Discovering the Secrets of Cattle Life in Ancient Spain

Cattle, those big, gentle giants, have been crucial to humans for thousands of years. But how did our ancestors in Spain manage their cattle way back in the Middle Neolithic period? A site named Cova de les Pixarelles, located in present-day Catalonia, offers some clues. This site, dating back to around 3942-3632 BCE, is special because it has a lot of cattle bones, more than most other sites from that time. Previous studies already showed that these cattle bones could tell us a lot about how the people of the Neolithic period took care of their animals. By looking at the bones under a microscope and studying their diseases and movements, we can understand animal management practices from a long time ago. In this new study, scientists use a fancy method to study the bones even more closely. They measure the amounts of different chemical elements in the bones, like carbon (δ13Ccoll) and nitrogen (δ15N). This helps them understand what the cattle ate and how they moved around. The results are interesting! It seems that the Neolithic farmers moved their cattle from lowland areas to higher mountain plateaus seasonally, probably to find the best pastures. They also carefully managed the reproduction cycles of their cattle, creating a complex but efficient system for herding. One cool thing they found was that the farmers might have divided their herds based on the age, sex, and reproductive functions of the animals. This means they had different groups of cattle for different purposes, like milk production or meat. So, by studying these old bones, we're learning a lot about how our ancestors lived and took care of their animals. It's like a treasure hunt into the past!