Paleonutritional and paleodietary survey on prehistoric humans from Las Cañadas del Teide (Tenerife,Canary Islands) based on chemical and histological analysis of bone

The aim of the present study is to perform a paleodietary and paleonutritional survey on 17 individuals buried in accordance with the prehispanic ritual in the central plateau of the island Tenerife, called Las Cañadas del Teide. We recorded hydrogen, nitrogen and carbon isotope compositions of human bone collagen, bone barium and strontium, and histomorphometrically assessed trabecular bone mass (TBM). Bone trace elements and TBM were compared with reference data derived from a modern sample consisting of 13 individuals. In addition, δ¹⁵N and δ¹³C values were determined in several modern indigenous plants, bone collagen of prehistoric domestic animals (goat and pig), and prehistoric wild animals (a giant lizard, Gallotia goliath and a giant rat, Canaryomis bravoi), which represent food sources potentially consumed by the prehistoric population of the Island. The carbon stable isotope composition of bone collagen ranged between ?20.5 and ?18.6‰ (VPDB), indicating a diet based on C₃ plants. Nitrogen isotope values ranged from 8.2 to 12.4‰ (AIR), suggesting a general meat-enriched diet, most likely domestic goats, of higher level consumers. Hydrogen isotope values ranged from ?18 to +4‰, whereas log Ba/Sr was greater than ?0.40 in the vast majority of cases. TBM showed a tendency to osteoporosis in 30% of the individuals analyzed. C-14 dating showed that two burial sites, including 5 individuals, belonged to the post-conquest era (after the 15th century), despite a fully “prehispanic” burial ritual, which lends credenceto the oral tradition that some of the prehispanic population fled to the highlands at the time of the Spanish conquest, and lived there during decades or even centuries. These individuals showed lower δD, δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N, and higher log Ba/Sr values than those buried before the Spanish conquest, suggesting dietary differences between the two groups. Also, women showed a trend to a higher consumption of vegetables than men.     

Familiar Kinship? Palaeogenetic and Isotopic Evidence from a Triple Burial of the Cogotas I Archaeological Culture (Bronze Age,Iberian Peninsula)

This paper examines the identification of kinship relations in archaeological multiple burials and advocates the application of different methods and lines of research to clarify such issues in relation to funerary practices. Recognizing family relationships – an important task in research on prehistoric societies – is especially complicated and interpretations have often been made without an adequate empirical basis. Bioarchaeological, isotopic and DNA analyses applied to the triple burial of Los Tolmos (Cogotas I archaeological culture, Iberian Bronze Age) have provided direct information on this issue. In this respect, the new results also imply the need to consider gender constructs in greater depth and to be more open‐minded towards other forms of relationship in the past beyond the traditional heteronormative nuclear family.     

Commons and the construction of power in the early Middle Ages: tenth-century León and Castile

ABSTRACT

This article examines the role played by the control of common lands (commons) in the configuration of power in the northern Iberian Peninsula during the early Middle Ages. Although there were marked differences between them, the kings of León and the counts of Castile consolidated their power over local society by guaranteeing the defence and correct management of commons. Their example provides the basis for this study, which investigates whether these higher levels of commons protection and management could have been a way of building and consolidating power (whether as lords, royalty, counts, or in urban areas) during the Middle Ages.     

Multi-Isotope Investigations for Scientific Characterisation and Provenance Implication of Banded Travertines from Tripolis Antique City (Denizli–Turkey)

The coloured stones used in buildings and monuments were an indicator of power and wealth during the ancient times. In this study, Tripolis city samples have been compared with Tripolis quarry samples in order to recognise the provenance of the banded travertine blocks in the ancient city. The banded travertine samples have similar mineral compositions and mainly consist of calcite with minor amounts of dolomite, aragonite, clay and iron oxide minerals. These results are also supported by CRS studies. Calcite is in the form of needle-shaped crystals ranging between 0.163–1.418?mm (in city) and 0.303–1.270?mm (in quarry). Tripolis banded travertine samples show the similar compositional spread in terms of major oxide, trace elements. δ¹³C_V-PDB values of banded travertines range from 1.93 to 5.25‰ (in city) and 2.99 to 3.99‰ (in quarry), δ¹⁸O_V-PDB values change between (?16.93)–(?10.08) ‰ and (?15.93)–(?13.01)‰, respectively. The U–Th radiometric ages are determined between ～267 and 9?ka in Tripolis city samples and ～350 and 2?ka in Tripolis quarry samples. The minero-petrographic, geochemical, C–O and U–Th isotope results fairly matched with each other. It seems highly probable that the banded travertines in Tripolis city were extracted from the Tripolis quarry, which is located at the northeast of the antique city with a distance of 3?km.     

Portable Steam Engines and Traction Engines and Their Use in Rural Areas: The Case of Lezíria Ribatejana,Portugal

In the second half of the 19th century, the area known as Lezíria, in Portugal, started to use portable steam and traction engines in agricultural production. Out of more than a hundred original examples, all of them manufactured in England, little more than a dozen survive today, with different levels of preservation. This article studies these for the first time through an archaeological perspective, identifying their use and importance in different agricultural activities in the production of goods such as olive oil.     

Early Animal Management Strategies during the Neolithic of the Konya Plain,Central Anatolia: Integrating Micromorphological and Microfossil Evidence

ABSTRACT

This paper examines the contribution of microscopic multi-proxy approaches to the study of early husbandry practices and animal diet by integrated micromorphological, phytolith, and calcitic dung spherulite analyses of midden deposits at the three neighbouring Neolithic sites of Boncuklu (9th–8th millennium cal BC), P?narba?? (7th millennium cal BC) and Çatalhöyük (8th–6th millennium cal BC) in the Konya Plain, Central Turkey.

The results reveal considerable chronological and contextual variation in human-animal inter-relations in open areas between different communities and sites. At Boncuklu, middens display well-defined areas where phytoliths and substantial accumulations of omnivore faecal matter low in spherulite content have been identified. By contrast, open spaces at the Late Neolithic campsite of P?narba?? comprise large concentrations of herbivore dung material associated with neonatal ovicaprine remains from spring birthing. Here, the deposits represent repeated dung-burning events, and include high concentrations of dung spherulites and phytoliths from wild grasses, and leaves and culms of reeds that, we suggest here, derive from fodder and fuel sources. Late middens at Çatalhöyük are characterised by thick sequences derived from multiple fuel burning events and rich in ashes, charred plants, articulated phytoliths – mainly from the husk of cereals, as well as the leaves and stems of reeds and sedges – and omnivore/ruminant coprolites, the abundance of the latter declining markedly in the latest levels of occupation.

The application of this integrated microscopic approach to open areas has contributed to unravelling the complexity of formation processes at these sites, providing new insights into herding practices, diet, and the ecological diversity of Neolithic communities in Central Anatolia.