Recently, there have been two international bioarchaeological projects focusing on LBK: "Biological and cultural identity of first farmers: Multiple bio-archaeological analysis of a central European cemetery (Vedrovice) project" known also as "Vedrovice bioarchaeology project" and "The first farmers of central Europe: diversity in LBK lifeways". We took a similar approach at a local level and analysed dental microwear pattern by comparing the results with already published stable isotopic data (carbon & nitrogen) (Richards et al. 2008, Smrčka et al. 2005, 2008a and Whittle et al. 2013) to deepen our knowledge about the dietary habits of individuals living and eating in the early LBK. Buccal dental microwear analysis as a short-term indicator of diet was carried out on a sample of 43 individuals from the Vedrovice site (Czech Republic) and of 49 individuals from the Nitra - Horné Krškany site (Slovakia) with wellpreserved dental enamel to compare site-based diversity using dental microwear. Both sites belong among the earliest cemeteries in the Central European region (or in a broader sense, the Middle Danube area) as they are dated to Neolithic period, specifically the early phase of LBK, since the burials in Vedrovice and Nitra mostly spanned 53rd–52nd century cal BC (Pettitt, Hedges 2008, Griffiths 2013, Whittle et al. 2013). For each individual, replicas of the buccal surface of molars or premolars that showed clear microwear patterns were analysed by secondary electrons of a scanning electron microscope. Subsequently, results were compared with published datasets acquired from studies of various modern hunter-gatherers, pastoral, and agricultural populations with different dietary habits (Lalueza et al. 1996). By comparing adult males and females (n = 33) within the Vedrovice sample including two cemeteries and settlement, no sex related differences were observed in dental microwear pattern, which is contrary to a previously published paper on a sample of 18 individuals buried at Vedrovice - Široká u lesa cemetery (Jarošová 2008), where a statistically significant sex related difference was observed, with a higher vegetal intake for females than males inferred. Similarly, no sex related differences between adults were observed within the Nitra population (n = 31).However, an age-related variability was observed between adults and subadults within both studied samples with more obvious differences in the Vedrovice sample, which may have resulted from different ratios of meat and vegetable intake. Adults from Nitra had a distinct microwear pattern to adults from Vedrovice. In another group of analysed individuals from Vedrovice and Nitra - Horné Krškany, slightly different results were observed in the published stable isotopic data: carbon and nitrogen isotopic data, as a long-term indicator of diet, proved no statistical difference between the diet of subadults and adults within both studied samples and no difference between diet of adult males and females in Nitra site. On the contrary, statistically significant differences were observed between adult males and females in Vedrovice in terms of nitrogen data indicating a higher protein based diet in males. The subject of this article is a detailed analysis of the two populations using different groups of individuals and methodologies; as wells as a comparison of selected individuals for which both types of analyses were conducted to elucidate the dietary habits of the two biggest LBK populations in Czech Republic and Slovakia.

Anthropos Institute Historical Museum Moravian Museum Brno

Freelancer in Anthropology Czech Republic

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