ICArEHB shows how bone marrow helped survive the climate in the Portuguese Neolithic

A new study led by researchers from the Interdisciplinary Center for Archaeology and Evolution of Human Behavior ( ICArEHB ) at the University of Algarve ( UAlg ) has brought to light an important survival strategy adopted by Late Neolithic communities in Branqueiras in response to adverse climatic conditions.

The research, published in the Journal of Archaeological Science Reports , shows that the systematic consumption of mammalian bone marrow was an essential resource for human subsistence during a period of agricultural decline and climate stress.

Titled " Intensive resource exploitation in Late Neolithic Iberia: Bone marrow and subsistence changes at Branqueiras , central-coastal Portugal," the study reveals that bone marrow exploitation, usually associated with hunter-gatherer societies, played a vital role even in agricultural communities, challenging previously established ideas about Neolithic economies.

According to Cláudia Costa, a researcher at ICArEHB, "this practice reflects a remarkable adaptation of Neolithic populations to environmental demands, revealing their ingenuity and resilience."

Maria João Fernandes Martins, also a researcher at ICArEHB, emphasizes "the importance of interdisciplinarity in this research, combining knowledge from archaeology, zooarchaeology, environmental sciences, and human behavior."

This work offers new insights into how past communities coped with environmental change, providing valuable lessons about food security and sustainability for today. It also opens up new possibilities for studying survival strategies during periods of aridification and sociocultural transformation, such as those that preceded the construction of large walled enclosures in the early Chalcolithic period in Portuguese Estremadura.

The research also included the participation of the professor of Archaeology at the Faculty of Human and Social Sciences (FCHS) of the University of Algarve and researcher at ICArEHB, António Faustino Carvalho, and with the collaboration of archaeologists Vera Cardoso and Guilherme Cardoso, responsible for the excavations at the Branqueiras site, located in Cascais, 2 km from the Atlantic coast.

ICArEHB is a leading European research center at the University of Algarve, focused on archaeological science. Its main objective is to comprehensively understand the origins and evolution of human behavior through interdisciplinary research.

The study can be read here .