Abstract
This work focuses on reconstructing past diets and animal management during Prehistory in Central Northern Spain, spanning the NE area of the Old Castilian Plateau to the Cantabrian coast, from c. 3000–1500 BCE. During this time, early farming communities made changes in their models of production and social reproduction that crystallised in the emergence of social complexity. To investigate these changes, we reconstructed the past diet of these early farming populations by using stable isotope analysis (δ13C, δ15N, δ34S) of human and animal remains from the recently excavated sites of Abrigo de la Castanera in Cantabria and Arroyal I, El Hornazo, Fuente Celada and Ferrocarril-La Dehesa in Burgos. The human remains derived from a range of burial contexts including pit graves, megalithic monuments and burial caves. To provide initial insights into animal management during this timeframe, associated faunal remains were also studied as a baseline. In total, 52 samples were analysed, including 17 human burials and 35 animal specimens (cattle, sheep, pig, red deer and dog). Results show that humans in these sites consumed relatively similar diets, comprising of a predominantly C3 diet including animal protein. Animal management patterns indicate a wider use of the landscape for herbivore grazing. The differing diets of dogs at El Hornazo provide insights into the relationship that they had with humans and tentatively suggests differences in the diet of working animals versus household pets. The δ34S values of two individuals from Arroyal I indicate that they came from different regions, implying a level of inland mobility during the Chalcolithic.
Highlights
The arrival of agriculture and livestock to the Iberian Peninsula promoted changes in social and economic structures (Rojo Guerra et al 2012)
The human stable isotope values from Arroyal I (n = 9) form a main cluster of individuals dated to the Late Neolithic, Chalcolithic and Beaker period, with δ13C values ranging between − 19.3‰ and − 19.7‰, and δ15N values ranging between 9.2 and 10.9‰ (Fig. 2; Fig. 3)
This study has provided valuable insights into the economy, animal management and mobility of early farmers of the Northern Spain Plateau, a region which has received little attention so far
Summary
The arrival of agriculture and livestock to the Iberian Peninsula promoted changes in social and economic structures (Rojo Guerra et al 2012). The new species and products were linked to a dramatic change in economy that, unlike hunting and gathering, required long-term planning and investment in the production of food, with deferred results (Vicent 1990, 1998) and gave rise to a new type of people; farmers These new agricultural economies needed specific requirements to be able to thrive (e.g. political control over territory, agrarian capital, storage of goods, long-term management of resources). The current paradigm, accepted by most scholars (see Bernabeu 2003; Delibes de Castro and Fernández Manzano 2000; Díaz del Rio 2006) is that, such socio-economic political differences began to become visible in the interior and North of the Iberian Peninsula during Chalcolithic Little is currently known about the diet and economy of these past populations
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