Present-day domestic cattle are reproductively active throughout the year, which is a major asset for dairy production. Large wild ungulates, in contrast, are seasonal breeders, as were the last historic representatives of the aurochs, the wild ancestors of cattle. Aseasonal reproduction in cattle is a consequence of domestication and herding, but exactly when this capacity developed in domestic cattle is still unknown and the extent to which early farming communities controlled the seasonality of reproduction is debated. Seasonal or aseasonal calving would have shaped the socio-economic practices of ancient farming societies differently, structuring the agropastoral calendar and determining milk availability where dairying is attested. In this study, we reconstruct the calving pattern through the analysis of stable oxygen isotope ratios of cattle tooth enamel from 18 sites across Europe, dating from the 6th mill. cal BC (Early Neolithic) in the Balkans to the 4th mill. cal BC (Middle Neolithic) in Western Europe. Seasonal calving prevailed in Europe between the 6th and 4th millennia cal BC. These results suggest that cattle agropastoral systems in Neolithic Europe were strongly constrained by environmental factors, in particular forage resources. The ensuing fluctuations in milk availability would account for cheese-making, transforming a seasonal milk supply into a storable product.

BioSense Institute University of Novi Sad 21000 Novi Sad Serbia

Department of Archaeology Savaria Museum Szombathely 9700 Hungary

Department of Bioarchaeology Vasile Pârvan Institute of Archaeology Romanian Academy 010667 Bucharest Romania

Department of History Palacký University 77900 Olomouc Czech Republic

Dobó István Castle Museum Vár út 1 3300 Eger Hungary

Faculty of Archaeology Adam Mickiewicz University 61 614 Poznań Poland

Institut Für Ur und Frühgeschichte und Vorderasiatische Archäologie Universität Heidelberg 69117 Heidelberg Germany

Institute of Archaeology and Museology Masaryk University 60200 Brno Czech Republic

Institute of Archaeology Research Centre for the Humanities Eötvös Loránd Research Network Centre of Excellence of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences 1097 Budapest Hungary

Interdisciplinary Center for Archaeology and Evolution of Human Behaviour Faculdade de Ciências Humanas e Sociais Universidade do Algarve 8005 139 Faro Portugal

Laboratory for Bioarchaeology Department of Archaeology Faculty of Philosophy University of Belgrade 11000 Belgrade Serbia

Laboratory of Archaeobotany and Palaeoecology Faculty of Science University of South Bohemia 37005 České Budějovice Czech Republic

Organic Geochemistry Unit School of Chemistry University of Bristol Bristol BS8 1TS UK

Römisch Germanische Kommission des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts 60325 Frankfurt Main Germany

UMR 7044 Archimède MISHA CNRS University of Strasbourg 67000 Strasbourg France

UMR 7209 AASPE « Archéozoologie archéobotanique sociétés pratiques environnements » CNRS MNHN 75005 Paris France

Vienna Institute for Archaeological Science University of Vienna 1190 Vienna Austria

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