Farming data: Testing climatic and palaeoenvironmental effect on Neolithic Adriatic stockbreeding and hunting through zooarchaeological meta-analysis

Abstract

The possible role of climatic and environmental factors upon the spread and subsequent development of early farming techniques across Europe has long been discussed. We explore the spatial and temporal changes in both animal domestic management techniques and hunting strategies using a meta-analysis of zooarchaeological data from the Neolithic period of the Adriatic Sea (8000–6000 cal. BP). Through a comparison of these patterns with available palaeoenvironmental archives, we conclude that both climatic and environmental factors explain little of the encountered variation and seek for alternative interpretations.