Assessing diet and animal mobility in Iron Age Languedoc, southern France: New insights from a multiproxy approach

The societies living in the present-day Languedoc region during the Iron Age (7th-2nd c. BC) experienced a series of progressive transformations, including a demographic growth and an increase in social differentiation, affecting their economic, social and political structure. This context certainly influenced economic organisation, including farming strategies. However, the relationship between animal husbandry and the economical and political context is not completely understood in Iron Age Languedoc. Two key issues - the feeding strategies and the animal mobility in the hinterlands of Languedoc - are poor known. With the aim of providing new insights into our understanding of animal diet and mobility, we combined zooarchaeology (species representation and mortality profiles), dental microwear, dental mesowear and isotopes -strontium (87Sr/86Sr), oxygen (818O) and carbon (813C)- on domestic ungulates from five major Iron Age sites: Cayla de Mailhac, La Ramasse, Le Cailar, La Mone & PRIME;die`re and Lattara. The combination of these approaches enabled us to support the hypothesis of a local breeding of livestock, the animal pasture in nearby areas to the site, and the different animal management between caprines and cattle.

Automated summary

The Iron Age societies in the Languedoc region underwent progressive transformations that affected their economic, social, and political structure. However, the relationship between animal husbandry and the overall context remains unclear. This study combines various methods to investigate animal diet and mobility, providing new insights into local breeding, animal pasture, and different animal management practices in the Iron Age Languedoc.