The human diet of the Neolithic in the northeast of the Iberian Peninsula

A study reveals the dietary practices of agropastoral communities in the northeast of the peninsula. The multidisciplinary study was carried out using teeth found in eight archaeological sites on the Iberian Peninsula, belonging to the first groups of shepherds and farmers.

The study was led by Raquel Hernando, Juan de la Cierva researcher at the National Center for Research on Human Evolution (CENIEH) in Spain. Research staff from the Catalan Institute of Human Paleoecology and Social Evolution (IPHES) also participated in the study.

The authors of the study analyzed the teeth of 84 adult individuals found in eight sites on the Iberian Peninsula.

The study reveals that the mixed diet of the agropastoral groups of this period, which spans from the Middle Neolithic to the mid-Bronze Age, was composed of cereals as well as meat or dairy foods. However, there were various dietary specializations specific to each group.

What is known as the microwear technique has been used to analyze the oral surface of the teeth found in the sites of Cova de l’Avi (Vallirana, Barcelona), Cova de Can Sadurní (Begues, Barcelona), Cova de la Guineu (Font-Rubí, Barcelona), Cova Foradada (Calafell, Tarragona), Cova del Trader (Cubelles, Barcelona), Roc de les Orenetes (Queralbs, Girona), Cova del Gegant (Sitges, Barcelona) and Cova dels Galls Carboners (Mont -ral, Tarragona).

This technique allows us to determine the physical and mechanical properties of the foods consumed and offers evidence of food preparation practices by quantifying microscopic features (striations and holes) on the dental surface of the teeth due to the chewing process.

“We have observed that these dietary practices evolved and specialized in response to specific cultural, environmental, economic and technological components of each agropastoral community,” says Raquel Hernando.

Raquel Hernando Santamaría. (Photo: CENIEH / IPHES)

producing economies

The origins and subsequent intensification of producing economies contributed to extensive cultural, social and economic transformations during recent prehistory. This period in the northeast of the peninsula is characterized by a series of sociocultural, technological and demographic transformations with different regional rhythms, which has provided the perfect setting to investigate the evolution of the diet of these groups.

This study is the result of collaboration between research groups from CENIEH, IPHES, Rovira i Virgili University, the University of Barcelona and the Autonomous University of Barcelona.

The study is titled “Eating through time: Understanding dietary practices across late prehistory in the northeastern Iberian Peninsula.” And it has been published in the academic journal American Journal of Biological Anthropology. (Source: IPHES)