First high mountain settlers at the start of the Neolithic already engaged in other livestock activities apart from transhumance - Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona - UAB Barcelona
Figure 1. Location of Coro Trasito cave (Huesca, Spain).
There is no let up for Creationists this week as science continues to reveal facts about the world that casually refute creationism, utterly and irredeemably. Their only hope is for a couple of day's respite over the holiday period when there will be few new science papers published, but we can be sure the onslaught will continue in the New Year.
One of today's clutch shows that there were people living in a cave in the Pyrenees who were practicing animal husbandry before, during and after the mythical genocidal flood. Perhaps someone forgot to tell them that they should all be drowing as the flood waters covered their mountain homes and killed all their livestock.
Curiously, the predicted layer of silt containing a jumble of fossils from disconnected landmasses, which would inevitably result from such a flood, failed to materialise and miraculously, the flood waters failed to wash away the evidence of these farmers' existence. Nor is there any evidence of an abrupt change of culture as the exterminated inhabitants of this cave were replaced by later immigrants from the Middle East.
The Pyrenees is a mountain barrier between the Iberian Peninsula and the rest of Europe. It's not particularly high as mountain ranges go, the highest peak being Pic Aneto, at 3404 metres (a little under 11,200 feet). According to the genocidal flood account in the Bible, however, this peak was under water to a depth sufficient to cover Mount Everest under 15 cubits of water (about 30 feet), so the flood would have been about 29,030 feet deep, covering the tallest peak in the Pyrenees by about 27,000 feet.
Sadly for the Bible narrative, however, archaeologists from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) Archaeozoology Laboratory and the High Mountain Archaeology Group, have shown that from the Early Neolithic (about 7,000 years ago) humans had moved into the Huescan Pyrenees and had taken a number of domesticated animals with them, including cows, goats, sheep and pigs (Bos taurus, Capra hircus, Ovis aries and Sus domesticus). The archaeologists have published their findings, open-access, in the journal Frontiers in Environmental Archaeology. Their research and its significance are explained in a UAB news release:
An archaeological find in the Huescan Pyrenees allowed researchers to identify for the first time livestock management strategies and feeding practices which demonstrate how the first high mountain societies, at the start of the Neolithic period, were already carrying out complex livestock and farming activities, instead of being limited to the transhumance of sheep and goats. The study has been the first to combine carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analysis with archaeozoological analyses. The study, coordinated by the UAB and including the involvement of the CSIC, the University of Évora and the Government of Aragon, also documented how the economic importance of pigs in the Huescan region dates back to the Neolithic.
The research on management strategies and use of animal resources in high mountain areas during the Early Neolithic, approximately 6,500 to 7,500 years ago, was conditioned by the presumption that human occupancy of these regions were mainly seasonal and that economic practices focused greatly on making use of wild resources. With regards to livestock rearing, the role of sheep and goat transhumance in high mountain areas has stood out traditionally, while only a marginal role has been given to other livestock activities, in which the temporary maintenance of these animal flocks has been highlighted.
Researchers from the Archaeozoology Laboratory and the High Mountain Archaeology Group of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), the University of Évora (HERCULES Laboratory), the Milà i Fontanals Institution-CSIC and the General Directorate of Cultural Heritage of the Government of Aragon, have now for the first time managed to characterise the livestock practices and feeding strategies of domesticated animals in high mountain regions during the Early Neolithic, specifically in the archaeological site of Coro Trasito, located in the region of Sobrarbe, Aragon. Their research has yielded new elements to be used in the study of the complexity of neolithisation processes in the Central Pyrenees.
The study conducted by the research team focused on assessing animal ecology, livestock management strategies and feeding practices implemented by the first societies settling in high mountain regions (over 1,500 metres above sea level). To do so, the team became the first to apply to high mountain contexts a combination of analysis of stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes in bone collagen - the study of these two isotopes can be used to determine the diet and the position in the food chain of the animals - and the archaeozoological analysis of the remains of animals from that period. Thanks to this combination, researchers were able to document that management and feeding strategies differed among flocks.
The results obtained showed that flocks belonging to these first settlers were small and formed by a few number of each species: cows, goats, sheep and pigs (Bos taurus, Capra hircus, Ovis aries and Sus domesticus), and were mainly used for their meat and milk production. In addition, researchers were able to document the rise in the economic importance of pigs (Sus domesticus) during the Neolithic.
The presence in some of the cases studied of different ways of managing the feeding of animals, with access to different pastures and the possible provision of forage, mainly from surplus agricultural products, shows that livestock practices developed at the Coro Trasito site were consolidated practices at the start of the Neolithic and related to agricultural practices. The study also demonstrates how flocks were adapted to the environmental conditions of the cave.
The results of the archaeozoological, isotopic and archaeological analyses reveal that the inhabitants of the Coro Trasito cave made use mainly of domestic resources. In addition, the presence of transformation activities related to dairy products and fat, as well as the existence of storage structures within the cave, point to the complexity of neolithisation processes in the Central Pyrenees and how these areas were rapidly integrated into an even wider and more complex economic system.
When was the Neolithic in Europe? The Neolithic period in Europe is generally considered to have started around 7000 BCE and lasted until around 1700 BCE. However, these dates can vary depending on the specific region within Europe, as different areas adopted agriculture and settled life at different times. The Neolithic period in Europe is characterized by the shift from a hunter-gatherer lifestyle to settled agriculture, the domestication of plants and animals, the development of pottery, and the emergence of more complex social structures. It marked a significant transition in human history as communities began to engage in agriculture and animal husbandry, leading to the establishment of permanent settlements.Technical details are given in the team's published paper:
Research on animal management strategies in high mountain areas during the early Neolithic (5,700–4,500 cal BC) has been conditioned by the presumption that human occupations in highland areas had a prominent seasonal character and the economic practices focused mainly on the exploitation of wild resources. The results obtained in the framework of research developed recently on settlement dynamics during the early Neolithic in the highland areas indicate the existence of relatively permanent occupations and the exploitation of domestic resources. Regarding livestock, the role of caprine transhumance in highland areas has been highlighted traditionally, conferring a marginal role to husbandry activities and emphasizing principally the temporary maintenance of herds of sheep and goats. In this study, we use the archaeozoological data and δ13C and δ15N stable isotopes composition of the faunal bones collagen to characterize the husbandry practices in Coro Trasito cave (Huesca, Spain). The results obtained demonstrated the presence of diverse herd foddering strategies within husbandry practices characterized by taxonomic diversity and multipurpose exploitation suggests that during the Neolithic, Coro Trasito cave played a more complex role than sheepfold. Moreover, the presence of the four main domestic species indicates the adaptation of herds of Coro Trasito to the cave environment, flocks with diverse dietary needs and reproductive behaviors. The results are discussed with an integrated analysis of the data related to animal management strategies in highland areas (more than 1,500 m. asl) during the early Neolithic, in particular in the central Pyrenees area. This study offers new elements to study the complexity of neolithization processes in the central Pyrenees and how these areas were quickly integrated into a broader economic system.As with so many other cultures which existed at the time the Bible tale of the genocidal flood was set, the authors were completely unaware of them and the fact that they had an unbroken history going back sometimes thousands of years before the global genocide. The problem was that the authors were only aware of a small fragment of an Earth that they thought was small and flat, and were unaware of any history of life on Earth, or its geology and geography, so, to them there was no contradiction in transforming a local Mesopotamian flood legend into a global genocide by an irascible tyrant that resembled a local warlord.
- Introduction
The study of animal management strategies in high mountain regions of the Iberian Peninsula during the Early Neolithic (c. 5,700–4,500 cal BC) has been influenced by the assumption that settlements in these areas were primarily seasonal. This assumption has linked the settlements to pastoral or transhumant activities from the beginning of the Neolithic, emphasizing the role of caprine transhumance in highland areas (Martín et al., 2010; Rojo-Guerra et al., 2013, 2014; Lancelotti et al., 2014.1; Tornero et al., 2018; Tejedor-Rodríguez et al., 2021). However, new research as well as the discovery of new archaeological sites have revealed a wide range of situations, evidencing many complex mixed farming models involving interactions between plant and animal herding (Ebersbach, 2010.1; Antolín et al., 2018.1; Villalba-Mouco et al., 2018.2; Sierra et al., 2019; Gassiot et al., 2021.1, 2022). In Iberian Pyrenees, Antolín et al. (2018.1) demonstrate that the settlement dynamics during the Early Neolithic could have been characterized by relatively permanent occupations and the exploitation of domestic resources. Clear evidence of permanent activity at the mountain sites would include agriculture practices, along with other practices linked to medium-to-long-term strategies, such as the storage of plant-based products (Antolín et al., 2017). Regarding livestock, the presence of the four main domestic species (Bos taurus, Sus domesticus, Ovis aries, and Capra hircus) has been evidenced in the archaeological sites located above 900 m in the Iberian Pyrenees during the Neolithic (with the exception of the Zatoya site: Antolín et al., 2018.1, p. 88). In the sites where domesticates have been identified, various uses and exploitations of these animals have also been documented (Viñerta, 2015; Antolín et al., 2018.1; Sierra et al., 2019; Viñerta and Saña, 2019.1).
Recent research about the Neolithisation process and the socioeconomic dynamics trends of the Neolithic in the central Pyrenees has revealed livestock management practices in the surrounding areas of the Neolithic settlements documented at altitudes ranging from 1,400 to 1,800 m asl (Clemente-Conte et al., 2014.2; Antolín et al., 2018.1; Gassiot et al., 2018.3, 2022; Obea et al., 2021.2). Sites such as Coro Trasito cave, Cueva Lóbrica, Els Trocs, and Cova del Sardo demonstrate well-established human communities engaged in agricultural and husbandry activities by the end of the sixth millennium and the beginning of the fifth millennium cal BC (Clemente-Conte et al., 2014.2; Gassiot et al., 2018.3, 2022). Activities related to local deforestation were observed at Els Trocs and Cova del Sardo. These activities included the clearing of vegetation and the presence of species associated with anthropic action. This suggests activities associated with local grazing and agriculture (Gassiot et al., 2012, 2022; Uría, 2013.1; Rodríguez-Antón, 2020). However, the scenario is more complex. While Els Trocs and Cova del Sardo document the main domesticates, it is characterized as an occupation closely linked to the seasonal exploitation of caprines (Navarrete and Saña, 2013.2; Rojo-Guerra et al., 2013, 2014; Gassiot et al., 2018.3), while Coro Trasito reflects a diverse and complex economic spectrum (Clemente-Conte et al., 2016; Viñerta and Saña, 2019.1). Additionally in Cova del Sardo and Coro Trasito provide evidence of dairy consumption (Tarifa, 2019.2).
In this context, settling in mountain regions may not exclude greater permanence and/or more intensive management of these areas. It can involve specialized husbandry practices, leading to the simultaneous management of domesticates, different productive purposes and specific feeding practices. These strategies can encompass activities within the local grazing areas, through mobility strategies, or involve the provision of forage. Considering that each domesticate exhibits distinct requirements and behaviors, a combination of planning and control mechanisms becomes essential to ensure the wellbeing and reproduction of the herds. Although more works address this problem in the Iberian Peninsula (Navarrete et al., 2017.1, 2019.3; Tornero et al., 2018; Sierra et al., 2019; Martin et al., 2021.3; Navarrete et al., Accepted; Tejedor-Rodríguez et al., 2021), there is still a gap in information on animal management strategies during the Neolithic in mountain areas, and the characterization of grazing areas, foraging strategies, and the relation of the herds with the environmental characteristics of the area, the type of site and the use of the settlement. The combined use of archaeozoological and stable isotope analysis can provide us with the keys to the study of pastoral management strategies (Madgwick et al., 2012.1; Balasse et al., 2016.2; Navarrete et al., 2017.1, Accepted).
The main objective of this research is to characterize husbandry practices at the Coro Trasito site during the early Neolithic, emphasizing the management strategies of domesticates. Using archaeozoological and stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis in bulk collagen, we will evaluate the animal ecology, herd management and feeding strategies implemented in Coro Trasito. The results will also be discussed within the framework of the neolithisation models proposed for the Iberian Peninsula and, especially, for the central area of the Pyrenees.
- Coro Trasito (Tella-Sin, Huesca)
Coro Trasito is a large cave located on the southern slope of the Sierra de Las Tucas in Tella-Sin, Huesca, Spain, at 1,540 m a.s.l (Figure 1). This cave has an entrance that is 30.2 m long and 4.4 m high, with a maximum depth of 16.4 m (Clemente-Conte et al., 2014.2). According to the climatic classification of J. Papadakis, the site is located on the border of the cold temperate and humid Patagonian climate (MAPAMA, 1996), with an average temperature of 7.3°C (Ninyerola et al., 2005). The site is located in a current area of moors and heathland (CORINE Land Cover, 2018.4). Between the highest areas of the Sierra de Las Tucas and the cave, natural grasslands provide grazing access for livestock during the summer. Below the cave mouth, there are slopes suitable for cultivation and with historic terraces. Adjacent to these historic terraces are mixed forests and coniferous forests (CORINE Land Cover, 2018.4).
Although the cave was documented in the 1970's, it was not until 2011 that systematic archaeological work began with a test pit (2011 and 2013) in order to evaluate the archaeological sequence and, since 2014, an excavation in extension (Figure 2). The first survey carried out in 2011 and 2013 uncovered antrophic occupations from the early Neolithic (5,320–4,365 cal BC), during the second half of the Second Millennium cal BC (1,430–1,130 cal BC) and, finally, to the Contemporary era (Clemente-Conte et al., 2014.2, 2016; Gassiot et al., 2018.3). Regarding Neolithic occupations three phases were identified dating from 5,300–5,000 cal BC, 4,990–4,885 cal BC, and 4,785–4,585 cal BC (Figure 3). The initial phase of cave occupation is characterized by its use as stable for animals. From c. 4,800 cal BC, the presence of domesticates and the use of space for storage in small pits, as well as for habitation and work area was documented (Clemente-Conte et al., 2020.1). The analysis of archaeological remains suggests the complexity of the occupation dynamics at the site. The predominance of domestic animals remains was recorded, highlighting pigs (Sus domesticus) and cattle (Bos taurus) in the early layers (Viñerta, 2015). Additionally, the consumption of dairy products is evidenced from the analysis of organic residues (Tarifa, 2019.2). Carpological remains of naked barley (Hordeum vulgare var. nudum) and naked wheat (Triticum aestivum s.l./durum Desf./turgidum L.) were recovered (Antolín et al., 2018.1). The presence of Bromus sp., Polygonum convolvulus, Galium aparine, and Chenopodium sp. has also been documented (Antolín et al., 2018.1). Pollen analysis reveals a high representation of cereals, suggesting the existence of nearby crop fields (Obea et al., 2021.2). Among the ceramic fragments recovered, both culinary and storage use have been identified (Díaz Bonilla et al., 2016.1). The presence of tools related to ceramic production indicates the carrying out of various artisanal activities at the site (Clemente-Conte et al., 2016). Furthermore, the presence of a wide range of tools such as grinding stones and sickles, along with storage pits, suggest that Coro Trasito could have functioned as a relatively stable occupation throughout most of the year, rather than being a specialized and seasonal site (Clemente-Conte et al., 2016, 2020.1; Clemente-Conte and Mazzucco, in press).
Figure 2. (A) Above: Image of the southern slope of Sierra de Tucas (Huesca, Spain). The arrow indicates Coro Trasito cave. Below: Entrance to Coro Trasito cave. (B) Plan view of Coro Trasito cave, showing the location of the 2011 and 2013 test-pit and the area of the extended excavation. The isocotes indicate every 20 cm.
Figure 3. North, east and south profiles of the 2011–2013 test-pit of Coro Trasito cave (Huesca, Spain).Navarrete, Vanessa; Viñerta, Angel; Clemente-Conte, Ignacio; Gassiot, Ermengol; Rey Lanaspa, Javier; Saña, Maria
Early husbandry practices in highland areas during the Neolithic: the case of Coro Trasito cave (Huesca, Spain)
Frontiers in Environmental Archaeology 2 (2023); DOI: 10.3389/fearc.2023.1309907.
Copyright: © 2023 The authors.
Published by Frontiers Media S.A. Open access.
Reprinted under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license (CC BY 4.0)
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