0000000000115402
AUTHOR
Pablo García-borja
A combined dietary approach using isotope and dental buccal-microwear analysis of human remains from the Neolithic, Roman and Medieval periods from the archaeological site of Tossal de les Basses (Alicante, Spain)
Stable isotope and dental-microwear analysis are methods commonly used to reconstruct dietary habits in modern and ancient human populations. However, it is rare that they are both used together in the same study, and here both methods are combined to obtain information on human dietary habits from the site of Tossal de les Basses (Alicante, Spain) through time. Middle Neolithic, Late Roman and Medieval (Islamic) individuals have been analyzed for carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratios of bone collagen, as well as for buccal-dental microwear. Overall, δ13C and δ15N isotopic values show that for all periods the diet was mainly based on C3 terrestrial resources. However, the isotopic signa…
A Terrestrial Diet Close to the Coast: A Case Study from the Neolithic Levels of Nerja Cave (Málaga, Spain)
Here we present an evaluation of faunal studies and new isotopic results on human and faunal remains from the first farmers at Nerja Cave (Malaga, Spain), and assess the data obtained from a regional perspective and on the basis of the archaeological and archaeozoological context. The evidence shows that the Neolithic peoples who inhabited the cave had a mainly terrestrial diet, even if living on the coastline and in a region with a high marine productivity, as observed during previous periods at the same cave. This sharp dietary shift occurring at the onset of the Neolithic for this region supports the hypothesis that different modes of exploitation during distinct time periods are best ex…