Regional asynchronicity in dairy production and processing in early farming communities of the northern Mediterranean

Organic Geochemistry Unit / University of Bristol

Press release issued: 17 November 2016

Congratulations to Post-Doctoral Research Associate Mélanie Roffet-Salque, PhD student Helen Whelton and Professor Richard P. Evershed who have published a paper in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS).

The paper from the Organic Geochemistry Unit entitled "Regional asynchronicity in dairy production and processing in early farming communities of the northern Mediterranean" was published in PNAS this week.

This study combined evidence of the presence of milk and carcass fats in more than 500 pottery vessels together with an examination of the ages at death of domesticated animals excavated from 82 sites dating from the 7^th to 5^th millennia BC, providing a unique overview of the way animals were being managed in the northern Mediterranean at this crucial time in the development of agriculture.

This study is a collaboration between an inter-disciplinary team of archaeologists and scientists from the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (Paris) and the University of York. Co-authors of the paper include archaeologists and archaeozoologists involved in the large-scale investigation of sites across the Northern Mediterranean.

Further information

Paper:

‘Regional asynchronicity in dairy production and processing in early farming communities of the norther Mediterranean’ by Debono Spiteri, Gillis, Roffet-Salque et al in PNAS.