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

Gron, Kurt J. ; Gröcke, Darren R. ; Larsson, Mikael LU ; Sørensen, Lasse ; Larsson, Lars LU ; Rowley-Conwy, Peter and Church, Mike J. (2017) In Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 14. p.575-579
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... (More)

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.

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author
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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Carbon and nitrogen isotopes, Cereal agriculture, Funnel Beaker Culture, Manuring, Neolithic, Scandinavia
in
Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports
volume
14
pages
5 pages
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • wos:000415616700053
  • scopus:85021430962
ISSN
2352-409X
DOI
10.1016/j.jasrep.2017.06.042
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
a6b3a11c-9697-4444-8222-741ae1b2cfa0
date added to LUP
2017-07-11 10:56:32
date last changed
2025-03-03 20:51:08
@article{a6b3a11c-9697-4444-8222-741ae1b2cfa0,
  abstract     = {{<p>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.</p>}},
  author       = {{Gron, Kurt J. and Gröcke, Darren R. and Larsson, Mikael and Sørensen, Lasse and Larsson, Lars and Rowley-Conwy, Peter and Church, Mike J.}},
  issn         = {{2352-409X}},
  keywords     = {{Carbon and nitrogen isotopes; Cereal agriculture; Funnel Beaker Culture; Manuring; Neolithic; Scandinavia}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{08}},
  pages        = {{575--579}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports}},
  title        = {{Nitrogen isotope evidence for manuring of early Neolithic Funnel Beaker Culture cereals from Stensborg, Sweden}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2017.06.042}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.jasrep.2017.06.042}},
  volume       = {{14}},
  year         = {{2017}},
}