Archaeology
Sharp shift in diet at onset of NeolithicNature volume 425, page 366 (2003)Cite this article
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The introduction of domesticated plants and animals into Britain during the Neolithic cultural period between 5,200 and 4,500 years ago is viewed either as a rapid event1 or as a gradual process that lasted for more than a millennium2. Here we measure stable carbon isotopes present in bone to investigate the dietary habits of Britons over the Neolithic period and the preceding 3,800 years (the Mesolithic period). We find that there was a rapid and complete change from a marine- to a terrestrial-based diet among both coastal and inland dwellers at the onset of the Neolithic period, which coincided with the first appearance of domesticates. As well as arguing against a slow, gradual adoption of agriculture and animal husbandry by Mesolithic societies, our results indicate that the attraction of the new farming lifestyle must have been strong enough to persuade even coastal dwellers to abandon their successful fishing practices.
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Additional access options: Figure 1: Bone-collagen carbon-isotope ratios and radiocarbon ages of 183 Mesolithic and Neolithic humans from coastal (that is, living within 10 km of contemporary coastline; squares) and inland sites (crosses) in Britain. Similar content being viewed by others ReferencesChilde, V. G. Man Makes Himself (Watts, London, 1936).
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Department of Archaeological Sciences, University of Bradford, Bradford, BD7 1DP, UK
Michael P. Richards
School of Archaeology and Palaeoecology, Queen's University Belfast, Belfast, BT7 1NN, UK
Rick J. Schulting
Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX1 3QJ, UK
Robert E. M. Hedges
Correspondence to Michael P. Richards.
Ethics declarations Competing interestsThe authors declare no competing financial interests.
Additional informationbrief communications is intended to provide a forum for brief, topical reports of general scientific interest and for technical discussion of recently published material of particular interest to non-specialist readers (communications arising). Priority will be given to contributions that have fewer than 500 words, 10 references and only one figure. Detailed guidelines are available on Nature's website (http://www.nature.com/nature).
About this article Cite this articleRichards, M., Schulting, R. & Hedges, R. Sharp shift in diet at onset of Neolithic. Nature 425, 366 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/425366a
Issue Date: 25 September 2003
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/425366a
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