Individual life histories and WOMEN Status at the Onset of FARming. Bioarchaeological perspectives in the French and Mediterranean Prehistoric context – WomenSOFar

Collection management and archiving
Part of the year 2022 was dedicated to setting up the transfer of osteological collections and associated administrative documentation, which since very recently has been subject to new rules and a preliminary study of files (longer processing time). As of January 2023, access to the project material (119 skeletons) is possible at the Pessac osteological repository, where two missions have been carried out (January and March 2023). These missions and all the archiving work were made possible by the recruitment of a study engineer (Maëlle Couvrat, LAMPEA). During these two missions, digital archiving of the material was carried out using photographs and an ARTEC Spider surface scanner (fig. 2) on 101 archaeological pieces. The digital documentation was then deposited on Huma-Num's ShareDoc project management platform so that it could be accessed by all team members.

2- Creating documentation to accompany the project
During 2022 we set up a website, graphic documentation (map and logos) and produced a DMP (data management plan), which will be revised before the end of 2023. The documentation accompanying the project is being produced by the WP4 team, respecting as far as possible the rules of Open Science and the FAIR principle (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable). The DMP was made available to the ANR in July 2022 and created from the OPIDoR DMP. A general map (CC BY) locating the sites studied is now usable by all and accessible on the project website (fig. 3). A logo has also been produced (small and large format, mentioning the project number).
3- Sampling and pre-analytical treatment of material
Samples were taken from selected bones, teeth and environmental biorests (archaeological snails). They were taken during the January and March 2023 missions, as well as by INRAP colleagues in the field. A total of 62 individuals were sampled from teeth, constituting a corpus of 288 analyses on dental enamel (Sr, C,O; Fig. 4), 800 analyses on dentine (estimate, work in progress), 12ene analyses on snails, 78 analyses on dental calculus (microremains and ancient DNA), 180 analyses on bone collagen. With the exception of some dentine material (34 selected teeth) and tartar, all other samples have been prepared according to the different protocols of the various technical platforms involved (at LAMPEA, CEREGE, UCD dublin and SUERC Glasgow), with analyses scheduled for 2023.

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Between 2022 and 2023, several biogeochemical analyses have already been carried out. Isotopic compositions of carbon, nitrogen and sulfur (CNS) have been obtained on around 40% of the planned samples using two instruments at CEREGE (fig. 5) and SUERC. At CEREGE, elemental and isotopic analyses (C, N, d13C and d15N) are performed by a CF-IRMS continuous flow mass spectrometer linked via a ConFlo interface to an elemental analyzer equipped with an autosampler. At SUERC, elemental and isotopic analyses of sulfur (S, d34S) are carried out by a Delta V Advantage continuous flow mass spectrometer linked by a ConFlo interface to an IsoLink elemental analyzer. The next measurement sessions are scheduled for July 2023. Initial results indicate poor sulfur preservation in many samples.
Prior to the strontium analyses on dental enamel, a series of pXRF analyses were carried out to characterize the chemical composition of this material at each of the sites concerned. The results (% and ppm) show that strontium is sufficiently present for extraction, but that the ratios of certain elements (notably Ca/P) are higher than those expected on well-preserved material. Analysis of strontium isotopic compositions (87Sr/86Sr) began in June 2023, with the next measurement sessions scheduled for October 2023. The measurements are being carried out by an Inductively Coupled Plasma Multi-Collection Mass Spectrometer (MC-ICPMS) - Neptune Plus within the ENVITOP platform (fig. 5). Initial results indicate the reliability of chemical protocols for sample preparation, and consistency between values obtained for archaeological malcofauna and those known for the soil cover of the regions studied. Initial data on dental enamel indicate that the size of the prepared sample can be reduced (less impact on heritage) and, for the first site concerned (Clos Chauvin, see map), that the individuals probably have reduced territorial mobility.
5- Dental calculus exploration
The multi-disciplinary exploration of dental tartar is one of the innovative aspects of the project, as it has been little developed to date in bioarchaeological studies. Dental tartar is a mineralized biofilm, relatively resistant to diagenesis and often found on archaeological teeth. The project involves two parallel approaches. A study of microremains (phytoliths, starches, etc.) has begun as part of a Master 1 (Apolline Lambert) in collaboration between ISEM (Montpellier; dir. L. Bouby) and University College Dublin (UCD; Ireland; dir. R. Power). Fifty-three samples are currently being prepared, and seven from the Roussille site have been explored in detail. Over 1,000 remains have been identified in the seven samples by the student.

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Work in North Africa (Algeria and Morocco) is also part of the WomenSOFar project's exploratory approaches. An initial pilot study at the Skhirat site (Rabat, Morocco) carried out in 2017-2018 (CNS, unpublished, fig. 8) shows that Middle Neolithic human groups consumed few marine resources (difficult to quantify at present), and that there is variability within the buried community that could reflect different «gendered« behaviors (women and children are buried in different areas from men). New samples will be selected before the end of 2023 as part of a planned mission to INSAP (Rabat, Morocco). The preparatory work for this mission will be carried out by Abir El Ouafi (PhD student in cotutelle between INSAP and the University of Las Palmas in Gran Canaria; dir. A. Bouzouggar, J. Santana Cabrera). The new analyses will shed light on the variability of isotopic data (CNS) in relation to the environment and diet, and the exploratory approach to dental enamel (Sr, C and O) will enable us to better identify geographical origins. Analyses are scheduled for 2024.
In Algeria, the Columnata site (11th-7th mill. B.C., Sidi Hosni, Algeria) will be studied as a priority, and only those human remains attributed to the Neolithic period. An exploratory biogeochemical study (CNS, Sr, C, O) is underway on a number of immature and adult subjects. A mission to Algiers is planned before March 2024 to assess the condition of the remaining material and work with Algerian partners on health and growth from bone and dental remains. Two or three 14C dates will also be carried out (SUERC Glasgow) to establish the chronology of the Neolithic subjects studied.

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List of papers 2022-2023


? G. Goude, G. Leduc, S. Rottier & the ANR WomenSOFar consortium. Contextualization and presentation of the issues and perspectives of the project Individual life histories and WOMEN Status at the Onset of FARming. Bioarchaeological perspectives in the French and Mediterranean Prehistoric context. Seminar as part of the CIVIS - European Civic University summer school «Interdisciplinary approaches to Gender Archaeology« (Tübingen, Germany, July 4-9, 2022).
? Goude G., Leduc G., Rottier S. & the WomenSOFar consortium. The ANR WomenSOFar project: an innovative multidisciplinary approach to understanding the place of women in ancient societies. GlobalMed Round Tables - The Mediterranean and the World. MMSH, Aix en Provence (June 2, 2022).
? G. Goude, G. Leduc, S. Rottier & the ANR WomenSOFar consortium. «Women on the move. Diversity of social organization and women status in the Neolithic: new perspectives within the WomenSOFar ANR project. Flash communication in the session «Manger - Bouger«: histoire bio-culturelle du métabolisme of the first meetings of the RESHAPE network (Toulouse, September 27-28, 2022).
? G. Goude, G. Leduc, S. Rottier & the ANR WomenSOFar consortium. Challenges and perspectives for women's studies in past populations: presentation of the WomenSOFar ANR project. Session Regards actuels sur les femmes dans les sociétés du passé: constructions sociales, perspectives bio-culturelles et lectures archéo-anthropologiques, Réunion Scientifique de la Société d'Anthropologie de Paris (January 25-27, 2023, Paris).
? G. Goude, G. Leduc, S. Rottier, R. C. Power, D. C. Salazar-Garcia, A. Lambert, M. Le Roy, M. Gandelin, M. Couvrat & ANR WomenSOFar Consortium. New perspectives for women's studies in past populations: some key issues presented in the WomenSOFar ANR project. Session Human Stories and Histories in the Era of Integrated Science - People of the Present - Peopling the Past, 29th EAA Annual Meeting (August 30-September 2, 2023, Belfast, UK). Oral presentation (in person by R. Power and M. Le Roy).
Course title: «Reconstruction of Middle Neolithic paleodiets from dental tartars (Auvergne, France)«.

M1 apolline LAMBERT
Course title: «Reconstruction of Middle Neolithic paleo-dieges from dental tartars (Auvergne, France)«.

M2 Jai Rebière
Dissertation title: «Approche de la mobilité dans l'enfance des sociétés préhistoriques sédentaires par croisement des modèles isotopiques et ethnographiques« («Approaching mobility in childhood of sedentary prehistoric societies by crossing isotopic and ethnographic models«).

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Women are central in the neolithisation process. The ways they are involved in the societies are determined by social organizations and local patterns according to the environment and the subsistence economy. The WomenSOFar project aims at documenting how females eat, move, care for and work among the early agropastoralists societies of the Neolithic (6th-4th mill. BC) in different ecological areas in France and the Mediterranean area. It proposes a unique multi-disciplinary approach combining environmental, biochemical, cultural and biological data obtained on human remains. The project expects to test the hypotheses of females vs. males’ dietary diversity and mobility; it also expects to highlight specific weaning strategies, potential early life mobility and to correlate health and activities to the biogeochemical markers. The project aims at contributing to our understanding on the origin of our modern life societies and the diversity of females vs. males’ social burdens.