Shipping amphorae and shipping sheep? Livestock mobility in the north-east Iberian peninsula during the Iron Age based on strontium isotopic analyses of sheep and goat tooth enamel

Animal mobility is a common strategy to overcome scarcity of food and the related over-grazing of pastures. It is also essential to reduce the inbreeding rate of animal populations, which is known to have a negative impact on fertility and productivity. The present paper shows the geographic range o...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Valenzuela-Lamas, Silvia, Orengo, Hèctor A., Bosch, Delphine, Pellegrini, Maura, Halstead, Paul, Nieto-Espinet, Ariadna, Jiménez-Manchón, Sergio, López Reyes, Daniel, Jornet Niella, Rafel
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2018
País:España
Institución:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
Repositorio:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
OAI Identifier:oai:digital.csic.es:10261/173007
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10261/173007
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Iron Age
North-east Iberian peninsula
Turó de la Font de la Canya
Isotopic analyses
Amphorae
Sheep
Tooth enamel
7th to 3rd centuries BC
Descripción
Sumario:Animal mobility is a common strategy to overcome scarcity of food and the related over-grazing of pastures. It is also essential to reduce the inbreeding rate of animal populations, which is known to have a negative impact on fertility and productivity. The present paper shows the geographic range of sheep provisioning in different phases of occupation at the Iron Age site of Turó de la Font de la Canya (7th to 3rd centuries BC). Strontium isotope ratios from 34 archaeological sheep and goat enamel, two archaeological bones and 14 modern tree leaves are presented. The isotopic results suggest that sheep and goats consumed at the site were reared locally (within a few kilometres radius) during the whole period of occupation. The paper discusses the isotopic results in light of the socio-political structure of this period, as complex, strongly territorial societies developed during the Iron Age in the north-east Iberian Peninsula.