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Preistoria dell’Italia settentrionale. Studi in ricordo di Bernardino Bagolini 453

Atti del Convegno, Udine settembre 2005, pp. 453-458 (Udine, 2006)

MEAT OR MILK? NEOLITHIC ECONOMIES OF CAPUT ADRIAE

D. MLEKUZˇ

Riassunto - Carne o latte? Le economie neolitiche del Caput Adriae. Nel Caput Adriae allevavano per
ottenerne carne o prodotti secondari? Il contributo offre una interpretazione della curva di abbatti-
mento per il campione faunistico di quattro siti. Sebbene i prodotti secondari siano una realtà già per
alcuni dei primi agricoltori in Europa, l’Autore ritiene che il modello economico del Neolitico Medio
sia relativamente semplice e teso al consumo di carne. Le curve relative al Tardoneolitico e
all’Eneolitico/Bronzo Antico possono dimostrare invece una tendenza verso l’ottimizzazione della
produzione di carne, all’interno però di un allevamento diversificato in cui il bestiame costituisce una
probabile fonte anche di latte.

Abstract - Were first herds in the Caput Adriae exploited for meat or dairy products? Paper offers inter-
pretation of survivorship curves from four sites. Although dairying was practiced by some of Europe’s
earliest farming groups, I believe that Middle Neolithic pattern reflects relatively simple, non-optimi-
zed economy aimed at the domestic consumption of meat. Curves from the Late Neolithic and
Eneolithic/Early Bronze Age assemblages may demonstrate trends towards the optimization of meat
production, but within a context of more diversified herds, with cattle as a possible source of milk.

Introduction
The identification of herd exploitation strategies poses a number of challenges to archa-
eological research. The matter of which animal product was primary is not important only
in the context of economics. The different labour requirements connected with milk and car-
nivorous pastoralism play crucial roles in shaping the social relations of production and the-
refore influence every facet of life (INGOLD, 1980; see also MLEKU˘, 2005).
That dairying was an innovation of the 3rd millennium BC was first proposed by
Andrew SHERRAT (1981; 1983; 1997) as a component of the secondary products. However,
the analysis of remnant dairy lipids preserved in ceramic vessels from Early Neolithic far-
ming settlements in central and eastern Europe (CRAIG et al., 2005) and England
(EVERSHED et al., 2002; COPLEY et al., 2005) clearly demonstrated, that dairying was prac-
ticed by some of Europe’s earliest farming groups. It should be noted that identification of
small-scale dairying in the Early Neolithic does not rule out the latter intensification in the
Eneolithic and Bronze Age, as proposed by Sherrat in revision of his model (SHERRATT,
1997). The key archaeological issue is therefore the scale of dairying and its significance
in prehistoric societies.
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454 D. MLEKUZˇ

Phase Edera Mitreo Ciclami Zingari

4 A3 - -
3 2 AB4 6 -
AB5
2 2a AB6 7 5
1 3 Tab. 1 - Chronological divi-
3a sion of assemblages into four
phases.

Data and method

The subject of analysis are survivorship graphs (“kill-off curves”) constructed using ovi-
caprine dentitions from 12 faunal assemblages from four sites (Grotta dell’Edera / Stenaœca:
BOSCHIN & RIEDEL, 2000; Grotta degli Zingari/Ciganska jama: BON, 1996; Grotta del
Mitreo/Mitrej: PETRUCCI, 1997 and Grotta dei Ciclami/Orehova pejca: RIEDEL, 1968). Data
was collected from available published reports, standardized and compared to the idealized
survivorship curves of herd management for the production of milk and meat compiled by
PAYNE (1973).
Faunal assemblages were grouped into four chronological phases (1 - Mesolithic/
Neolithic transition, 2 - Middle Neolithic or “Vlaœka group”, 3 - Late Neolithic and 4 -
Eneolithic/Early Bronze Age or “Ljubljana culture”; Tab. 1). However, loose stratigraphic
control over contexts, a general lack of radiocarbon data, and difficulties connected with tra-
ditional chronologies based on pottery typology mean that this chronological sequence has
only heuristic value (MLEKU˘, 2005, pp. 26-27).

Methodological rationale
The traditional method of detection of animal strategies is an analysis of survivorship
graphs. Sebastian PAYNE (1973) proposed - on the basis of his ethno-archaeological research
among Turkish pastoralists - a middle range theory, which links flock management strate-
gies to kill-off curves. It is based on the assumption than an optimization of animal products
can be obtained by manipulating the sex and age structure of the herd. Ideal dairying and
meat models differ in the age when males are culled. In the ideal dairying model, most ani-
mals younger than two months are culled in order to reduce competition for milk with peo-
ple. With an optimal meat strategy most animals are culled after one to three years, as they
achieve their maximum weight.
However, the interpretation of survivorship curves is complicated by strong preservation
bias against neonates and young animals on one hand and high natural mortality of neona-
tes and young animals. But the main problem behind use of idealized curves is the assum-
ption that people in the past behaved optimally. Ethnographic evidence suggests that within
household based economy animals are used for variety of animal products. Specialized and
optimized exploitation of animal products emerges under demands of marked based econo-
my. Thus correspondence to the ideal “dairying” model would indicate specialized produc-
tion geared towards exchange (HALSTEAD, 1996, p. 25; 1998).
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Meat or milk? Neolithic economies of Caput Adriae 455

Fig. 1 - Survivorship curves from sites discussed in text.

Results
Survivorship curves from the Edera cave (phases 1, 2 and 3; from M/N transition to the
LN; Fig. 1), demonstrate relatively high cull of young animals. Most of sheep and goats (up
to 90%) were culled before they reached 2 years. However, there is difference between
phase 1 and phases 2 and 3, with higher cull of juvenile and subadult animals in phase 1 and
higher cull of newborn lambs and yearlings in phases 2 and 3.
Most of ovicaprines from the MN assemblages from the Mitreo cave were culled at juve-
nile age, same, even more pronounced pattern can be observed from the MN assemblage
from the Zingari cave. Cull of infantile animals is generally below 20%.
MN survivorship curve from Ciclami cave demonstrates very high cull of newborn
lambs (around 50%) and is therefore closest to the ideal “dairying” survivorship curve.
LN and E/EBA survivorship curves from the Mitreo demonstrate higher slaughter of
adult animals, LN curve from Ciclami shows similar pattern.
Combined curves (Fig. 2) display trend towards lower cull of infantile and juvenile ani-
mals and greater cull of adult sheep and goats. While more than 80% of animals were slau-
ghtered before they reached two years in the MN, this proportion falls to the 50% in the
E/EBA.
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456 D. MLEKUŽ

Fig. 2 - Combined survivorship curves. Fig. 3 - Proportion of ovicaprines and cattle in the
assemblages from Caput Adriae.

Discussion: milk or meat?

How can we interpret these puzzling curves? No curve resembles either the ideal meat
or milk model. Examples of optimized meat economies can be found - among others - in
early Neolithic Greek (HALSTEAD, 1996) and Dalmatian sites (MLEKU˘, 2005, fig. 17).
However, these are relatively large, occupied all year round, and provide evidence of dome-
stic and agricultural activities. They are in sharp contrast to the small, seasonally used caves,
from which all the assemblages analysed derive (MLEKU˘, 2005).
Similar curves from Pupičina Cave (MIRACLE & FORENBAHER, 2005) and Arene Candide
(ROWLEY-CONWY, 2000) were interpreted as a result of dairying strategy. I believe that this
might not be the case.
First, most of animals were not slaughtered in their first two or three months but after
that and before they reached one year. Since sheep lactation period is short - from 90 to 120
days (DAHL & HJORT, 1976, p. 210) - and one would expect that lambs removed from com-
petition for milk would be slaughtered before or in the first stage of the lactation period.
However, observed survivorship curves indicate that animals were slaughtered after lacta-
tion period, probably before or during winter. This pattern can be therefore understood as a
result of fodder preserving strategies.
Second, a seasonal bias needs to be accounted for. Since most sites were occupied during
lambing (probably spring; see MLEKU˘, 2005, pp. 37-38), a high number of newborns in
faunal assemblages may reflect high mortality and not specialized “dairying” strategy.
In my opinion, early curves (M/N, EN) demonstrate a relatively simple, non-optimized
economy aimed primarily at the domestic consumption of meat and not strategies aimed at
maximizing dairying products. However, this does not exclude small-scale dairying of
sheep and goats. Since goats are more effective milk producers than sheep (DAHL & HJORT,
1976, p. 210), one would expect that goats were milked (ROWLEY-CONWY, 2000). Goats are
present since the appearance of small stock in Caput Adriae. However, their proportion to
sheep is low, around 20%, rendering their role in small-scale dairying invisible in the crude
resolution of survivorship curves.
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Meat or milk? Neolithic economies of Caput Adriae 457

Curves from the Late Neolithic and Eneolithic/Early Bronze Age assemblages may
demonstrate trends towards the optimization of meat production. These curves may be the
result of mixed herding strategies, where a small number of a variety of animals is kept for
a mixture of products (meat and milk) principally for domestic use. This pattern not only
seems more economically plausible, but it is also evident in a trend toward heterogeneity
that exists in the LN and E/EBA faunal assemblages (MLEKU˘, 2005, pp. 28-32). However,
in diversified herds, small stock is exploited principally for meat, while cattle are kept as
a source of milk (DAHL & HJORT, 1976, pp. 223-256). The proportion of cattle in assem-
blages from Caput Adriae increases from 4% in the M/T transition to 17% in the E/EBA
while proportion of ovicaprines decreases from around 60% to fewer than 40% (Fig. 3). It
is therefore possible that the trend of increased diversity of assemblages reflects a diversi-
fication in animal products, with cattle (and possibly goats) as the main milk animals and
sheep as source of meat.

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Indirizzo dell’autore:
Dimitrij MEKLU˘
Department of Archaeology, Faculty of Arts
University of Ljubljana
Askerceva 2, SI-1001 LJUBLJANA SLO