Changes in animal husbandry in the Netherlands during the Neolithic

The Neolithic is a period where people went from living as hunter-gatherers to farmers. This change gave rise to animal husbandry. Many articles have looked into the development of animal husbandry during the Neolithic within different regions, but the Netherlands region is lacking in research. This research investigates how animal husbandry developed in the Netherlands during the Neolithic while looking at the relative abundancy of livestock, culling practices, and the purposes for keeping livestock. The livestock species which are investigated are cattle, pig, sheep, and goat. To investigate this development, three case studies are used: Medel-De Roeskamp, Schipluiden-Harnaschpolder, and Mienakker. Each of these case studies belongs to a different period in the Neolithic. NISP and age-at-death determination methods are used for determining relative abundancy and culling practices respectively. A combination of age-at death and pathologies is used in order to determine for which...Show moreThe Neolithic is a period where people went from living as hunter-gatherers to farmers. This change gave rise to animal husbandry. Many articles have looked into the development of animal husbandry during the Neolithic within different regions, but the Netherlands region is lacking in research. This research investigates how animal husbandry developed in the Netherlands during the Neolithic while looking at the relative abundancy of livestock, culling practices, and the purposes for keeping livestock. The livestock species which are investigated are cattle, pig, sheep, and goat. To investigate this development, three case studies are used: Medel-De Roeskamp, Schipluiden-Harnaschpolder, and Mienakker. Each of these case studies belongs to a different period in the Neolithic. NISP and age-at-death determination methods are used for determining relative abundancy and culling practices respectively. A combination of age-at death and pathologies is used in order to determine for which purposed livestock was kept. The used age-at-death determination methods are epiphyseal fusion, tooth eruption, and tooth wear. The results show that while the relative abundancy grew for cattle, it decreased for pig, sheep, and goat. The culling practices stayed the same for each species, most of the cattle being killed before becoming three years old and pig, sheep, and goat of all ages was slaughtered. During the Early and Middle Neolithic, cattle was kept for their meat and milk and pigs were kept for their meat. This changed in the Late Neolithic as now cattle was kept only for their meat and pigs were no longer kept for their meat. Not enough sheep and goat remains were found to determine why sheep and goat were kept. This research concludes that while animal husbandry in the Netherlands during the Neolithic did develop in some ways, relative abundancy, it did not have much development in other parts, culling practices and purposes for keeping livestock.Show less

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Changes in animal husbandry in the Netherlands during the Neolithic