The Late Neolithic settlement of Latsch, Vinschgau, northern Italy: subsistence of a settlement contemporary with the Alpine Iceman, and located in his valley of origin

• DOI: 10.1007/s00334-011-0308-0
• Publication Date: 2011-07-29T13:43:43Z
• Authors: Daniela Festi; Umberto Tecchiati; Hubert Steiner; Klaus Oeggl
• Keywords: Paleoethnobotany; Ovis; Capra; Settlement (finance); River valley; Rift valley; Chalcolithic

Archaeobotanical and archaeozoological analyses conducted on Late Neolithic settlement layers at Latsch provide the first data on the subsistence strategy, diet and environmental conditions in the valley of origin of the Alpine Iceman. The results prove that during the Late Neolithic, the valley was occupied by an agro-pastoral society based on the cultivation of Hordeum vulgare (hulled barley), Triticum monococcum (einkorn), T. dicoccum (emmer) and Pisum sativum (pea), as well as on the rearing of Ovis vel Capra, Ovis orientalis f. aries (sheep), Capra aegagrus f. hircus (goat) and Bos primigenius f. taurus (cattle). The settlement was located on a river terrace of the valley floor close to a river and was surrounded by mixed pine and oak woods beside alluvial woodland.