Neolithic cereal cultivation in the Adriatic

The Neolithic in Dalmatia began around 6000 cal BC, marked by the appearance of permanent settlements within the fertile valleys of the region’s karst landscape. Although the archaeobotanical evidence is limited, it indicates the cultivation of a variety of crops, including barley, emmer, einkorn, lentil, and flax, alongside the development of livestock farming, which shifted from a focus on sheep and goat husbandry to cattle farming. This paper presents an analysis of carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes from charred barley and emmer grains excavated from five Neolithic settlements: Pokrovnik, Rašinovac, Danilo-Bitinj, Krivače, and Velištak. The findings suggest that farming in Dalmatia could have involved the cultivation of small, permanent plots subjected to varying degrees of manuring. These results are consistent with broader trends in Neolithic Europe and provide new insights into the regional characteristics of early farming practices in the Adriatic.