“…Our results emphasise that a mixed economy of plant processing and animal husbandry were the foundation of KA's economic structure [1,7,19,32,75]. As such, faunal patterns associated with the Kura-Araxes 'package' primarily suggest domestic species [4], where over 50% of the domestic ungulates (in NISP) comprise sheep, goat, and cattle [79]; i.e., at Ko ¨hne Shahar in Iran [14,75], Chobareti [115] and Natsargora in Georgia [116] (Fig 1).…”
Section: Primary and Secondary Productsmentioning
confidence: 91%
“…However, in Anatolia and the Southern Caucasus, results suggest genetic continuity, with only transient gene flow [25][26][27]. Movement of communities and groups suggests that subsistence practices appear to be based on transhumant pastoralism [28][29][30] although a dearth of archaeozoological data has precluded direct isotope analysis of animal bones [31,32]. A vast archaeological area and previously unexplored, lipid residue analysis of KA pottery can enhance our understanding of foodways, food production and the extent of dairying in this region [33][34][35][36][37][38][39].…”
The Kura-Araxes (KA) cultural phenomenon (dated to the Early Bronze Age, c. 3500/3350-2500 BCE) is primarily characterised by the emergence of a homogeneous pottery style and a uniform ‘material culture package’ in settlements across the South Caucasus, as well as territories extending to the Ancient Near East and the Levant. It has been argued that KA societies practised pastoralism, despite a lack of direct examination of dietary and culinary practices in this region. Here, we report the first analyses of absorbed lipid residues from KA pottery to both determine the organic products produced and consumed and to reconstruct subsistence practices. Our results provide compelling evidence for a diversified diet across KA settlements in Armenia, comprising a mixed economy of meat and plant processing, aquatic fats and dairying. The preservation of diagnostic plant lipid biomarkers, notably long-chain fatty acids (C20 to C28) and n-alkanes (C23 to C33) has enabled the identification of the earliest processing of plants in pottery of the region. These findings suggest that KA settlements were agropastoral exploiting local resources. Results demonstrate the significance of applying biomolecular methods for examining dietary inferences in the South Caucasus region.
“…Our results emphasise that a mixed economy of plant processing and animal husbandry were the foundation of KA's economic structure [1,7,19,32,75]. As such, faunal patterns associated with the Kura-Araxes 'package' primarily suggest domestic species [4], where over 50% of the domestic ungulates (in NISP) comprise sheep, goat, and cattle [79]; i.e., at Ko ¨hne Shahar in Iran [14,75], Chobareti [115] and Natsargora in Georgia [116] (Fig 1).…”
Section: Primary and Secondary Productsmentioning
confidence: 91%
“…However, in Anatolia and the Southern Caucasus, results suggest genetic continuity, with only transient gene flow [25][26][27]. Movement of communities and groups suggests that subsistence practices appear to be based on transhumant pastoralism [28][29][30] although a dearth of archaeozoological data has precluded direct isotope analysis of animal bones [31,32]. A vast archaeological area and previously unexplored, lipid residue analysis of KA pottery can enhance our understanding of foodways, food production and the extent of dairying in this region [33][34][35][36][37][38][39].…”
The Kura-Araxes (KA) cultural phenomenon (dated to the Early Bronze Age, c. 3500/3350-2500 BCE) is primarily characterised by the emergence of a homogeneous pottery style and a uniform ‘material culture package’ in settlements across the South Caucasus, as well as territories extending to the Ancient Near East and the Levant. It has been argued that KA societies practised pastoralism, despite a lack of direct examination of dietary and culinary practices in this region. Here, we report the first analyses of absorbed lipid residues from KA pottery to both determine the organic products produced and consumed and to reconstruct subsistence practices. Our results provide compelling evidence for a diversified diet across KA settlements in Armenia, comprising a mixed economy of meat and plant processing, aquatic fats and dairying. The preservation of diagnostic plant lipid biomarkers, notably long-chain fatty acids (C20 to C28) and n-alkanes (C23 to C33) has enabled the identification of the earliest processing of plants in pottery of the region. These findings suggest that KA settlements were agropastoral exploiting local resources. Results demonstrate the significance of applying biomolecular methods for examining dietary inferences in the South Caucasus region.
“…These results are comparable with contemporaneous faunal material recovered from nearby Areni-1 cave, where zooarchaeological investigation revealed a predominance of goats over sheep (Samei et al . 2019, 2020). Figure 4.Faunal assemblage: A) taxonomic composition; B) anatomical representation of capraovids; C) examples of identifiable bones; D) example ZooMS spectra identified as sheep ( Ovis ) and goat ( Capra ) (figure by authors).…”
Section: Recovered Materialsmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…In the Lesser Caucasus the Chalcolithic covers the period c. 5200-3500 BC, prior to the appearance of the Kura-Araxes cultural complex (Bobokhyan et al 2014;Sagona 2018). Recently intensified research in this region has shed light on the subsistence and economic strategies of Chalcolithic pastoral farming communities who specialised in domestic sheep, goat and cattle herding (Berthon et al 2013(Berthon et al , 2021Samei 2019;Chataigner et al 2020;Samei et al 2020;Palumbi et al 2021) with evidence of prevalent seasonal upland mobility as early as the sixth millennium BC (Berthon et al 2021;Hirose et al 2021;Janzen et al 2023).…”
Section: Introductionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Recently intensified research in this region has shed light on the subsistence and economic strategies of Chalcolithic pastoral farming communities who specialised in domestic sheep, goat and cattle herding (Berthon et al 2013, 2021; Samei 2019; Chataigner et al . 2020; Samei et al 2020; Palumbi et al . 2021) with evidence of prevalent seasonal upland mobility as early as the sixth millennium BC (Berthon et al .…”
Excavations at Yeghegis-1, a rockshelter in southern Armenia, reveal long-term human habitation from the late fifth to mid-fourth millennia BC. Here, the authors present a preliminary overview of the materials recovered from the site and highlight the potential of ongoing research to shed light on Chalcolithic human lifeways in the region.
Bu çalışma, zooarkeolojik ve etnoarkeolojik veriler kullanarak Erken Neolitik Çağ'dan Kalkolitik, Tunç ve Demir Çağ’a dek Anadolu'daki tilkilerin rollerini araştırmaktadır. Anadolu'daki 31 farklı yerleşimden toplanan zooarkeolojik verilerle, tilki-insan ilişkilerinin gelişim süreci incelenmiştir. Bunlarla birlikte çalışmada, tilkilerin beslenme, kürk, sembolizm ve ritüel gibi çeşitli yönleri ele alınmıştır. Ayrıca Anadolu’da ve günümüz avcı-toplayıcı topluluklarının etnografik verileri kullanılarak, tilki-insan ilişkilerinin bilinmeyen yönlerine dair etnoarkeolojik bir değerlendirme yapılmıştır. Elde edilen bulgulara göre; avcılık-toplayıcılık dönemlerinde tilkilerin küçük memeli hayvan avcılığının beslenme ekonomisinde önemli bir rol oynadığı, Neolitik Çağ'ın gelişimiyle birlikte ise kürk, sembolizm, ritüel gibi pek çok amaçla kullanıldığı anlaşılmaktadır. Neolitik Çağ sonra tilkilerin kullanımındaki çeşitliliğin azaldığı ve daha çok pastoral grupların tilkileri beslenme ve sembolik amaçlarla kullandıkları ortaya çıkmıştır. Tunç Çağ boyunca devletleşme süreciyle paralel olarak, sadece edebi metinlerde tilkiler hakkında kayıtlar bulunmuştur. Ancak, edebi metinlerde yansıtılmayan ilişkilerin arka planı hakkında yeterli veri olmamasına rağmen, Anadolu'da arkeolojik dönemler boyunca tilkilerle insanlar arasındaki ilişkilerin pastoralist topluluklar tarafından sürdürüldüğü anlaşılmaktadır.
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