Autumnal lambing in the Mediterranean area: the history of complex interactions between biology, paleoenvironments and technical systems – AUTUMN_LAMBS

Domestication was a major transformation in human/animal relationship. In addition to changes in morphology and other appearance characteristics, domestication also influenced animals and plants biological rhythms, in particular in their reproductive cycle. Archaeology is giving growing attention to the early history of these evolutionary processes involving tight interconnections between biology, environments and technical systems. Sheep (Ovis aries L.) is of particular interest in this matter. Sheep have inherited from their wild ancestor a seasonal reproduction imposing strong constraints on husbandry. In Europe, they predominantly give birth in the spring. In contrast, in present-day Mediterranean area, lambing can also be scheduled in autumn, bringing benefits in terms of seasonal availability of animal products. Autumnal births are enabled by the conjunction of: (i) a physiological capability of Mediterranean breeds for an “out-of-season” fertility period; (ii) intentional scheduling of mating time by the herder; (iii) abundant forage resources for autumn lactation, due to the Mediterranean autumnal rains. Studies involving stable isotope analysis in sheep teeth highlighted autumn lambing in Neolithic sites in the northwestern Mediterranean, demonstrating that all three conditions were met early in the past. Autumn lambing (with consequences on pastoral calendar, seasonal availability of animal products, herd mobility) would have directly impacted the socioeconomic components of ancient farming societies. “AUTUMN LAMBS” aims to retrace the early history (7th-3rd millennia BC) of autumn lambing systems in Europe and define the conditions that led to their emergence. The study corpus includes a large number of archaeological assemblages within purposely defined geographical and chrono-cultural frameworks in relation to the history of the Neolithic diffusion and its later developments in Europe.
A multidisciplinary approach will be deployed in order to document sheep birth seasons while contextualizing them within their socio-economic framework (subsistence economy, site function and occupation) and to investigate the links between these farming systems and paleoenvironmental conditions by reconstructing quantitatively their vegetation (landscape) and climatic framework (temperature and precipitation) on a seasonal scale. Present-day autumn lambing husbandry systems will also be investigated for zootechnical knowledge and practices to define the role of farmers’ technical choices in response to production goals and constraints.
The project addresses human-environment interactions, as well as the history of knowledge and technical systems and how those were implemented and adapted to local resources in the course of the diffusion of Neolithic farming societies across Europe. In the context of the current and prospective rapid environmental changes caused by climate warming and the anthropic pressure on ecosystems, a deeper understanding of long-time interactions between environments and societies seems crucial for the development of appropriate responses to ongoing changes. The project will also bring significant advances in the field of paleoenvironment and paleoclimatology, addressing key questions in the Mediterranean domain (when, how and where was the Mediterranean climate established?). It will also be of interest to current agronomic research, by providing knowledge of the breeding systems from which our current breeding systems originate and by documenting the ancestral animal populations and their evolution over time under anthropic pressure. Special attention will be given to dissemination of results to society: pastoralism and the genesis of these complex social ecosystems raise questions of global interest. We will work at explaining the importance of pastoralism in the co-construction of Mediterranean societies and of its very specific landscapes.