Biomechanics, behaviour dynamics and archaeologyIntegrative attempts to study animal domestication and husbandry

Abstract

This thesis focuses on studying early husbandry practices. Specifically, the management of the mobility of the first herds of domestic bovines is evaluated, especially if the use of animal power was an essential aspect in these economies. To do this, three Neolithic sites have been studied that allow addressing the diachronic and synchronous issue. Tell Halula (Syria) has a continuous occupation for more than 2000 years where the adoption of the livestock of this species and its consolidation is witnessed. La Draga (Banyoles) is a lake site with ideal conservation of organic matter. Cova de las Pixarelles (Tavertet) is in an abrupt and steep environment, which contrasts with the lake environment of Banyoles, optimal for evaluating how anthropogenic, ecological and topographic variables influenced the biomechanical characteristics of Neolithic bovids. Working with samples from both ends of the Mediterranean allowed analysing a case of autochthonous domestication (Tell Halula) and one of adoption of the domestic form (Draga). In accordance with the defined historical problems, work has been done with bovines and pigs, two of the animal species involved in prehistoric livestock practices, and keys to understanding the Neolithic. His management contributed significantly to the economic, social and ideological change in the Neolithic Revolution. With the analysis of Bos taurus, the origins of the exploitation of animal energy have been addressed. The use of animal power was a major innovation when it comes to movement and tasks that involve a significant amount of force. From an economic point of view, it made it possible to increase productivity, apply more intensive agricultural techniques and travel longer distances transporting loads. These innovations implied powerful actions and selective pressures on the animals until fully specialized animals were obtained in these activities. In the case of the pig, a wild boar reference has been created for research on the domestication and livestock of this species. The reference collection includes 50 wild boars of known age, sex and origin, with the intention of examining the influence of sex and age on morphological variability. Nowadays, this collection is the only one of these characteristics in the Iberian Peninsula. Its exhaustive characterization based on geometric morphometry constitutes an original contribution and an instrument of great value for archaeozoological research and the domestication of this species. New analytical tools have been designed and developed that facilitate the analysis of archaeological materials in all their dimensions, contributing to methodological and technical advances in archaeology. Thus, this work has designed "ArchaeoToolbox", an open-source software that allows performing geometric morphometrics in 3D. ArchaeoToolbox allows digitizing landmarks, curved and surface semi-landmarks, full and partial Procruste analysis, principal component analysis of Procrustes residues, highlighting the most important landmarks in each morphospace, and creating exportable heatmaps to show morphological disparities. This work has tested the power of geometric morphometry and finite element analysis to investigate the unknown proportion of variance in zooarchaeological data. The flexibility of geometric morphometry to detect changes in morphological patterns, such as the decrease or exaggeration of a structural asymmetry, has been used successfully to highlight changes induced by Neolithic communities in the Neolithic bovine mechanoenvironment and to separate them from the effects of anatomical factors. The application of finite element analysis has made it possible to verify if the disparities observed in the Procrustes residues originate in activities related to the initial livestock.