6533b821fe1ef96bd127af03

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Archaeology, chronology, and age-diet insights of two late fourth millennium cal BC pit graves from central southern Iberia (Córdoba, Spain)

subject

description

This study presents the isotopic ratios, radiocarbon datings, and anthropological analyses of five (N = 5) Early Copper Age individuals from two archaeological sites (Arruzafa and Iglesia Antigua de Alcolea) of the Middle Guadalquivir Valley near the city of Córdoba (Spain). Four had been buried in the same grave, possibly in a single event or in a very short time lapse. The collagen residue analyses of the individuals offer δC values ranging between −20.08 and −18.4 and δN values between 8.57 and 11.15. The findings indicate that the infant and the elderly had, respectively, the richest and poorest animal protein diets, the first likely as a result of nursing. The combined study of these five individuals offers an interesting approach to a small segment of population of the farming communities occupying this territory at the beginning of the Copper Age (3200–3000 cal BC).