Integrating botanical, faunal and human stable carbon and nitrogen isotope values to reconstruct land use and palaeodiet at LBK Vaihingen an der Enz, Baden-Württemberg

Abstract

In this paper we reconstruct the palaeodietary setting of LBK Vaihingen an der Enz, south-west Germany (later sixth millennium cal. bc) using δ13C and δ15N values of human and faunal bone collagen and of charred plant remains from cereal crops (e.g. emmer and einkorn wheat) and pulses (lentil and pea). Our examination of this Neolithic dietary ‘food web’ incorporates crop δ15N values within a linear-mixing model to examine the estimated proportions of animal and plant protein in the human diet. We interpret the stable isotope dietary model outcomes together with accompanying archaeobotanical and zooarchaeological evidence to shed light on the role of crops in land use strategies and human diet, and conclude that (manured) crops probably formed the dominant protein source.