TY - JOUR
T1 - Isotope and morphometrical evidence reveals the technological package associated with agriculture adoption in western Europe
AU - Araus, José L.
AU - Gascón, Mireia
AU - Ros-Sabé, Eva
AU - Piqué, Raquel
AU - Rezzouk, Fatima Z.
AU - Aguilera, Mònica
AU - Voltas, Jordi
AU - Peña-Chocarro, Leonor
AU - Pérez-Jordà, Guillem
AU - Terradas, Xavier
AU - Palomo, Antoni
AU - Ferrio, Juan Pedro
AU - Antolín, Ferran
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2024 the Author(s)
PY - 2024/7/29
Y1 - 2024/7/29
N2 - This study aimed to reconstruct the environmental conditions and the crop management practices and plant characteristics when agriculture appeared in western Europe. We analyzed oak charcoal and a large number of cereal caryopsides recovered from La Draga (Girona, Spain), an early (5300 to 4800 cal. BC) agricultural site from the Iberian Peninsula. The carbon isotope discrimination (Δ13C) values of oak, the dominant forest species in the region, indicates prevalence of a wet climate at the site. Further, we reconstructed crop management conditions, achievable yield, and crop characteristics through the analysis of Δ13C, nitrogen isotope composition (δ15N), nitrogen content, and the reconstructed weight of wheat and barley caryopsides, following protocols developed by our team [Araus et al., Nat. Commun. 5, 3953 (2014)] and comparison of these parameters with present-day organic agriculture in the region. In parallel, a regional perspective was achieved through the study of wheat and barley grains of seventeen Neolithic sites from the western Mediterranean. The results suggest that rather than small-garden cultivation, a more extensive agriculture was practiced under good water availability and moderate manuring. Moreover, results from La Draga evidence that grain weight and spike morphology were comparable to contemporary cereals. Growing conditions and the prevalence of improved crop traits indicate that agriculture was fairly consolidated at the time it reached the western edge of Europe.
AB - This study aimed to reconstruct the environmental conditions and the crop management practices and plant characteristics when agriculture appeared in western Europe. We analyzed oak charcoal and a large number of cereal caryopsides recovered from La Draga (Girona, Spain), an early (5300 to 4800 cal. BC) agricultural site from the Iberian Peninsula. The carbon isotope discrimination (Δ13C) values of oak, the dominant forest species in the region, indicates prevalence of a wet climate at the site. Further, we reconstructed crop management conditions, achievable yield, and crop characteristics through the analysis of Δ13C, nitrogen isotope composition (δ15N), nitrogen content, and the reconstructed weight of wheat and barley caryopsides, following protocols developed by our team [Araus et al., Nat. Commun. 5, 3953 (2014)] and comparison of these parameters with present-day organic agriculture in the region. In parallel, a regional perspective was achieved through the study of wheat and barley grains of seventeen Neolithic sites from the western Mediterranean. The results suggest that rather than small-garden cultivation, a more extensive agriculture was practiced under good water availability and moderate manuring. Moreover, results from La Draga evidence that grain weight and spike morphology were comparable to contemporary cereals. Growing conditions and the prevalence of improved crop traits indicate that agriculture was fairly consolidated at the time it reached the western edge of Europe.
KW - agriculture
KW - cereals
KW - Neolithic
KW - Paleo reconstruction
KW - stable isotopes
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85200102807&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/0ca4c53a-d0e4-378a-ad9a-8a992a1e0647/
UR - https://portalrecerca.uab.cat/en/publications/eeaf0fb1-ed73-4112-bc90-7d6860c724f1
U2 - 10.1073/pnas.2401065121
DO - 10.1073/pnas.2401065121
M3 - Article
C2 - 39074289
AN - SCOPUS:85200102807
SN - 0027-8424
VL - 121
SP - e2401065121
JO - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
JF - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
IS - 32
M1 - e2401065121
ER -