Evaluating the change of consumption and culinary practices at the transition to agriculture : a multi-disciplinary approach from a Danish kitchen midden
Due to the excellent conditions for preservation of anthropogenic materials, the introduction of domesticated fauna and flora into southern Scandinavia, ca. 3950 cal BC, has been debated for over 165 years. In order to test questions relating to the nature and timing of this cultural change, the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition, a number of archaeological and biomolecular techniques have been applied in recent decades. The carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analyses of human bone collagen is one such method that has been regularly performed. Interestingly, every study has argued for a dramatic or sudden dietary change (Tauber 1981) despite evidence to the contrary (Milner et al. 2004). However, there has not been a single study that has employed a range of techniques to materials derived from one site in order to evaluate the change of consumption and culinary practices across the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition. This thesis uses a combination of stable isotope analyses (carbon, nitrogen and sulphur) and radiocarbon dating of human bone collagen to reconstruct long-term dietary practices, and place these individuals into context. In order to provide an indication as to when the site was occupied, incremental
Robson, Harry
Evaluating the change of consumption and culinary practices at the transition to agriculture : a multi-disciplinary approach from a Danish kitchen midden. Due to the excellent conditions for preservation of anthropogenic materials, the introduction of domesticated fauna and flora into southern Scandinavia, ca. 3950 cal BC, has been debated for over 165 years. In order to test questions relating to the nature and timing of this cultural change, the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition, a number of archaeological and biomolecular techniques have been applied in recent decades. The carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analyses of human bone collagen is one such method that has been regularly performed. Interestingly, every study has argued for a dramatic or sudden dietary change (Tauber 1981) despite evidence to the contrary (Milner et al. 2004). However, there has not been a single study that has employed a range of techniques to materials derived from one site in order to evaluate the change of consumption and culinary practices across the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition. This thesis uses a combination of stable isotope analyses (carbon, nitrogen and sulphur) and radiocarbon dating of human bone collagen to reconstruct long-term dietary practices, and place these individuals into context. In order to provide an indication as to when the site was occupied, incremental
evaluating change consumption culinary practice transition_agriculture multi_disciplinary danish kitchen midden due excellent condition preservation anthropogenic material introduction domesticate fauna flora southern_scandinavia cal debate order_test question_relate nature time cultural_change mesolithic_neolithic_transition number archaeological biomolecular technique_apply carbon_nitrogen stable_isotope analyse human_bone collagen method regularly perform interestingly every study argue dramatic sudden dietary_change despite evidence contrary however single study employ_range technique material_derive site order_evaluate change consumption culinary practice across mesolithic_neolithic_transition combination stable_isotope_analysis carbon_nitrogen radiocarbon_date human_bone collagen reconstruct long_term dietary practice place individual context order_provide indication site occupy incremental