We are inviting you to participate in our session at the 23rd Annual Meeting of the European Association of Archaeologists which will be held in Maastricht (the Netherlands) between August 30 and September 3 this year.
Session: #405 Cattle-based Agriculture in Central Europe - introduction, spread and impact
Theme: Interpreting the archaeological record
This interdisciplinary session will examine the introduction and spread of cattle-based agriculture by the Neolithic farmers of Central Europe and its implications for modelling the Neolithisation of Northern and Central Europe beginning in the 6th millennium BC. This revolutionary shift in human subsistence strategy reshaped prehistoric European culture, biology and economy, in ways that underlie modern life worldwide. The session aims to bring together biomolecular, isotopic and morphological studies of faunal, human and other archaeological remains to investigate herding practices. The impact of the introduction of dairying, detectable from organic residues in ceramics and the faunal skeletal-based proxies, into the Neolithic diet on the health and biology of Neolithic humans will also be examined. The session will provide comprehensive assessments of the ways the first farmers of Central Europe managed and exploited their domesticated animals. Papers from the session will highlight the changing roles of domesticated animals in the diets, economies and evolutionary genetics of Neolithic communities in Central Europe. We welcome papers on all aspects of the spread of cattle-based agriculture in Central Europe, asking the contributors to emphasise the role(s) and impacts of domesticated animal-based economies on the lives of Neolithic farmers. Organisers: Mélanie Roffet-Salque (University of Bristol, UK) Jessica Smyth (University College Dublin, Ireland) Richard P. Evershed (University of Bristol, UK).
We invite you to submit an abstract before March 15 on http://www.eaa2017maastricht.nl. If you have any query about the session, please do not hesitate to contact Mélanie (melanie.salque@bristol.ac.uk) or Jessica (jessica.smyth@ucd.ie).