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Published in

Wiley, American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 2(131), p. 181-193, 2006

DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.20395

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Stable isotopes and dietary adaptations in humans and animals at pre-pottery Neolithic Nevallı Çori, southeast Anatolia

Journal article published in 2006 by Sandra Lösch, Gisela Grupe, Joris Peters ORCID
This paper was not found in any repository, but could be made available legally by the author.
This paper was not found in any repository, but could be made available legally by the author.

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Abstract

Human and animal bones from the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B site of Nevali Cori (southeast Anatolia) were analyzed with regard to stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes in bone collagen, and stable carbon and oxygen isotopes in bone carbonate. The reconstruction of the vertebrate food web at this site revealed that humans may have faced difficulties with meat procurement, since their stable-isotope ratios reflect a largely herbivorous diet. This is in contrast with the preceding Pre-Pottery Neolithic A contexts and late Neolithic sites in the Fertile Crescent, where humans are located at the top of the food chain. Conceivably, Nevali Cori represents a community in the transition from a hunting and gathering subsistence to an economy with agriculture and animal husbandry, since domesticated einkorn and sheep, pigs, and probably also goats are in evidence at the site. In the second half of the 9th millennium calibrated (cal.) BC, however, the contribution of stock on the hoof to the human diet still seems modest. Animals kept under cultural control obviously had a dietary spectrum different from their free-ranging relatives. We conclude that these animals had been deliberately nourished by their owners, whereby the overall low delta(15)N-signatures in both humans and livestock might result from the consumption of protein-rich pulses.