Shipping amphorae and shipping sheep? Livestock mobility in the north-east Iberian peninsula during the Iron Age based on strontium isotopic analyses of sheep and goat tooth enamel

PLoS One. 2018 Oct 31;13(10):e0205283. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0205283. eCollection 2018.

Abstract

Animal mobility is a common strategy to overcome scarcity of food and the related over-grazing of pastures. It is also essential to reduce the inbreeding rate of animal populations, which is known to have a negative impact on fertility and productivity. The present paper shows the geographic range of sheep provisioning in different phases of occupation at the Iron Age site of Turó de la Font de la Canya (7th to 3rd centuries BC). Strontium isotope ratios from 34 archaeological sheep and goat enamel, two archaeological bones and 14 modern tree leaves are presented. The isotopic results suggest that sheep and goats consumed at the site were reared locally (within a few kilometres radius) during the whole period of occupation. The paper discusses the isotopic results in light of the socio-political structure of this period, as complex, strongly territorial societies developed during the Iron Age in the north-east Iberian Peninsula.

Publication types

  • Historical Article
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animal Husbandry / history*
  • Animal Husbandry / methods
  • Animals
  • Anthropology, Physical / methods
  • Archaeology / methods
  • Bone and Bones / anatomy & histology
  • Bone and Bones / metabolism
  • Breeding / history*
  • Breeding / methods
  • Dental Enamel / anatomy & histology
  • Dental Enamel / metabolism*
  • Female
  • Goats / anatomy & histology
  • Goats / growth & development
  • Goats / metabolism*
  • History, Ancient
  • Humans
  • Iron / chemistry
  • Livestock / anatomy & histology
  • Livestock / growth & development
  • Livestock / metabolism
  • Male
  • Meat / history*
  • Plant Leaves / chemistry
  • Plant Leaves / metabolism
  • Portugal
  • Sheep / anatomy & histology
  • Sheep / growth & development
  • Sheep / metabolism*
  • Spain
  • Strontium Isotopes

Substances

  • Strontium Isotopes
  • Iron

Grants and funding

This paper was developed as part of the research projects ‘The origins of intensive pastoralism and the creation of cultural landscapes in North-Eastern Spain (HumanScapes)’, which was funded by the European Commission with a Marie Curie Intra-European Fellowship (grant number 330098) and the Service of Archaeology and Palaeontology of the Culture Department of the Catalan Autonomous Government under the direction of HAO and PH, and the ERC-Starting Grant 716298 ZooMWest- Zooarchaeology and Mobility in the Western Mediterranean: Husbandry production from the Late Bronze Age to the Late Antiquity, funded by the European Research Council Agency (ERCEA) under the direction of SVL. The research also benefited from the support of the Agència de Gestió d’Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca (2017SGR995). SJM is employed under the LabEx ARCHIMEDE from "Investissement d’Avenir" program ANR-11-LABX-0032-01.