasse,Claire Manen,Isabelle Carrère,Jean-Denis Vigne

doi:10.1038/s41598-020-69576-w

Abstract

Today, sheep farmers in the Western Mediterranean de-season their ewes to achieve autumnal births. This strategy contrasts sharply with spring lambing further north, and provides benefits in terms of out-of-season availability of animal products. These competences are closely linked to specific sheep physiology and favorable Western Mediterranean climatic conditions. It is not known exactly how far back in the past the ability to de-season Mediterranean sheep breeds extends. This study shows that this practice existed seven millennia ago in Southern France, at an early stage of the major agricultural expansion of the Neolithic into the Western Mediterranean. To achieve this reproductive management regime, three prerequisites were required: (i) the ability of sheep to give birth in autumn, constituting early evidence for the genetic selection of specimens with prolonged reproductive fertility; (ii) intentional management of female and male interactions within the herd, which would have required good knowledge of the timing of the fertility cycle in ewes, and; (iii) adequate pasture resources to support lactation in the autumn, possibly favored by autumnal rains, substantiating previous paleoclimatological data for the existence of a Mediterranean-type precipitation regime at that time. Moreover, we also show that winter foddering of sheep occurred, using forest resources, and that this maintained good body weights for spring mating. These findings add pivotal information about shepherding practices and the socio-economic abilities of Early Neolithic communities, which allowed for the extension of their areas of influence from the Eastern Mediterranean area to the West during the Early Neolithic agricultural expansion in Europe.

Highlights

After the initial domestication of sheep in Southeast Anatolia c. 8,500 cal BCE1, domestic lineages (Ovis aries, L. 1758) were introduced into Europe as part of the wave of agricultural population dispersal during the Early Neolithic towards the west and north of Europe, between 6,800 and 3,500 cal B CE2,3
The present study investigates how early sheep husbandry systems with autumnal lambing may have been in place in the Western Mediterranean, focusing on two sites from the Early Neolithic Cardial/Epicardial complex in Southern France: Taï (Remoulins) and Gazel (Sallèles-Cabardès)[31,32]
(i), they relate to animal physiology, as they demonstrate the capacity of Early Neolithic sheep from Southern France to give birth in autumn, at a time of year currently considered to be “off-season” i.e., contrasting sharply with the general pattern of spring lambing at higher latitudes in Europe

Summary

Introduction

After the initial domestication of sheep in Southeast Anatolia c. 8,500 cal BCE1, domestic lineages (Ovis aries, L. 1758) were introduced into Europe as part of the wave of agricultural population dispersal during the Early Neolithic towards the west and north of Europe, between 6,800 and 3,500 cal B CE2,3. A strong identity of farming practices in the Mediterranean margins of France and Spain is defined by sheep husbandry systems with autumnal lambing as the main lambing s eason[8,9,10], a certain variability exists in the lambing season according to the characteristics of the herds, the type of production and the practice or not of transhumance Most importantly, in this area, the autumnal lambing is practiced without artificial manipulation involving light or hormonal treatments. Most authors previously accepted a relatively recent date of around 2,500 cal B CE21,22 for the establishment of the present-day Mediterranean climate, pollen-based quantitative estimates of seasonal precipitation from the Central Mediterranean (Lake Accesa, central Italy) have highlighted the existence of a seasonal Mediterranean precipitation pattern, with summer droughts and maximum rains in the autumn/winter during the Holocene optimum (7,500–5,800 cal BCE)[19] This optimum period was followed by a phase of gradual aridification, with a progressive decline in winter precipitation, culminating around 3,000 cal B CE19. It can be hypothesized that forests potentially provided resources to complement the sheep diet during winter

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