Dental microwear analysis in Neolithic ruminants and pigs from Southeast Germany
Nadine Nolde
Fritz Thyssen Foundation, Grant Az. 20.20.0.034AA
During the Middle Neolithic (c. 5000-4500 BC), a colonization of relatively less attractive soils for cropping in the Central German Uplands occurred. Among other reasons, an expansion of the stockbreeding component has been considered. But Middle Neolithic faunal finds, which could provide information about this, are quite rare. It is unclear whether, and if so to what extent, the expansion into new areas also influenced the grazing strategy for livestock, whether the nutritional supply of different species changed, and whether differences in the feeding and keeping of domestic animals of different husbandry purposes (e.g., meat vs. milk use) or between different pastures (e.g., lowlands vs. highlands) took place compared to the Early Neolithic. So-called dental microwear analyses on the teeth of ruminants and pigs can provide answers to these questions. Depending on the hardness, the silicate content and the composition of the food, microscopically small but specific textures such as pits, facets, notches or grooves are formed on the occlusal surface of the teeth by the chewing process during food intake. The shape, expression, and distribution of these textures can thus be used to infer the dietary composition of an individual's last months of life (e.g., grazing, browsing, leaf-eating, or fruit-eating). The pilot study "Dental microwear analysis in Neolithic ruminants and pigs from Southeast Germany" will be undertaken to learn the method and to answer some of the above mentioned research questions. Therefore, replicas of the occlusal surface of up to 100 teeth of Middle Neolithic cattle, sheep, goats and pigs from sites in southern Germany (Künzig-Unternberg, Regensburg-Bajuwarenkaserne, Ippesheim and Hopferstadt) will be prepared for microwear analysis under the expert guidance of Dr. Ingrid Mainland at the Archaeological Institute of the University of the Highlands and Islands at Orkney College in Scotland and examined in combination with classical archaeozoological methods by Nadine Nolde. The study should not only provide more detailed insights into the diet, husbandry and use of livestock in these sites, the results will also form the basis for further investigations (dental-microwear, histology and classical archaeozoology), which will be realized from 2024 onwards as part of the project "Diversification and Change - Investigations into Settlement and Agricultural Practices in the 5th millennium BC. Chr. in Central Europe" (See Diversity and Change - Archaeozoology)