Human-cattle interactions in PPNB- Early/Middle Bronze Age Cyprus
As a typical oceanic island, Cyprus has never been connected or land bridged to any of the surrounding continents, at least for the last 14,000 years (Henson et al. 1949; Held 1989; Vigne et al. 2014: 159). As a result of its geological evolution, the island has been a hotspot for palaeontological and zooarchaeological research. All of the main, economically-significant domestic and wild animal species utilised by humans, including standing weaned calves (Vigne et al. 2014: 157), were deliberately transported to Cyprus by humans on open rafts or dugout canoes (Knapp 2020: 421; Vigne et al. 2014: 167-171). The early introduction of cattle during the 8th millennium cal BC (Vigne et al. 2014: 165) demonstrates advanced management of these large animals by early farmers and highlights the seafaring capabilities of the Neolithic colonists.
On Cyprus, taurine cattle appear briefly at three early aceramic or Pre Pottery Neolithic (hereafter PPNB) sites: Parekklisia Shillourokambos (Guilaine et al. 2011) in the southern part of the island, Akanthou Arkosykos (Sevketoglu 2002) on the north coast, and Kritou Marottou Ais Giorkis (Simmons et al. 2018) in the western uplands (Figure 1). These remains are among the earliest known evidence of domesticated cattle in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Near East. On the mainland, cattle are found at PPNB Halula in Syria (7700–7600 cal BC), at Tel Aswad (8000 cal BC), and at Dja’de (8400 cal BC; Helmer et al. 2009; Helmer and Gourichon 2008:136–141) and are roughly contemporary with the Cypriot sites. Bone measurements taken from the Shillourokambos and Ais Giorkis cattle bones respectively show that the original cattle lineage, appearing first at Shillourokambos, may have been replaced with a new lineage which persisted until its extinction (Vigne 2011). Cyprus is the only Eastern Mediterranean island to have experienced the disappearance of a large terrestrial mammal, for reasons unknown. Several hypotheses have been proposed with researchers emphasising functional, economic (Davis 2003; Horwitz et al. 2004: 39), ecological (Simmons 2009: 6; Wasse 2007: 61) or even ideological reasons (Ronen 1995, Simmons 2009).
Studies of cattle biology have shown that taurine cattle require more forage and surface water than sheep and goat (Miller and Marston 2012: 99), since the latter are better adapted to withstand dehydration. In contrast to its sister subspecies, Bos indicus or zebu cattle, Bos taurus has restricted thermotolerance (Hansen 2004) and at temperatures above 26°C, the animals will go into heat stress, resulting in a decrease in food consumption and milk production, and eventual death (Ekesbo 2011: 69). While it is impossible to estimate the exact number of cattle during the early Aceramic Neolithic, the relatively low numbers of cattle bones recovered from these early sites suggest that the cattle population on the island was small, meaning less genetic diversity (Lande 1988). The small, isolated populations of cattle on the island, separated from sources of replenishment, would have probably been at the mercy of occasional catastrophes, including climatic extremes. Although further research on the topic is required, it is possible that the disappearance of cattle by the later Aceramic Neolithic may have been related to the fact that taurine cattle were not well-suited to the hot and arid environments of Cyprus (Spyrou 2021: 163).
Cattle re-emerged during the mid-third millennium BC alongside a series of radical changes in material culture, economy, technology and society (see summaries of the various aspects in: Knapp 2013: 260-177). This period, known as the Philia cultural facies (c. 2500–2200 BC; Webb and Frankel 1999), encompasses the transition from the Late Chalcolithic to the Early Bronze Age. The most significant innovations of the period include the first systematic exploitation of Cypriot copper ore (Kassianidou 2013), a shift from single-celled circular houses to multi-roomed rectilinear dwellings (Crewe 2015; Webb and Frankel 1999), the appearance of chamber tombs and extramural cemeteries (Frankel and Webb 2006), new textile technologies (Webb 2013) and the appearance of the distinctive Red polished pottery tradition (Webb and Frankel 1999, 2007). There is an ongoing debate to what extent external influences, including the arrival of migrant populations from south-western Anatolia or Cilicia (Dikaios 1962: 202–3; Frankel et al. 1995; Webb & Frankel 1999; Webb & Frankel 2007; Webb 2002, 2013) or indigenous/local processes (Knapp 1990) transformed Cypriot lifeways during this important period. Others have suggested that some of these key changes in material culture occurred earlier, during the Late Chalcolithic period, and were a combination of both external influences and local developments (Bolger 2013; Peltenburg 2007). Along with the re-establishment of cattle, the newcomers brought equids as well as a new species of screw-horned goats (Croft 2006).
The most fundamental shift in agricultural technologies was the introduction of cattle-plough farming (Knapp 1990:157), which provided the means for agricultural extensification (Lucas and Fuller 2020) impacting not only diet but also the nature of interactions with the landscape (Crewe 2015: 136). As multifunctional and multipurpose animals, cattle (and oxen) played a foundational role in surplus-producing Bronze Age agricultural systems (Knapp 1990: 156), providing traction for ploughing and dung for fertilising the fields and provisioning settlements with a wide range of animal products for both subsistence and craft activities (Zeder 1991; Nissen, Damerow and Englund 1993; Damerow 1996; Wilkinson 1989; Sherratt 1983; Halstead 1995). Even though direct evidence for penning, in the form of structures or enclosures is currently lacking for Bronze Age Cyprus, indirect evidence is provided by stable isotope studies (Pilaar Birch et al. 2022:9), while the collection and use of animal dung as fuel has also been suggested through palaeobotanical analysis (see: Lucas 2012: 179-180). The major investment in cattle-keeping practices would have also strengthened the animals’ social importance with cattle becoming a medium to growing political centralisation (Keswani 1994: 269) and cultural iconography, especially from the Early Bronze Age onwards (Knox 2013: 50; Webb and Frankel 2001; Webb 2017). Maintaining both the economic and social benefits derived from cattle necessitated increased human influence on cattle mortality, mobility and feeding schedules. In order to explore changing aspects of cattle management practices in the island context of Cyprus we now turn to stable isotope approaches to examine how cattle may inform on wider questions of economic and social transformation.
3. Stable carbon and oxygen isotopic studies
Applications of stable isotope analysis in zooarchaeology are numerous and have substantially progressed over the past decade, offering a systematic approach to mapping a wide range of activities relevant to animal management, including domestication, pastoral mobility, transhumance, foddering practices, water sources and vegetation composition (e.g. Balasse 2002; 2003; Lee-Thorp 2008; Makarewicz 2018). Zooarchaeological and stable isotopic approaches, when employed simultaneously, can provide insights into human-animal interaction that would have been undetectable to either technique applied in isolation (Makarewicz 2016: 190). Until recently, only a handful of stable isotopic studies have been undertaken on animal bones and teeth from archaeological sites in Cyprus, with the majority focusing on the Neolithic period (DiBenedetto 2018; Hadjikoumis 2017, 2018; Hadjikoumis et al. 2019; but see: Scire-Calabrisotto et al. 2020; Pilaar Birch et al. 2022). However, given that it represents a period of major social and economic developments, accompanied by human migrations, technological innovations and new animal introductions discussed above, the Cypriot Bronze Age provides an important point of comparison to these earlier Neolithic records.
δ13C values of herbivore tooth bioapatite are determined by the δ13C values of ingested plants (Ambrose and Norr 1993; Lee-Thorp et al. 1989). On the basis of their photosynthetic pathway, the majority of plants can be divided into C3 and C4 plants. C3 and C4 plants respond differently to changes in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration and changes in temperature and water availability. On Cyprus, the majority of economically important and edible C3 plants include cereal and crop species such as wheat, barley and lentils and have δ13C values ranging from -20 to -37‰, with an average of c. -27‰ (Cerling et al. 1997). C4 plants include cereals like sorghum, millet and maize, sugar cane and arid-adapted grasses and have δ13C values ranging from -9 to -17‰, with an average around -12‰ (Cerling et al. 1997). In modern semi-arid and arid environments receiving less than 500 mm of rainfall per year, terrestrial C3 plants have been shown to yield higher δ13C values up to about –21‰ (Kohn, 2010; Hartman and Danin, 2010). In addition, controlled animal feeding studies have reported a δ13C enamel-diet offset of approximately 15‰ for cattle (Passey et al. 2005), so we would therefore predict herbivores with a predominantly C3-based diet to have δ13C values (enamel) of around -12‰, while an animal with a predominantly C4 diet should have values of around 0‰ (Lee-Thorp et al., 1989; Levin et al., 2008).
Subtle differences in δ13C values of plants can be detected in the tissues of higher trophic-level consumers that form incrementally over the course of an annual cycle (Vaiglova et al. 2018: 7). These intra-annual variations can be used to assess the seasonal or inter-annual dietary and mobility patterns of animals (Bocherens et al. 2001; Balasse 2002). Large δ13C ranges can only be attributed to large variations in the local plants, soil and in the animals themselves. It could also imply that animals were moved across a landscape that varies isotopically (Pearson et al. 2007). In both contemporary and pre-industrial times, Cyprus was characterised by a C3-dominated biomass (Fall 2012; Lucas 2014). Several archaeobotanical studies conducted on different prehistoric sites on the island (e.g. Lucas 2014; Willcox 2003) confirmed the dominance of C3 plant species, such as wheat, barley, oats and legumes while economically important C4 plants (e.g. millet) seem to be uncommon (Fall 2012; Lucas 2014). However, arid-adapted C4 plant species such as the wild amaranth (Amaranthus graecizans) and foxtail millet (Setaria italica) are quite common on the island today (Savvides 2000), with the latter being identified in several Neolithic and Chalcolithic archaeobotanical assemblages (Lucas 2014). Additional factor, which should be considered when studying the distribution of δ13C values is the “pre-weaning effect” and post-weaning dietary changes that are visible along cattle first molars (Towers et al. 2014). As prior to weaning, mother and calf occupy two different trophic levels, M1 enamel δ13C values are expected to reflect a progressive enrichment in 13C, due to rumen development. For the current study, we mostly included cattle second and third molars (the only exception was M8, see below).
δ18Ο values are well-suited to archaeological questions relating to calving season (Balasse et al. 2021), mobility and herding ecology. δ18Ο values of tooth enamel are determined largely by the δ18O values of ingested water, including plant water, drinking water, inspired air and water in food (Ayliffe and Chivas, 1990). As meteoric waters are influenced by a combination of environmental inputs (see: Clark and Fritz, 1997), δ18Ο values in animal tissues can potentially delineate patterns of movement in environments characterised by high δ18Ο variability (Makarewicz and Sealy 2015: 153). In middle and high latitudes, a key factor is ambient temperature and its seasonal variations leading to higher δ18Ο values in warmer, and lower in cooler, periods of the year (Rozanski et al. 1993). Cyprus is characterised by a Mediterranean-type climate, with short and cold winters and long dry summers. In such a climatic context, the δ18Ο of precipitation fluctuates predictably, exhibiting higher δ18Ο values in the dry/warm summers and lower δ18Ο values in the cold/wet winters (Vaiglova et al. 2018: 7). Shifts in the sequential isotopic values of δ18Ο and δ13C of cattle and caprine molars may therefore be used to explore changing patterns of mobility at different points of intra-annual and inter-annual management practices (Balasse 2002; Balasse et al. 2013).