Stable isotope analysis (carbon-13, nitrogen-15) on collagen of large ungulates from Late Mesolithic to Early Neolithic sites in Northern Germany and Denmark.

Table: Results of elemental analysis on bone (Nbone), and collagen (Ccoll, Ncoll, C:Ncoll), extraction yield (Yield), andisotopic analysis of collagen (δ13Ccoll, δ15Ncoll) from aurochs (Bos primigenius), horse (Equus ferus) and elk (Alces alces) from Ertebølle and Funnel Beaker occupations in northern Germany and Denmark. Sources: 1=Benecke, 2002, 2= Scheu et al., 2008, 3=Sommer et al., 2011, 4= Glykou, 2016 All collagen complied with the quality control criteria established by DeNiro (1985) and Van Klinken (1999). Bone sampling, pretreatment and collagen extraction followed the procedure described in Krajcarz et al. (2024a, 2024b). Specimens with δ13Ccoll values lower than –23‰ likely reflect a closed-canopy forest habitat, where understory plants are depleted in 13C (e.g. Drucker et al., 2008). This pattern is observed in one elk from Neustadt and in the aurochs, except for for the Bronze Age individual from south of Nordstrand. Variations in δ15Ncoll values can be attributed to differences in diet composition (e.g., grazing vs. browsing) and/or local environmental conditions (see discussion in Hofman‐Kamińska et al., 2019). References Benecke, N., 2002. Zu den Anfängen der Pferdehaltung in Eurasien. Aktuelle archäozoologische Beiträge aus drei Regionen. Ethnographisch-archaologische Zeitschrift, 43(2), pp.187-226. DeNiro, M.J., 1985. Postmortem preservation and alteration of in vivo bone collagen isotope ratios in relation to palaeodietary reconstruction. Nature, 317(6040), pp.806-809. Drucker, D.G., Bridault, A., Hobson, K.A., Szuma, E. and Bocherens, H., 2008. Can carbon-13 in large herbivores reflect the canopy effect in temperate and boreal ecosystems? Evidence from modern and ancient ungulates. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 266(1-2), pp.69-82. Glykou, A., 2016. Neustadt LA 156. Ein submariner Fundplatz des späten Mesolithikums und des frühesten Neolithikums in Schleswig-Holstein.: Untersuchungen zur Subsistenzstrategie der letzten Jäger, Sammler und Fischer an der norddeutschen Ostseeküste (Vol. 7). Wachholtz Verlag. Hofman‐Kamińska, E., Bocherens, H., Drucker, D.G., Fyfe, R.M., Gumiński, W., Makowiecki, D., Pacher, M., Piličiauskienė, G., Samojlik, T., Woodbridge, J. and Kowalczyk, R., 2019. Adapt or die—Response of large herbivores to environmental changes in Europe during the Holocene. Global Change Biology, 25(9), pp.2915-2930. Krajcarz, M.T., Drucker, D.G., Krajcarz, M., Bocherens, H., 2024a. Collagen extraction from pretreated bone/tooth samples. protocols.io https://dx.doi.org/10.17504/protocols.io.8epv5rrp4g1b/v1 Krajcarz, M.T., Krajcarz, M., Drucker, D.G., Bocherens, H., 2024b. Bone sampling and cleaning for collagen ex-traction. protocols.io https://dx.doi.org/10.17504/protocols.io.eq2lyw6mrvx9/v1 Scheu, A., Hartz, S., Schmölcke, U., Tresset, A., Burger, J. and Bollongino, R., 2008. Ancient DNA provides no evidence for independent domestication of cattle in Mesolithic Rosenhof, Northern Germany. Journal of Archaeological Science, 35(5), pp.1257-1264. Sommer, R.S., Benecke, N., Lõugas, L., Nelle, O. and Schmölcke, U., 2011. Holocene survival of the wild horse in Europe: a matter of open landscape? Journal of Quaternary Science, 26(8), pp.805-812. Van Klinken, G.J., 1999. Bone collagen quality indicators for palaeodietary and radiocarbon measurements. Journal of Archaeological Science, 26(6), pp.687-695.