New evidence on the earliest domesticated animals and possible small-scale husbandry in Atlantic NW Europe

Abstract

The distribution of the first domesticated animals and crops along the coastal area of Atlantic NW Europe, which triggered the transition from a hunter-gatherer-fisher to a farmer-herder economy, has been debated for many decades among archaeologists. While some advocate a gradual transition in which indigenous hunter-gatherers from the very beginning of the 5th millennium cal BC progressively adopted Neolithic commodities, others are more in favor of a rapid transition near the end of the 5th millennium caused by a further northwest migration of farmers-herders colonizing the lowlands. Here, radiocarbon dated bones from sheep/goat and possibly also cattle are presented which provide the first hard evidence of an early introduction of domesticated animals within a hunter-gatherer context in NW Belgium, situated ca. 80 km north of the agro-pastoral frontier. Based on their isotope signal it is suggested that these first domesticates were probably not merely obtained through exchange with contemporaneous farmers but were kept locally, providing evidence of small-scale local stockbreeding in the lowlands maybe as early as ca. 4800/4600 cal BC. If confirmed by future in-depth isotope analyses, the latter testifies of intense contact and transmission of knowledge in this early contact period, which is also visible in the material culture, such as the lithic and pottery technology. It also implies direct and prolonged involvement of farmer-herders, either through visiting specialists or intermarriage, which follows recent genetic evidence demonstrating much more hunter-gatherer ancestry in early farmer's genes in western Europe compared to central and SE Europe.

Figure 1

Elevation map of NW Europe (European Union, Copernicus Land Monitoring Service 2019, European Environment Agency (EEA)), indicating the agropastoral frontier between ca. 5300 and 4600 cal BC (wide dotted line) and between ca. 4600 and 4000 cal BC (narrow dotted line), as well as the contemporaneous sites discussed in this paper: 1. Bazel 2. Doel 3. Hardinxveld 4. Brandwijk 5. Schokland 6. Schlamersdorf 7. Rosenhof 8. Poel 9. Tybrind Vig 10. Ringkloster 11. Lollikhuse 12. Hindbygården 13. Dąbki 14. Mont d'Hubert 15.Cuiry-les-Chaudardes 16. Maizy 17. Balloy 18. La Villette 19. Bercy (F) (modified after ¹²).

Figure 2

Species composition expressed in Number of Identified Specimens (NISP).

Figure 3

Sum probability distributions of calibrated radiocarbon dates: (A) All dated samples (carbonized hazelnut shells, charred cereals, bone, antler) representing the maximum duration of human occupation during the second phase; (B) Dates from domesticated herbivores (cattle, sheep/goat). (C) Dates from wild herbivores (aurochs, red deer). (D) Dates from charred cereals.

Figure 4

Size graph Bp metacarpal of cattle and aurochs at Bazel-Sluis and different Early and Middle Neolithic sites in France, Germany, Great-Britain and the Netherlands based on the EuroEvol data-set.

Figure 5

Carbon and nitrogen stable isotope data obtained on bone and dentine collagen of domesticated animals from the site of Bazel, compared to data from early and middle Neolithic sites in the adjacent loess region of France.

Figure 6

Carbon and nitrogen stable isotope data obtained on bone and dentine collagen of domesticated and wild herbivores from the site of Bazel.

Figure 7

Main distribution area of the Swifterbant Culture, Blicquy/Villeneuve-Saint-Germain Culture (BQY/VSG) and Grossgartach/Planig-Friedberg/Rössen Cultures. For the latter, the map shows the extension of the Rössen Culture, which encompasses the earlier distribution areas of the Hinkelstein, Grossgartach and Planig-Friedberg. Green square = Lower Scheldt valley (Map designed using QGIS software version 2.18.17.https://qgis.org/downloads/).