Widespread Exploitation Of The Honeybee By Early Neolithic Farmers
Mélanie Roffet-Salque
,
Martine Regert
,
Richard P. Evershed
,
Alan K. Outram
,
Lucy J. E. Cramp
,
Orestes Decavallas
,
Julie Dunne
,
Pascale Gerbault
,
Simona Mileto
,
Sigrid Mirabaud
,
Mirva Pääkkönen
,
Jessica Smyth
,
Lucija Šoberl
,
Helen L. Whelton
,
Alfonso Alday-Ruiz
,
Henrik Asplund
,
Marta Bartkowiak
,
Eva Bayer-Niemeier
,
Lotfi Belhouchet
,
Federico Bernardini
,
Mihael Budja
,
Gabriel Cooney
,
Miriam Cubas
,
Ed M. Danaher
,
Mariana Diniz
,
László Domboróczki
,
Cristina Fabbri
,
Jésus E. González-Urquijo
,
Jean Guilaine
(1)
,
Slimane Hachi
,
Barrie N. Hartwell
,
Daniela Hofmann
,
Isabel Hohle
,
Juan José Ibañez
,
Necmi Karul
,
Farid Kherbouche
,
Jacinta Kiely
,
Kostas Kotsakis
,
Friedrich Lueth
,
James P. Mallory
,
Claire Manen
,
Arkadiusz Marciniak
,
Brigitte Maurice-Chabard
,
Martin A. Mc Gonigle
,
Simone Mulazzani
(2)
,
Mehmet Özdoğan
,
Olga S. Perić
,
Slaviša R. Perić
,
Jörg Petrasch
,
Anne- Marie Pétrequin
,
Pierre Pétrequin
,
Ulrike Poensgen
,
C. Joshua Pollard
,
François Poplin
,
Giovanna Radi
,
Peter Stadler
,
Harald Stäuble
,
Nenad Tasić
,
Dushka Urem-Kotsou
,
Jasna B. Vuković
,
Fintan Walsh
,
Alasdair Whittle
,
Sabine Wolfram
,
Lydia Zapata-Peña
,
Jamel Zoughlami
Mélanie Roffet-Salque
- Function : Author
Martine Regert
- Function : Author
Richard P. Evershed
- Function : Author
Alan K. Outram
- Function : Author
Lucy J. E. Cramp
- Function : Author
Orestes Decavallas
- Function : Author
Julie Dunne
- Function : Author
Pascale Gerbault
- Function : Author
Simona Mileto
- Function : Author
Sigrid Mirabaud
- Function : Author
Mirva Pääkkönen
- Function : Author
Jessica Smyth
- Function : Author
Lucija Šoberl
- Function : Author
Helen L. Whelton
- Function : Author
Alfonso Alday-Ruiz
- Function : Author
Henrik Asplund
- Function : Author
Marta Bartkowiak
- Function : Author
Eva Bayer-Niemeier
- Function : Author
Lotfi Belhouchet
- Function : Author
Federico Bernardini
- Function : Author
- PersonId : 780367
- ORCID : 0000-0002-3282-8799
Mihael Budja
- Function : Author
Gabriel Cooney
- Function : Author
Miriam Cubas
- Function : Author
Ed M. Danaher
- Function : Author
Mariana Diniz
- Function : Author
László Domboróczki
- Function : Author
Cristina Fabbri
- Function : Author
Jésus E. González-Urquijo
- Function : Author
Jean Guilaine
- Function : Author
- PersonId : 171523
- IdHAL : jean-guilaine
- ORCID : 0000-0003-3837-7287
- IdRef : 026908069
Slimane Hachi
- Function : Author
Barrie N. Hartwell
- Function : Author
Daniela Hofmann
- Function : Author
Isabel Hohle
- Function : Author
Juan José Ibañez
- Function : Author
- PersonId : 874525
Necmi Karul
- Function : Author
Farid Kherbouche
- Function : Author
- PersonId : 779959
- IdRef : 194524124
Jacinta Kiely
- Function : Author
Kostas Kotsakis
- Function : Author
Friedrich Lueth
- Function : Author
James P. Mallory
- Function : Author
Claire Manen
- Function : Author
- PersonId : 169612
- IdHAL : claire-manen
- ORCID : 0000-0002-7827-8876
- IdRef : 035534680
Arkadiusz Marciniak
- Function : Author
Brigitte Maurice-Chabard
- Function : Author
Martin A. Mc Gonigle
- Function : Author
Mehmet Özdoğan
- Function : Author
Olga S. Perić
- Function : Author
Slaviša R. Perić
- Function : Author
Jörg Petrasch
- Function : Author
Anne- Marie Pétrequin
- Function : Author
Pierre Pétrequin
- Function : Author
Ulrike Poensgen
- Function : Author
C. Joshua Pollard
- Function : Author
François Poplin
- Function : Author
- PersonId : 1193122
Giovanna Radi
- Function : Author
Peter Stadler
- Function : Author
Harald Stäuble
- Function : Author
Nenad Tasić
- Function : Author
Dushka Urem-Kotsou
- Function : Author
Jasna B. Vuković
- Function : Author
Fintan Walsh
- Function : Author
Alasdair Whittle
- Function : Author
Sabine Wolfram
- Function : Author
Lydia Zapata-Peña
- Function : Author
Jamel Zoughlami
- Function : Author
Abstract
The pressures on honeybee (Apis mellifera) populations, resulting from threats by modern pesticides, parasites, predators and diseases, have raised awareness of the economic importance and critical role this insect plays in agricultural societies across the globe. However, the association of humans with A. mellifera predates post-industrial-revolution agriculture, as evidenced by the widespread presence of ancient Egyptian bee iconography dating to the Old Kingdom (approximately 2400 bc). There are also indications of Stone Age people harvesting bee products; for example, honey hunting is interpreted from rock art in a prehistoric Holocene context and a beeswax find in a pre-agriculturalist site. However, when and where the regular association of A. mellifera with agriculturalists emerged is unknown. One of the major products of A. mellifera is beeswax, which is composed of a complex suite of lipids including n-alkanes, n-alkanoic acids and fatty acyl wax esters. The composition is highly constant as it is determined genetically through the insect’s biochemistry. Thus, the chemical ‘fingerprint’ of beeswax provides a reliable basis for detecting this commodity in organic residues preserved at archaeological sites, which we now use to trace the exploitation by humans of A. mellifera temporally and spatially. Here we present secure identifications of beeswax in lipid residues preserved in pottery vessels of Neolithic Old World farmers. The geographical range of bee product exploitation is traced in Neolithic Europe, the Near East and North Africa, providing the palaeoecological range of honeybees during prehistory. Temporally, we demonstrate that bee products were exploited continuously, and probably extensively in some regions, at least from the seventh millennium cal bc, likely fulfilling a variety of technological and cultural functions. The close association of A. mellifera with Neolithic farming communities dates to the early onset of agriculture and may provide evidence for the beginnings of a domestication process