Data from: Rodents: food or pests in Neolithic Orkney
Rodents have important effects on contemporary human societies, sometimes providing a source of food but more often as agricultural pests, or as vectors and reservoirs of disease. Skeletal remains of rodents are commonly found in archaeological assemblages from around the world, highlighting their p...
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ftdryad:oai:v1.datadryad.org:10255/dryad.128365 2023-05-15T17:12:33+02:00 Data from: Rodents: food or pests in Neolithic Orkney Romaniuk, Andrzej A. Shepherd, Alexandra N. Clarke, David V. Sheridan, Alison J. Fraser, Sheena Bartosiewicz, László Herman, Jeremy S. Orkney Europe Holocene 2016-10-10T14:11:52Z http://hdl.handle.net/10255/dryad.128365 https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.j333r unknown doi:10.5061/dryad.j333r/1 doi:10.5061/dryad.j333r/2 doi:10.5061/dryad.j333r/3 doi:10.5061/dryad.j333r/4 doi:10.5061/dryad.j333r/5 doi:10.1098/rsos.160514 doi:10.5061/dryad.j333r Romaniuk AA, Shepherd AN, Clarke DV, Sheridan AJ, Fraser S, Bartosiewicz L, Herman JS (2016) Rodents: food or pests in Neolithic Orkney. Royal Society Open Science 3: 160514. 2054-5703 http://hdl.handle.net/10255/dryad.128365 Rodentia ecology archaeology animal osteology human subsistence Microtus arvalis Article 2016 ftdryad https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.j333r https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.j333r/1 https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.j333r/2 https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.j333r/3 https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.j333r/4 https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.j333r/5 https://doi.org/1 2020-01-01T15:41:36Z Rodents have important effects on contemporary human societies, sometimes providing a source of food but more often as agricultural pests, or as vectors and reservoirs of disease. Skeletal remains of rodents are commonly found in archaeological assemblages from around the world, highlighting their potential importance to ancient human populations. However, there are few studies of the interactions between people and rodents at such sites and most of these are confined to locations where rodents have formed a part of the recent diet. Here we compare the accumulation pattern of rodent remains from four locations within and adjacent to the renowned Neolithic site of Skara Brae, Orkney, showing that those within the settlement itself were the result of deliberate human activity. The accumulation and nature of burnt bones, incorporated over an extended period within deposits of household waste, indicate that rodents were used as a nutritional resource and may have been the subject of early pest control. We, therefore, provide the first evidence for the exploitation or control of rodents by the Neolithic inhabitants of Europe. Article in Journal/Newspaper Microtus arvalis Dryad Digital Repository (Duke University) Skara ENVELOPE(8.719,8.719,62.937,62.937) |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Dryad Digital Repository (Duke University) |
op_collection_id |
ftdryad |
language |
unknown |
topic |
Rodentia ecology archaeology animal osteology human subsistence Microtus arvalis |
spellingShingle |
Rodentia ecology archaeology animal osteology human subsistence Microtus arvalis Romaniuk, Andrzej A. Shepherd, Alexandra N. Clarke, David V. Sheridan, Alison J. Fraser, Sheena Bartosiewicz, László Herman, Jeremy S. Data from: Rodents: food or pests in Neolithic Orkney |
topic_facet |
Rodentia ecology archaeology animal osteology human subsistence Microtus arvalis |
description |
Rodents have important effects on contemporary human societies, sometimes providing a source of food but more often as agricultural pests, or as vectors and reservoirs of disease. Skeletal remains of rodents are commonly found in archaeological assemblages from around the world, highlighting their potential importance to ancient human populations. However, there are few studies of the interactions between people and rodents at such sites and most of these are confined to locations where rodents have formed a part of the recent diet. Here we compare the accumulation pattern of rodent remains from four locations within and adjacent to the renowned Neolithic site of Skara Brae, Orkney, showing that those within the settlement itself were the result of deliberate human activity. The accumulation and nature of burnt bones, incorporated over an extended period within deposits of household waste, indicate that rodents were used as a nutritional resource and may have been the subject of early pest control. We, therefore, provide the first evidence for the exploitation or control of rodents by the Neolithic inhabitants of Europe. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Romaniuk, Andrzej A. Shepherd, Alexandra N. Clarke, David V. Sheridan, Alison J. Fraser, Sheena Bartosiewicz, László Herman, Jeremy S. |
author_facet |
Romaniuk, Andrzej A. Shepherd, Alexandra N. Clarke, David V. Sheridan, Alison J. Fraser, Sheena Bartosiewicz, László Herman, Jeremy S. |
author_sort |
Romaniuk, Andrzej A. |
title |
Data from: Rodents: food or pests in Neolithic Orkney |
title_short |
Data from: Rodents: food or pests in Neolithic Orkney |
title_full |
Data from: Rodents: food or pests in Neolithic Orkney |
title_fullStr |
Data from: Rodents: food or pests in Neolithic Orkney |
title_full_unstemmed |
Data from: Rodents: food or pests in Neolithic Orkney |
title_sort |
data from: rodents: food or pests in neolithic orkney |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10255/dryad.128365 https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.j333r |
op_coverage |
Orkney Europe Holocene |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(8.719,8.719,62.937,62.937) |
geographic |
Skara |
geographic_facet |
Skara |
genre |
Microtus arvalis |
genre_facet |
Microtus arvalis |
op_relation |
doi:10.5061/dryad.j333r/1 doi:10.5061/dryad.j333r/2 doi:10.5061/dryad.j333r/3 doi:10.5061/dryad.j333r/4 doi:10.5061/dryad.j333r/5 doi:10.1098/rsos.160514 doi:10.5061/dryad.j333r Romaniuk AA, Shepherd AN, Clarke DV, Sheridan AJ, Fraser S, Bartosiewicz L, Herman JS (2016) Rodents: food or pests in Neolithic Orkney. Royal Society Open Science 3: 160514. 2054-5703 http://hdl.handle.net/10255/dryad.128365 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.j333r https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.j333r/1 https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.j333r/2 https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.j333r/3 https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.j333r/4 https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.j333r/5 https://doi.org/1 |
_version_ |
1766069347691790336 |