Regional differences in health, diet and weaning patterns amongst the first Neolithic farmers of central Europe

www.nature.com/scientificreports OPEN received: 16 February 2016 accepted: 16 June 2016 Published: 07 July 2016 Regional differences in health, diet and weaning patterns amongst the first Neolithic farmers of central Europe Abigail Ash1, Michael Francken2, Ildikó Pap3, Zdeněk Tvrdý4, Joachim Wahl5,6 & Ron Pinhasi1,7 Across much of central Europe, the Linearbandkeramik (LBK) represents the first Neolithic communities. Arising in Transdanubia around 5500 cal. BC the LBK spread west to the Rhine within two to three hundred years, carrying elements of a mixed agricultural economy and a relatively homogeneous material culture. Colonisation of new regions during this progress would have required economic adaptations to varied ecological conditions within the landscape. This paper investigates whether such adaptation at a local scale affected health patterns and altered the dietary habits of populations that otherwise shared a common cultural and biological origin. Analysis of non-specific stress (linear enamel hypoplasia, porotic hyperostosis, cribra orbitalia) within five LBK populations from across central Europe in conjunction with published carbon and nitrogen stable isotope data from each site revealed a high prevalence of porotic hyperostosis and cribra orbitalia in western populations that was associated with a lower animal protein intake. Hypoplastic enamel was more frequently observed in eastern populations however, and may reflect geographic differences in childhood morbidity and mortality as a result of variation in social practices relating to weaning. Local socio-economic adaptations within the LBK were therefore an important factor in the exposure of populations to non-specific stress. Settlements of the Linearbandkeramik (LBK) culture, identified by their characteristic longhouse architecture and linearly incised pottery, are found across much of central Europe during the late sixth and early fifth millennia BC. The culture first arose in Transdanubia around 5500 cal. BC1,2, practicing a small-scale intensive garden agriculture based on the cultivation of five staple crops (einkorn and emmer wheat, barley, peas, and lentils) and the husbandry of four animals (cattle, sheep, goats, and pigs3,4). Rapid spread of the LBK from Transdanubia to the Rhine by 5300 cal. BC suggests a rapid diffusion of the culture and recent studies of genomic data from 17 LBK specimens from Eastern Hungary5, Transdanubia, and Germany6,7 indicate a close genetic affinity between LBK populations across this distribution. Carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analysis of bones and teeth from LBK populations suggests that they were consuming a mixed terrestrial diet and that this differed little depending on the age, sex, or social status of individuals8–10. Small differences in the proportions of proteins and carbohydrates consumed by males and females may, however, have existed at some sites11 and dietary differences across the geographic landscape may be identified in the archaeological record12. Analysis of palaeobotanical data and faunal remains from a number of sites has given an insight into to some of the spectrum of foods consumed as part of the LBK diet, and how this diet apparently varied by region. Barley grains are frequently found within settlements from the Carpathian Basin and the Neckar region of Germany, but not over the landscape in between13. Greater proportions of einkorn than emmer wheat and the presence of the opium poppy further suggest slightly different subsistence at western German LBK sites3,4. Exploitation of wild 1 School of Archaeology, University College Dublin, Dublin 4, Republic of Ireland. 2Institute for Archaeological Sciences and Senckenberg Center for Human Evolution and Paleoenvironment, University of Tübingen, Germany. 3Department of Anthropology, Hungarian Natural History Museum, Budapest, Hungary. 4Anthropos Institute, Moravian Museum, Zelný trh 6, Brno, Czech Republic. 5State Office for Cultural Heritage Management Baden-Württemberg, Osteology, D-78467 Konstanz, Germany. 6Institute for Archaeological Sciences, WG Palaeoanthropology, University of Tübingen, Germany. 7Earth Institute, University College Dublin, Dublin 4, Republic of Ireland. Correspondence and requests for materials should be addressed to A.A. (email: ) Scientific Reports | 6:29458 | DOI: 10.1038/srep29458 1 www.nature.com/scientificreports/ Figure 1. Location map for populations used in this study, showing the regional grouping of sites. See Supplementary Table S2 for more detail. 1 - Schwetzingen; 2 - Stuttgart-Mühlhausen; 3 - Vedrovice; 4 - Nitra-Horné Krškany; 5 - Polgár-Ferenci-hát. World Terrain Base map (http://tiles.arcgis.com/tiles/ jIL9msH9OI208GCb/arcgis/rest/services/World_Relief_Map/MapServer) from ArcGIS [version 10.1], (http://www.esri.com/software/arcgis). Adults Juveniles Males Females Total Site Ind. Dent. Ind. Dent. Ind. Dent. Ind. Dent. Ind. Dent. Schwetzingen 66 498 34 122 35 318 24 180 100 620 Stuttgart-Mühlhausen 87 421 29 82 49 268 26 129 116 503 Vedrovice 81 543 30 48 33 272 33 243 111 591 Nitra-Horné Krškany 53 170 25 36 25 107 20 63 78 206 Polgár-Ferenci-hát 75 330 31 72 44 191 21 132 106 402 362 1962 149 360 186 1156 124 747 511 2322 Table 1. Summary demographic information for each of the five skeletal collections. Ind. - number of individual skeletons included in analysis; Dent. - number of teeth. animals and the inclusion of flint or bone arrowheads in graves are more frequent at the western limits of the LBK, possibly indicating a greater emphasis on hunting in this area14,15. Differences in the manufacture and decoration of fineware pottery, orientation and structuring of longhouses, and burial in cemeteries are observed along an east to west trajectory of the LBK archaeological record15–17. The archaeological data suggests that small variations in environmental and ecological conditions across central Europe may have forced local adaptations in diet and other behaviours as LBK populations expanded. Little palaeopathological data are available for the Neolithic of central Europe (Supplementary Table S1) so it is not known how variations in diet and behaviour may have affected the health of LBK individuals. Non-specific stress, experienced during the lifetime of an individual, is an indicator of periods during which normal growth and repair processes are disrupted. Conditions affecting the skeletal system, such as porotic hyperostosis, cribra orbitalia, and linear enamel hypoplasia, may be suggestive of periods of nutritional or immunological stress suffered by individuals and may be observed at high frequency in prehistoric populations18–20. Porotic hyperostosis and cribra orbitalia affect the cranial vault and orbital roof, respectively, and may be identified as porosity of the outer table of bone resulting from expansion of the inner spongy bone20, while linear (...truncated)