The diet and management of ancient sheep and goats : the potential of dental microwear
Dental microwear analysis records and interprets the marks left on the enamel surface of a tooth, caused by hard abrasives in food or contaminants such as grit. The analysis provides evidence for short-term diet and has previously used Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) to photograph tooth surfaces at high magnification. In this thesis, a new low-magnification, digital method is developed, tested on modern teeth of known dietary history, and applied to archaeological sheep and goats from three Late and Final Neolithic sites in Greece: Toumba Kremastis-Koiladas (TKK), Makriyalos (MK), and Knossos (KN). The new, Digital Light Microscopy (DLM) method proved successful in recording and distinguishing microwear patterns associated with modern known-diet groups of sheep and goats, with results comparable to those produced by Ingrid Mainland using the SEM method on broadly the same samples. Research questions addressed by investigating diet of archaeological sheep and goats at the three sites focussed on: the scale of animal husbandry and its degree of integration with crop husbandry; and the extent to which livestock were fattened prior to consumption within large-scale collective and/or small-scale domestic commensal
Lawrence, Lucy
The diet and management of ancient sheep and goats : the potential of dental microwear. Dental microwear analysis records and interprets the marks left on the enamel surface of a tooth, caused by hard abrasives in food or contaminants such as grit. The analysis provides evidence for short-term diet and has previously used Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) to photograph tooth surfaces at high magnification. In this thesis, a new low-magnification, digital method is developed, tested on modern teeth of known dietary history, and applied to archaeological sheep and goats from three Late and Final Neolithic sites in Greece: Toumba Kremastis-Koiladas (TKK), Makriyalos (MK), and Knossos (KN). The new, Digital Light Microscopy (DLM) method proved successful in recording and distinguishing microwear patterns associated with modern known-diet groups of sheep and goats, with results comparable to those produced by Ingrid Mainland using the SEM method on broadly the same samples. Research questions addressed by investigating diet of archaeological sheep and goats at the three sites focussed on: the scale of animal husbandry and its degree of integration with crop husbandry; and the extent to which livestock were fattened prior to consumption within large-scale collective and/or small-scale domestic commensal
diet management ancient sheep_goat potential dental dental analysis record interpret mark leave enamel surface tooth cause hard food contaminant analysis provide_evidence short_term diet previously use scanning electron_microscopy sem photograph tooth surface high magnification new low magnification digital method_develop test modern teeth know dietary history apply_archaeological sheep_goat late_final neolithic_sit greece makriyalos knossos new digital light_microscopy method prove successful record distinguish pattern associate modern known diet group sheep_goat comparable produce mainland use sem method broadly sample question_address investigate diet archaeological sheep_goat three_site focus scale animal_husbandry degree integration crop_husbandry extent livestock prior consumption within large_scale collective and small_scale domestic commensal