Shepherding the past: High-resolution data on Neolithic Southern Iberian livestock management at Cueva de El Toro (Antequera, Málaga).

The feeding strategies of the first domesticated herds had to manage the risks arising from the novelty of livestock practices in territories often distant from the animals' primary habitats. The Iberian Peninsula is characterised by a great diversity of environments, which undoubtedly influenced these dynamics. At the beginning of the Neolithic period these led the possibility to combine diverse livestock farming practices based on different animal feeding habits.

Aggressive or funerary cannibalism? Skull-cup and human bone manipulation in Cueva de El Toro (Early Neolithic, southern Iberia).

Objective: We analyze the processing sequence involved in the manufacture of a skull-cup and the manipulation of human bones from the Early Neolithic of Cueva de El Toro (Málaga, Spain).

Materials And Methods: The Early Neolithic material studied includes human remains found in two separate assemblages. Assemblage A consists of one skull-cup, a non-manipulated adult human mandible, and four ceramic vessels.

Ancient genomes from North Africa evidence prehistoric migrations to the Maghreb from both the Levant and Europe.

The extent to which prehistoric migrations of farmers influenced the genetic pool of western North Africans remains unclear. Archaeological evidence suggests that the Neolithization process may have happened through the adoption of innovations by local Epipaleolithic communities or by demic diffusion from the Eastern Mediterranean shores or Iberia. Here, we present an analysis of individuals' genome sequences from Early and Late Neolithic sites in Morocco and from Early Neolithic individuals from southern Iberia.