Wim Van Neer

One of the largest isotopic datasets of the ancient Eastern Mediterranean region is evaluated, based on plants (n = 410), animals (n = 210) and humans (n = 16) from Tell Tweini (Syria). Diachronic analysis of plant and faunal specimens from four main periods of occupation: Early Bronze Age (2600-2000 BC), Middle Bronze Age (2000-1600 BC), Late Bronze Age (1600-1200 BC) and Iron Age (1200-333 BC) were investigated. Mean Δ 13 C results from seven plant species reveal emmer and free threshing wheat, olives, bitter vetch, rye grass and barley were adequately or well-watered during all periods of occupation. The grape Δ 13 C results suggest excellent growing conditions and particular care for its cultivation. The δ 15 N results indicate that especially the emmer and free threshing wheats received some manure inputs throughout the occupation sequence, while these were likely further increased during the Iron Age, encompassing also the olive groves and grape vineyards. Generally, domestic animals (cattle, sheep, goats) had C 3 terrestrial diets and were kept together in similar environments. However, some animals consumed significant amounts of marine or C 4 plants, possibly from disturbed habitats due to land use pressure or salt tolerant grasses and shrubs from wetland environments, which were recorded in the direct vicinity of the site. Middle Bronze Age humans consumed a C 3 terrestrial diet with no measurable input from C 4 , freshwater or marine protein sources. Interestingly, the human diet was relatively low in animal protein and appears comparable to what is considered today a typical Mediterranean diet consisting of bread (wheat/barley), olives, grapes, pulses, dairy products and small amounts of meat. The combined isotopic analysis of plants, animals and humans from Tell Tweini represents unbroken links in the food chain which create

Esser E., Van Neer W., Wouters W., ten Anscher T.J., Zeiler J.T., Kootker L.M., van Hees L. 2023. Dierlijke resten uit de Hazendonkperiode. In: T.J. ten Anscher, S. Knippenberg, C.M. van der Linde, W. Roessingh & N.W. Willemse (red.), Doorbraken aan de Rijn. Een Swifterbant-gehucht, een Hazendonk-nederzetting en erven en graven uit de bronstijd in Medel-De Roeskamp, pp. 1087-1164. RAAP-rapport 6519, Weesp.

Gron K.J., Gröcke D.R., Rowley-Conwy P., Patterson W.P., Van Neer W., Robson H.K., Church M.J. 2023. Stable isotopes reveal agricultural practices in the Swifterbant period. In: T.J. ten Anscher, S. Knippenberg, C.M. van der Linde, W. Roessingh & N.W. Willemse (red.), Doorbraken aan de Rijn. Een Swifterbant-gehucht, een Hazendonk-nederzetting en erven en graven uit de bronstijd in Medel-De Roeskamp, pp. 737-750. RAAP-rapport 6519, Weesp.

An unusual concentration of tens of thousands small fish remains discovered during rescue excavations in the town of Antwerp, Belgium, is described. The material was found in a small depression with no associated archeological material but could be dated to the first half of the 16th century based on its stratigraphic position. About 3500 freshwater fish were found in articulating position and it is shown that they

Cats are hypercarnivorous, opportunistic animals that have adjusted to anthropogenic environments since the Neolithic period. Through humans, either by direct feeding and/or scavenging on food scraps, the diet of cats has been enriched with animals that they cannot kill themselves (e.g., large mammals, fish). Here, we conducted carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratio analysis to reconstruct the diet of medieval cats and investigate cat-human interactions in two medieval harbor sites (Qalhât, Oman and Siraf, Iran). The analysis included 28 cat individuals and 100 associated marine and terrestrial faunal samples pertaining to > 30 taxa. The isotopic results indicate a high marine proteinbased diet for the cats from Qalhât and a mixed marine-terrestrial (C 4) diet for the cats from Siraf. Cats at these sites most likely scavenged on both human food scraps and refuse related to fishing activities, with differences in the two sites most likely associated with the availability of marine resources and/ or the living conditions of the cats. By shedding light on the dietary habits of cats from two medieval harbors in the Arabian Gulf and Gulf of Oman, this study illustrates the potential of stable isotope analysis in reconstructing human-cat interactions in the past. Cats are hypercarnivorous animals, requiring a threefold consumption of protein compared to omnivorous species 1. Their high protein requirements stem from their metabolic adaptation to use protein and fat as energy sources 2,3 , as well as from their increased need for certain amino acids, such as taurine and arginine, which they cannot synthesize themselves 4-6. With a preference for consuming multiple, small meals throughout the day 7 , cats prey on small mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates 8-10 , with prey size decreasing with increasing hunger 11. Predation occurs also as part of teaching or playing and, thus, not always results in the consumption of the prey 12. However, both the predation rate and the prey diversity seem to be higher in rural areas, where anthropogenic food is scarcer 13. Being opportunistic hunters with an ability to adjust rapidly to changing environments 14 , wild cats seem to have exploited the new hunting grounds that emerged from the development of permanent settlements, following the onset of agricultural activities 15,16. This resulted in their adaptation to human presence, and later on to the consumption of foods facilitated by humans 17. Either from direct feeding and/or from scavenging on human food scraps, cats have acquired access to animal taxa that they are not able to kill themselves, such as large mammals and fish 18,19. Today, the pet food industry incorporates a wide range of ingredients, including even foods of plant origin, such as grains and vegetables 18,19. Unlike dogs 20 , a cat's digestive system is not adapted to starch-rich foods; however, milled and cooked plant material can be metabolized 7 , and constitute part of a healthy diet, provided that

A description is provided of the crocodile remains that were found during an excavation carried out in 2019 at Qubbat al-Hawā (Aswan, Egypt). The material consists of five more or less complete bodies and five heads that were in varying states of preservation and completeness. The absence of resin, which was apparently not used during the preparation of the mummies, and the almost complete loss of linen bandages, due to insect damage, allowed a detailed morphological and osteometric description of the remains. Attention was focused on the general state of preservation of the crocodiles, the completeness of their skeletons and skulls, the presence of cut or other marks that could indicate the cause of death, and the processing of the carcasses. Moreover, the possible provenance of the crocodiles, the methods of capture and killing of the animals and their possible chronological attribution are discussed. It is concluded that the manner in which these specimens were prepared, as well as the variation observed in the type of 'final product', are unlike any other crocodile material described so far. The preparation method suggests a pre-Ptolemaic date for the deposit. The morphological and metrical features indicate that both Crocodylus niloticus and the recently resurrected species Crocodylus suchus are present among these individuals that range from 1.8 to 3.5 m in length.

A recent study from Central Europe has changed our perception of the cat's domestication history. The authors discuss how this has led to the development of an interdisciplinary project combining palaeogenetics, zooarchaeology and radiocarbon dating, with the aim of providing insight into the domestic cat's expansion beyond the Mediterranean.

Carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratios were measured in 157 fish bone collagen samples from 15 different archaeological sites in Belgium which ranged in ages from the 3rd to the 18th c. AD. Due to diagenetic contamination of the burial environment, only 63 specimens produced results with suitable C: N ratios (2.9–3.6). The selected bones encompass a wide spectrum of freshwater, brackish, and marine taxa (N ¼ 18), and this is reflected in the d13C results (À28. 2& to À12. 9%). The freshwater fish have d13C values ...

The domestic cat is the world's most popular pet and one of the most detrimental predators in terrestrial ecosystems. Effective protection of wildlife biodiversity demands detailed tracking of cat trophic ecology, and stable isotopes serve as a powerful proxy in dietary studies. However, a variable diet can make an isotopic pattern unreadable in opportunistic predators. To evaluate the usefulness of the isotopic method in cat ecology, we measured C and N isotope ratios in hundreds of archaeological cat bones. We determined trends in cat trophic paleoecology in northern Europe by exploiting population-scale patterns in animals from diverse locations. Our dataset shows a high variability of isotopic signals related to the socio-economic and/or geomorphological context. This points toward regularities in isotopic patterns across past cat populations. We provide a generalized guide to interpret the isotopic ecology of cats, emphasizing that regional isotopic baselines have a major i...

Fish represent a key economic, social and ecological group of species that humans have exploited for tens of thousands of years. However, as many fish stocks are going into decline and with little known about the anthropogenic impacts on the health of the marine ecosystem pre-Industrial Revolution, understanding historical and archaeological exploitation of fish species is key to accurately modelling these changes. Here, we explore the potential of collagen peptide mass fingerprinting (also known as Zooarchaeology by Mass Spectrometry, or ZooMS) for identifying fish remains from the Medieval (fifteenth century) Newport ship wreck (Wales, UK), and in doing so we establish a set of biomarkers we consider useful in discriminating between European fish taxa through the inclusion of over 50 reference taxa. The archaeological results identified nine distinct taxonomic groups, dominated by ling (> 40%), and a substantial amount of cod (> 20%) and hake (~ 20%). The vast majority of samples (> 70%) were identified to species level, and the inability to identify the remaining taxonomic groups with confidence using ZooMS was due to the fact that the reference collection, despite being relatively large in comparison to those presented in mammalian studies, reflects only a small proportion of fish biodiversity from this region. Although the results clearly demonstrate the potential for ZooMS as a means of fish bone identification, the sheer number of different fish species that potentially make up ichthyoarchaeological assemblages leads to obvious requirements for the analysis on much greater numbers of modern reference specimens, or the acquisition of collagen sequences.

ABSTRACT At Doel, in the lower basin of the river Scheldt, excavations have revealed camp sites of the Swifterbant culture dating back to the second half of the fifth millennium BC. They document the transition period from the Late Mesolithic to the Early Neolithic in Sandy Flanders (NW Belgium). The sites were situated on the top of sandy ridges which were covered with an alluvial hardwood forest vegetation and surrounded by wetlands. Only burnt animal remains survived at the sites, illustrating (seasonal) fishing and hunting. In addition, botanical evidence indicates the herding of domestic mammals. The finds are of importance for the reconstruction of the chronological development of the food economy of the Swifterbant culture.

Cat remains from Poland dated to 4,200 to 2,300 y BCE are currently the earliest evidence for the migration of the Near Eastern cat (NE cat), the ancestor of domestic cats, into Central Europe. This early immigration preceded the known establishment of housecat populations in the region by around 3,000 y. One hypothesis assumed that NE cats followed the migration of early farmers as synan-thropes. In this study, we analyze the stable isotopes in six samples of Late Neolithic NE cat bones and further 34 of the associated fauna, including the European wildcat. We approximate the diet and trophic ecology of Late Neolithic felids in a broad context of contemporary wild and domestic animals and humans. In addition, we compared the ecology of Late Neolithic NE cats with the earliest domestic cats known from the territory of Poland, dating to the Roman Period. Our results reveal that human agricultural activity during the Late Neolithic had already impacted the isotopic signature of rodents in the ecosystem. These synanthropic pests constituted a significant proportion of the NE cat's diet. Our interpretation is that Late Neolithic NE cats were opportunistic synan-thropes, most probably free-living individuals (i.e., not directly relying on a human food supply). We explore niche partitioning between studied NE cats and the contemporary native European wildcats. We find only minor differences between the isotopic ecology of both these taxa. We conclude that, after the appearance of the NE cat, both felid taxa shared the ecological niches. wildcat | synanthropic species | stable isotopes | paleoecology | trophic niche

The abundant faunal remains from the Takarkori rock shelter in the Tadrart Acacus region of southwestern Libya are described. The material that covers the period between 10,200 to 4650 years cal BP illustrates the more humid environmental conditions in the Central Sahara during early and middle Holocene times. Particular attention is focussed on the aquatic fauna that shows marked diachronic changes related to increasing aridification. This is reflected in the decreasing amount of fish remains compared to mammals and, within the fish fauna, by changes through time in the proportion of the species and by a reduction of fish size. The aquatic fauna can, in addition, be used to formulate hypotheses about the former palaeohydrographical network. This is done by considering the possible location of pre-Holocene relic populations combined with observations on the topography and palaeohy-drological settings of the Central Sahara.

Dental calculus, or mineralized plaque, represents a record of ancient biomolecules and food residues. Recently, ancient metagenomics made it possible to unlock the wealth of microbial and dietary information of dental calculus to reconstruct oral microbiomes and lifestyle of humans from the past. Although most studies have so far focused on ancient humans, dental calculus is known to form in a wide range of animals, potentially informing on how human-animal interactions changed the animals' oral ecology. Here, we characterise the oral microbiome of six ancient Egyptian baboons held in captivity during the late Pharaonic era (9 th-6 th centuries BC) and of two historical baboons from a zoo via shotgun metagenomics. We demonstrate that these captive baboons possessed a distinctive oral microbiome when compared to ancient and modern humans, Neanderthals and a wild chimpanzee. These results may reflect the omnivorous dietary behaviour of baboons, even though health, food provisioning and other factors associated with human management, may have changed the baboons' oral microbiome. We anticipate our study to be a starting point for more extensive studies on ancient animal oral microbiomes to examine the extent to which domestication and human management in the past affected the diet, health and lifestyle of target animals. Commensal microbial communities living in or on eukaryotes play a key role in the host's immunity, susceptibility to pathogens, metabolism and stress response 1. The oral cavity, in particular, is an extremely rich and diverse microbial environment that can exhibit ethnic-specific variation 2 and is a critical driver of health and disease in humans 3. Recent metagenomic studies driven by technological advances of next-generation sequenc-ing have demonstrated that dental calculus-plaque mineralized on the surfaces of teeth during life-from ancient specimens can be used to investigate oral microbiomes from the past 4. Biomolecules of various origins trapped in the mineral matrix of dental calculus, originating from microbes to food residues, are a rich source of genetic and microfossil information that can inform us on health, diet and lifestyle of ancient humans and extinct hominins 5-7. The analytical power of dental calculus as a record of individual lifestyles from the past makes it an invaluable tool to investigate changes in the oral microbiome of ancient animals, in particular domesticated and tamed species , or species living in human-altered ecosystems. Domestication and animal management are often associated with translocations, changes in diet and feeding strategies, breeding control 8. Unlocking the wealth of biomolecu-lar information in animal dental calculus through paleogenomics has the potential to unravel to what extent, how

Wadi Sodmein Cave, called site QSR-44 by Prickett (1979), is currently being excavated under the direction of P. Vermeersch, University of Leuven, Belgium. The site is located in the Red Sea Moun tains of the Egyptian Eastern Desert at 26 14'27" N and 33 58'12" E, about 40 km NNW of Quseir. The cliff of Thebes limestone dominates the west bank of Wadi Sodmein, where it cuts a 3 km long gap through the Gebel Duwi, a local hogback.

S tratigraphy A generalized section (Fig. 2) through the site summarizes the results of the stratigraphical field study. The Shuwikhat silts are homogeneous, contain some marls and nodules. and become sandy near their base. Throughout the section, no locally derived material has been observed in this unit, and we therefore consider the climate to have been hyperarid when the Shuwikhat silts were deposited at the mouth of this important wadi. The Shuwikhat l site has been covered by the end of the Shuwikhat aggradation with at least ...

In this paper, we have assembled the three communications concerning the Makhadma sites (Qena, Upper Egypt) presented at this Symposium. In 1980 we surveyed and evaluated the Qena area and examined the sections of the Makhadma site E6104 published by Wendorf and Schild (1976). According to these authors, the site contains a very fresh early Late Palaeolithic assemblage. In 1982 F. Wendorf kindly assigned further research on the Makhadma site E6104, which we will name further Makhadma 1, to the Belgian Middle ...

Résumé/Abstract Ce gisement est le premier a livrer une stratigraphie allant du Paléolithique moyen au Néolithique. Cette grotte, d'origine karstique, permet d'associer des dépôts anciens (bien au-delà du dernier maximum glaciaire, indiquant un climat plus humide que l'actuel) au Paléolithique moyen. Le maximum glaciaire correspond à un hiatus dans la sédimentation de la grotte et de son occupation qui reprend à partir du Néolithique où deux niveaux sont attestés

Abstract We report here the stable nitrogen isotope composition (δ15N) of individual amino acids and the δ15N and δ13C content of collagen from human and faunal remains collected from Hasankeyf Höyük, an early Neolithic site in the upper Tigris valley. Based on the δ15N of collagen only, the contributions of freshwater resources to the diet of the hunter-gatherers were difficult to clearly identify relative to terrestrial resources. However, analysis of the nitrogen isotope composition of individual amino acids enabled the identification of minor contributions from freshwater resources to the diet in a community primarily dependent on terrestrial resources. Individual variability suggested that some individuals at Hasankeyf Höyük used freshwater resources, whereas others probably depended primarily on terrestrial food resources. The importance of freshwater resources as food for this hunter-gatherer community was variable among groups and depended on burial location and time of burial.

The yearly missions at Tell Tweini conducted by a Belgian-Syrian team have halted since 2011; however, the continuous research of the prodigious amount of data available has not. Over the past years the research team headed by Joachim Bretschneider (University Ghent) has focused on the study of particular groups of artefacts, ecofacts and landscape, resulting in new and exciting insights on various aspects of the settlement of Tell Tweini presented in this book.
Tell Tweini or ancient Gibala is located in the Syrian coastal plain and represents the southernmost harbour of the Ugaritic Kingdom in the Late Bronze Age. As one of the few sites under excavation in the Northern Levant with a full archaeological sequence spanning the Early Bronze Age IV (ca. 2400 BCE) up to the Iron Age III period (ca. 500 BCE), Tell Tweini (Field A) is a key site for the study of the developments in the Northern Levant especially where the Bronze to Iron Age transition is concerned.

Asa Koma is a neolithic site, in the Gobaad basin (Djibouti). It was the object of five series of excavations between 1986 and 1996, at first supervised by R. Joussaume, then by X. Gutherz. The present monograph, the fruit of collaboration of fifteen reseaerchers resumes all the data at the end of fieildwork to analyze them according to varoiuous disciplinary approaches. It results from it a complete panorama, rich in new information which offers a new look over the period during which the region fell over to a new world, that of the food production