Seasonality of birth depends on environmental (the fertility period is determined in certain species by the photoperiod) and genetic factors (the number of gestation per year differs according to the sheep breed, for example). It can also be controlled by he herder, who may group or spread the births, avoid a second gestation in the year for weak females. Birth control on a Maasai sheep (Kenya) (Balasse et al., 2003). The herders control the reproductive activity of their sheep by tying (...)

THE QUESTION In primitive domestic bovines, the presence of the calf might have been necessary during milking to stimulate milk rejection. It is likely that in the case of a milk oriented husbandry, the calf was maintained alive over the duration of lactation. Numerous ancient iconographical documents representing milking scenes where the calf is present, might be reflecting this necessity. Rock paintings from the Tassili-n-Ajjer (Balasse et al., 2000). Some Neolithic mortality (...)

Stable isotope ratios of bone constitutive elements (including C, N, O, Sr and S) inform about the individual’s diet, and the landscape, climate and geology of its habitat. Isotope analyses performed in bone and teeth (photo M. Balasse). Ingested from food and drinking water, these elements are incorporated into bone tissues during skeletal development. In bone, they are then renewed throughout life while tissues turnover: for this reason they mainly reflect the last part of the (...)