Nitrogen isotope evidence for manuring of Early Neolithic Funnel Beaker Culture cereals from Stensborg, Sweden

Gron, K.J.; Gröcke, D.R.; Larsson, M.; Sørensen, L.; Larsson, L.; Rowley-Conwy, P.A.; Church, M.J.

Abstract

Little is known about arable agriculture in the Early Neolithic (4000–3300 cal BC, Funnel Beaker Culture) of Southern Scandinavia. Archaeobotanical material is rare and few archaeological sites have yielded more than a small number of charred cereal grains. In this short communication, we present single-entity carbon and nitrogen isotope analyses of charred cereals from Stensborg, an early Funnel Beaker Culture site near Stockholm, Sweden. This cereal assemblage is important as it is large, well-preserved and consists of multiple crop species. Our isotopic results indicate that many of the Stensborg cereal crops had been manured and that there is intra- and inter-species variation in manuring. We interpret these data as evidence of an integrated regime of stock-keeping and small-scale agriculture in the early Funnel Beaker Culture near its northernmost limit.

Citation

Gron, K., Gröcke, D., Larsson, M., Sørensen, L., Larsson, L., Rowley-Conwy, P., & Church, M. (2017). Nitrogen isotope evidence for manuring of Early Neolithic Funnel Beaker Culture cereals from Stensborg, Sweden. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 14, 575-579. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2017.06.042

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jun 25, 2017
• Online Publication Date: Jun 29, 2017
• Publication Date: Aug 1, 2017
• Deposit Date: Jun 27, 2017
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 29, 2018
• Journal: Journal of archaeological science, reports.
• Print ISSN: 2352-409X
• Electronic ISSN: 2352-4103
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 14
• Pages: 575-579
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2017.06.042
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1384132