Archaeobotanical analysis of plant use at Kamennyi Ambar, a Bronze Age fortified settlement of the Sintashta culture in the southern Trans-Urals steppe, Russia

Rühl, Lisa; Herbig, Christoph; Stobbe, Astrid

doi:10.1007/s00334-014-0506-7

Cited by 34 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…No definite evidence of crop cultivation is found in the pollen spectra. We therefore assume that people in the steppe environment depended on animal-husbandry and gathered food plants, supplemented by fishing (Rühl et al 2014;Stobbe et al 2013).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…At this time, Artemisia was dominant, hinting at the existence of a feather-grass steppe as described by Liu et al (2006), but with higher amounts of Ulmus and Quercus and henceforth a regular appearance of Tilia and Alnus. The presence of Alnus in the immediate study area is further supported by the on-site discovery of alder buds in the Kamennyi Ambar settlement (Rühl et al 2014). The presence of dung fungal spores indicates the occurrence of grazing animals in the surroundings.…”

Section: Vegetation Developmentmentioning

confidence: 93%

“…It is very unlikely that they are indicators of agricultural activities, since they can also originate from wild barley and their appearance dates back as far as the Boreal. So far, the study of macro-remains has not yielded any evidence of crop cultivation either (Rühl et al 2014). After 1900 cal BC (PW 3a/b), Chenopodiaceae values drop while Poaceae values rise, implying a reduction in zooanthropogenic activities.…”

Section: Human Impact and Vegetation Development Around The Bronze Agmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Many such statements are rather speculative, especially since macrobotanical analysis from settlements of the Sintashta-Petrovka culture was not carried out systematically until 2008 (Krause et al 2010). So far, no evidence of agriculture has been found (Rühl et al 2014). The only indication of crop cultivation among Bronze Age pastoralists originates from south eastern Kazakhstan (Frachetti et al 2010;Spengler et al 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

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Palynological and sedimentological evidence from the Trans-Ural steppe (Russia) and its palaeoecological implications for the sudden emergence of Bronze Age sedentarism

Stobbe

Gumnior

Röpke

et al. 2014

Veget Hist Archaeobot

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At the turn of the second to the third millennium BC, fortified and systematically organized settlements along with a developed metallurgy emerged in the TransUral steppe. In order to reconstruct the related vegetation and climatic changes in the area and to detect effects of human impact during the respective Bronze-Age SintashtaPetrovka and Srubnaya-Alakul cultures (2100-1650 cal BC), palynological and sedimentological investigations accompanying archaeological excavations were carried out. Statistical analyses of pollen spectra from two sediment cores in the immediate vicinity of the settlement Kamennyi Ambar demonstrate substantial similarities in Bronze Age and present vegetation covers. Higher percentages of arboreal pollen, especially in respect of deciduous trees, and consistently high values of Artemisia within the regional spectra suggest that Bronze Age cultures developed in a relatively humid environment. Simultaneously, higher values of Chenopodiaceae, Plantago and Cichorioideae point to steppe degradation at local scales, whereas regional vegetation appears to have been relatively unaffected by human activities. Although more than 30 localities in the micro-region of Karagaily Ayat were analyzed, none of these sediment cores accounts for a continuous sedimentation during the last 9,000 years. Our results reveal that climatic fluctuations are not always directly reflected by sediment formation, with many nonclimatic factors, such as post-sedimentary processes, local morphology and erosion believed to be crucial. Only the use of high resolution AMS radiocarbon dating is suitable to detect hiatuses, hence providing a valuable clue to the interpretation of palaeoenvironmental conditions.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Vegetation Developmentmentioning

confidence: 93%

Section: Human Impact and Vegetation Development Around The Bronze Agmentioning

confidence: 98%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

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Palynological and sedimentological evidence from the Trans-Ural steppe (Russia) and its palaeoecological implications for the sudden emergence of Bronze Age sedentarism

Stobbe

Gumnior

Röpke

et al. 2014

Veget Hist Archaeobot

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“…Our study investigates weaning practices among pastoralists in the Eurasian steppe to determine if unique patterns of weaning are evident when complementary foods focus on animal products rather than domesticated grains. Recent stable isotopic and paleobotanical studies indicate that the pastoral societies under study had a diet based primarily on livestock complemented by wild plants and fauna, but lacking cultivars (Hanks et al, forthcoming; Rühl, Herbig, & Stobbe, ; Ventresca Miller et al, ). We hypothesize that pastoral societies using animal products as the primary complementary food in weaning, rather than domesticated grains, may be reflected in stable carbon and nitrogen isotope values of infants and children.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Weaning practices among pastoralists: New evidence of infant feeding patterns from Bronze Age Eurasia

Miller

Hanks

Judd

et al. 2016

American J Phys Anthropol

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Objectives: This paper investigates infant feeding practices through stable carbon (d 13 C) and nitrogen (d 15 N) isotopic analyses of human bone collagen from Kamennyi Ambar 5, a Middle Bronze Age cemetery located in central Eurasia. The results presented are unique for the time period and region, as few cemeteries have been excavated to reveal a demographic cross-section of the population. Studies of weaning among pastoral societies are infrequent and this research adds to our knowledge of the timing, potential supplementary foods, and cessation of breastfeeding practices.Materials and methods: Samples were collected from 41 subadults (<15 years) and 27 adults (151 years). Isotopic reference sets from adult humans as well as faunal remains were utilized as these form the primary and complementary foods fed to infants.Results: Slight shifts in d 13 C and d 15 N values revealed that weaning was a multi-stage process (breastfeeding, weaning, and complete cessation of nursing) that began at 6 months of age, occurred over several years of early childhood, and was completed by 4 years of age. Discussion:Our results indicate that weaning was a multi-stage process that was unique among late prehistoric pastoralist groups in Eurasia that were dependent on milk products as a supplementary food. Our discussion centers on supporting this hypothesis with modern information on central and east Eurasian herding societies including the age at which complementary foods are introduced, the types of complementary foods, and the timing of the cessation of breastfeeding.Integral to this work is the nature of pastoral economies and their dependence on animal products, the impact of complementary foods on nutrition and health, and how milk processing may have affected nutrition content and digestibility of foods. This research on Eurasian pastoralists provides insights into the complexities of weaning among prehistoric pastoral societies as well as the potential for different complementary foods to be incorporated into infant diets in the past. K E Y W O R D S dairy products, life histories, paleodiet, Sintashta, stable isotope analysis 1 | I N T R O D U C T I O N Research on ancient weaning has often focused on agricultural societies with access to domesticated grains, rather than pastoral groups that often lacked cultivars. Our study investigates weaning practices among pastoralists in the Eurasian steppe to determine if unique patterns of weaning are evident when complementary foods focus on ani-mal products rather than domesticated grains. Recent stable isotopic and paleobotanical studies indicate that the pastoral societies under study had a diet based primarily on livestock complemented by wild plants and fauna, but lacking cultivars (Hanks et al., forthcoming; R€ uhl, Herbig, & Stobbe, 2015;Ventresca Miller et al., 2014). We hypothesize that pastoral societies using animal products as the primary complementary food in weaning, rather than domesticated grains, may be Am. J. Phys. Anthropol. 2017; 162: 409-422 wileyonlinelibrary...

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Life in the fast lane: Settled pastoralism in the Central Eurasian Steppe during the Middle Bronze Age

Judd

Walker

Miller

et al. 2018

American J Hum Biol

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Skeletal stress markers and injuries were uncommon among the KA-5 and regional groups, but a MBA-LBA high subadult mortality indicates elevated frailty levels and inability to survive acute illnesses. Following an optimal weaning program, subadults were at risk for physiological insult and many succumbed. Only a small number of individuals attained biological maturity during the MBA, suggesting that a fast life history was an adaptive regional response to a less hospitable and perhaps unstable environment.

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Archaeobotanical analysis of plant use at Kamennyi Ambar, a Bronze Age fortified settlement of the Sintashta culture in the southern Trans-Urals steppe, Russia

Cited by 34 publications

References 18 publications

Palynological and sedimentological evidence from the Trans-Ural steppe (Russia) and its palaeoecological implications for the sudden emergence of Bronze Age sedentarism

Palynological and sedimentological evidence from the Trans-Ural steppe (Russia) and its palaeoecological implications for the sudden emergence of Bronze Age sedentarism

Weaning practices among pastoralists: New evidence of infant feeding patterns from Bronze Age Eurasia

Life in the fast lane: Settled pastoralism in the Central Eurasian Steppe during the Middle Bronze Age

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