Page 56 - TINA Dergi Sayi 09

TINA

Denizcilik Arkeolojisi Dergisi

Can nitrogen and carbon analyses of human bone gean context.
come to the rescue? While the theoretical and optimistic After all of these cautionary remarks, when we work
answer to this question is a simple yes, in the context with the possibilities of evidence we do have, two ar-
of the prehistoric Aegean, studies are sporadic, although guments can be proposed with considerable confidence.
numerous, and results can be interpreted in several dif- Firstly, since the Mesolithic, the contribution of terres-
ferent ways. Two recent papers illustrate this point. In trial fauna to the diet at coastal sites was greater than
a 2013 review, Papathanasiou et al. write that isotopic that of marine fauna. For example, old and new inves-
analyses indicate that “fishing indeed occurred during tigations at Franchthi Cave show that, despite an inten-
the Neolithic, but…it was subsidiary to animal husband- sification of fishing and shellfish gathering throughout
ry and agriculture” . This interpreted result brings us the Mesolithic, the bulk of the faunal food was provided
10
hardly any more knowledge than what one can deduce through activities targeting terrestrial resources (Fig.
from ‘traditional’ zooarchaeological and archaeobotan- 2) . Likewise, remains of terrestrial fauna seem to be
13
ical studies of the Neolithic Aegean. The authors fur- more abundant than those of marine fauna at the insu-
ther acknowledge that “molluscs and small coastal fish lar Mesolithic site of Youra . The relative abundance
14
of low trophic levels…produce isotopic values that are of terrestrial as opposed to marine remains continues to
very close to those of terrestrial resources and can there- be high in the Neolithic, although the number of sieved
fore not be detected [in nitrogen/carbon stable isotopic and fully published sites is limited (Fig. 3) . According
15
analyses]” . As we will demonstrate below, molluscs to some scholars, the contribution of marine resources
11
and coastal fish are staples of marine diet in the pre- decreases with the introduction of domestic animals in
historic Aegean. Indeed, in a data-heavy, solid article the Neolithic . In our view, this claim is yet to be sup-
16
presenting isotopic data collected from fish remains in ported by rigorous quantitative (perhaps also isotopic)
order to form a baseline for the analyses of nitrogen and evidence. When we assess the meagre, but complete
carbon stable isotopic ratios in human bone, Vika and quantitative evidence from a few Early Bronze Age
Theodoropoulou demonstrate that nitrogen and carbon (henceforth EBA) assemblages (unfortunately hand-col-
values of prehistoric fish from Greece are highly vari- lected), the fact remains that zooarchaeological assem-
able, with no evident chrono-spatial trends . blages show ample evidence for fishing and shellfish
12
Thus, care must be used when applying ‘universal gathering, but domesticated and wild and/or tame faunal
rules’ to interpret nitrogen and carbon results in the Ae- resources are dominant (Fig. 4).

10 PAPATHANASIOU et al. 2013, 27.
11 PAPATHANASIOU et al. 2013, 27.
14 VIKA ̶ THEODOrOPOULOU 2012.
15 VIKA – THEODOrOPOULOU 2012; ATICI et al. 2017.
16 e.g. MYLONA 2014; TrANTALIDOU 2011.
Fikirtepe Sites Animal Remains Fikirtepe arkeolojik alanı hayvan kalıntıları

Fikirtepe
Pendik
100,0% Yenikapı
90,0%
80,0%
70,0%
60,0%
50,0%
40,0%
30,0%
20,0%
10,0%
0,0%
Terrestrial artiodactyls Euryaline fish Bluefin
Gevişgetiren karasal Örihalin (tuz tole- Orkinos
memeliler ransı geniş) balık
Fig. 3: İstanbul Neolitik Dönem yerleşmelerinde sucul omurgalı ve çift toynaklı hayvan kalıntılarının birbiri-
Figure 3: Proportion of aquatic vertebrates and ungulates in the Neolithic faunal assemblages of Istanbul
ne oranı (Çakırlar 2013).
(after Çakırlar 2013)
Fig. 3: proportion of aquatic vertebrates and ungulates in the Neolithic faunal assemblages of Istanbul (after
Figure 3: İstanbul Neolitik Dönem yerleşmelerinde sucul omurgalı ve çift toynaklı hayvan kalıntılarının
Çakırlar 2013).
birbirine oranı (Çakırlar 2013)
54
Chart Title
30000

25000
20000

NISP 15000
10000

5000
0
Mammals Birds Tortoise Fish