Biomolecular and zooarchaeological approaches to the detection of aquatic resource processing in prehistoric Central Europe

新石器时代标志着人类生存方式的重大转变。农业从黎凡特北部开始传播，经过巴尔干地区，进入欧洲大陆，其特点是引进了家畜和农作物，陶瓷技术，以及更多的定居地。然而，整个欧洲向农业的过渡在很多方面都有所不同，包括过渡的时间，引入的作物和动物，以及狩猎和捕鱼的持续重要性。在欧洲的一些地区，新石器时代轨迹的各个方面仍然不清楚，对于中欧的第一批农业人口来说，这包括水生资源和家畜的作用。先前的研究集中在东南欧和大西洋群岛，强调了水生资源对早期农业人口的不同重要性。该项目旨在评估水生资源对中欧第一批农业人口的重要性（线性bandkeramik文化，LBK；约公元前5500 - 4500年）。这项研究将结合三种互补的方法。首先，对LBK遗址的动物骨骼组合进行动物考古学分析。来自已发表和未发表文献的动物数据将在一个数据库中进行整理，以评估水生遗骸的存在。由于鱼骨非常小，通常保存得很差，而且没有系统地从考古遗址中恢复，因此将结合有机残留物分析。来源于食物的脂质在考古陶器的陶瓷基质中保存得很好，并且存在特定的生物标志物，表明水生资源的加工。从LBK陶器中选择的脂质提取物将使用气相色谱质谱技术进行分析。脂质将使用GC-q-TOF进行筛选，以检测一系列水生生物标志物。最后，脂质将使用一种新的14C测年方法来测定被困在陶器容器中的脂质。利用这些方法，将有可能对早期养殖地点的水生资源加工进行定性和定量评估，以确定与生态、营养和文化驱动因素有关的饮食的时间和地理波动。此外，它还将揭示人类与水生生态系统之间的关系如何随着时间的推移而变化，以及这些变化的潜在驱动因素。

The Neolithic period marks a significant shift in human subsistence. Farming spread from the northern Levant, through the Balkan region and into mainland Europe, characterised by the introduction of domestic crops and animals, ceramic technology, and more sedentary settlements. However, the transition to agriculture varied throughout Europe in a number of ways, including the timing of the transition, the crops and animals that were introduced, and the continued importance of hunting an fishing. In some regions of Europe, aspects of the Neolithic trajectory remain unclear, and for the first farming population in central Europe this includes the role of aquatic resources alongside domestic livestock. Previous research focused on the south-east Europe and the Atlantic archipelagos has highlighted the variable importance of aquatic resources to early farming populationsThe project aims to assess the importance of aquatic resources to the first farming populations central Europe (Linearbandkeramik culture, LBK; ca. 5,500-4,500 BCE). The research will combine three complementary approaches. Firstly, zooarchaeological analysis of animal bone assemblages from LBK sites. Faunal data from published and unpublished literature will be collated in a database to assess the presence of aquatic remains. Since fish bones are very small and often poorly preserved and not systematically recovered from archaeological sites, this will be combined with organic residue analysis. Lipids deriving from foodstuffs are well preserved in the ceramic matrix of archaeological pottery, and specific biomarkers exist that indicate that processing of aquatic resources. A selection of lipid extracts from LBK pottery will be analysed using gas-chromatography mass-spectrometry techniques. Lipid will be screened using GC-q-TOF to detect a range of aquatic biomarkers. Finally, lipids will be dated using a novel method for 14C dating lipids trapped within pottery vessels using AMS.Using these methods, will be possibly to qualitatively and quantitatively assess aquatic resource processing at early farming sites to define the chronological and geographical fluctuations in diet in relation to ecological, nutritional and cultural drivers. Furthermore, it will how the relationships between humans and aquatic ecosystems have changed over time, and the potential drivers of these changes.