New Insights On Early Farming: How People Managed Land And Resources

Jenn Hoskins
30th June, 2025

New Insights On Early Farming: How People Managed Land And Resources

Excavations at Mas d’Is (a) and Niuet (b) revealed the stratigraphic sequences containing the faunal remains that provided isotopic evidence for compartmentalized landscape management practices during the Neolithic.

Image adapted from: Navarrete et al. / CC BY (Source)

Key Findings

  • In the Serpis Valley, ancient animal bones reveal that Neolithic communities managed two distinct types of herds: some grazed on common C3 plants, while others fed on C4 wetland plants
  • This dual strategy suggests a sophisticated system where C3-fed animals were integrated into farming, possibly for traction, while C4-fed animals likely grazed in communal marshlands
The establishment of the first livestock communities in the eastern Iberian Peninsula during the 6th millennium cal BCE marked a significant shift in how people managed their resources and organized their societies. Understanding these early animal management practices, including how animals were fed and pastured, offers crucial insights into the social structures and economic systems of the time. Reconstructing these ancient practices is challenging, as direct evidence is scarce. However, a recent study by researchers from the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Universitat de València, and University of California Santa Cruz[1] has shed new light on these complex interactions in the Serpis Valley. This research investigates the interplay between environmental conditions, animal management, and dietary habits of Neolithic herds at the Mas d’Is and Niuet sites. To achieve this, the scientists used stable carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) isotopic analyses of animal bone remains. Stable isotopes are non-radioactive forms of elements, and their ratios in animal tissues reflect the isotopic composition of their diet. Carbon isotopes (specifically δ13C) are particularly useful because different types of plants have distinct isotopic signatures. For example, C3 plants, which include most trees, shrubs, and temperate grasses, have a different δ13C signature than C4 plants, such as maize or some tropical grasses, which use a different photosynthetic pathway. The landscape of the Serpis Valley, characterized by Mediterranean forests and marshes, primarily featured C3 types of plants, but also contained some clusters of C4 vegetation. The δ13C values in animal bones therefore indicate whether the animals predominantly consumed C3 or C4 plants. Nitrogen isotopes (δ15N) provide information about an animal's trophic level, or its position in the food chain, and can also reflect specific agricultural practices. For instance, higher δ15N values can indicate consumption of protein-rich foods or, in the context of domesticated animals, the use of animal fertilizers on pastures or the feeding of cultivated crops[2]. The interpretation of these nitrogen values requires a thorough understanding of how nitrogen moves through ancient plant-soil systems, as highlighted by earlier research on nitrogen dynamics[2]. Similarly, interpreting carbon isotope data in plants, and by extension in animals that consume them, is complex. Factors like altitude, temperature, and atmospheric pressure can influence the δ13C values in C3 plants due to changes in their carboxylation efficiency, or how effectively they take up carbon dioxide[3]. Furthermore, water availability is a primary factor controlling both carbon and nitrogen isotope variability in plant communities, especially in Mediterranean environments[4]. These environmental factors establish the baseline isotopic signatures that animals then incorporate into their tissues. The isotopic analyses from the Serpis Valley sites revealed that the local herds could be divided into two distinct groups based on their diet: some animals primarily fed on C3 plants, while others consumed C4 plants. This finding points to diverse feeding strategies and, by extension, different spatial management practices across the landscape. Intriguingly, the animals with a C3 signature also exhibited strong nitrogen values and showed marks on their bones, indicating they were used as traction force, likely as part of the agricultural cycle. This suggests that these C3-fed animals were integrated into farming activities, possibly helping to pull plows or transport goods. This complex organizational strategy, with two herds showing different levels of husbandry intensification, likely reflects broader socio-economic systems. It suggests that the landscape might have been managed with a mosaic of different property regimes: marginal areas perhaps considered communal or open-access resources, while more fertile areas near settlements were used as crop fields and managed individually or by households. These findings expand upon previous understandings of early Neolithic animal management in the Iberian Peninsula. For instance, an earlier isotopic study on the site of Cueva de Chaves, also in Iberia, suggested that agricultural practices and animal husbandry were not necessarily associated in the early stages of the Western Mediterranean Neolithic[5]. That study found evidence for high meat consumption by humans, supporting the idea of specialized animal husbandry without intensively developed agriculture, and noted that domestic pigs showed signatures of a herbivore diet, ruling out feeding on household leftovers[5]. In contrast, the current research in the Serpis Valley demonstrates a more nuanced and integrated approach, where livestock were actively incorporated into agricultural systems, and different herds were managed with varying intensities. This highlights an adaptive and dynamic approach to animal husbandry, responding to both environmental conditions and social factors during the Neolithic period in the Serpis Valley. The selective use of landscape resources and the integration of animals into farming practices paint a picture of sophisticated resource management that was more diverse and flexible than previously understood.

AgricultureEcologyAnimal Science

References

Main Study

1) Isotopes, herds, and landscape management practices: New insights on early farming communities in the Serpis Valley (Eastern Iberian Peninsula)

Published 27th June, 2025

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0325137

Related Studies

2) Complexities of nitrogen isotope biogeochemistry in plant-soil systems: implications for the study of ancient agricultural and animal management practices.

https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2014.00288

3) Carbon isotope discrimination by plants follows latitudinal and altitudinal trends.

https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00328400

4) Isotopic values of plants in relation to water availability in the Eastern Mediterranean region.

https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-009-1514-7

5) Reconstruction of human subsistence and husbandry strategies from the Iberian Early Neolithic: A stable isotope approach.

https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.23622


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