Preliminary ethnoarchaeological research on modern animal husbandry in Bestansur, Iraqi Kurdistan: Integrating animal, plant and environmental data

Elliott, Sarah; Bendrey, Robin; Whitlam, Jade; Aziz, Kamal Rauf; Evans, Jane

doi:10.1179/1749631414y.0000000025

Cited by 41 publications

(45 citation statements)

References 76 publications

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“…As with most studies in the archaeological sciences, the clearest interpretation can be drawn from multiproxy approaches, and a few approaches to the archaeology of dung have used multiple datasets (Simpson et al 1998;Matthews 2010;Shahack-Gross 2011;Lancelotti and Madella 2012;Elliott et al 2015;Smith et al 2015). As with all of these methods, there is a need for control samples from offsite, in order to determine background readings (Lancelotti and Madella 2012, p 962).…”

Section: The Archaeology Of Dungmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dung burning in the archaeobotanical record of West Asia: where are we now?

Spengler

2018

Veget Hist Archaeobot

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In the early 1980s Naomi Miller changed the field of palaeoethnobotany; her research into whether the ancient seed eaters of southwest Asia were human or herbivore opened an ongoing debate over the impact that burning of animal dung had on the formation of archaeobotanical assemblages, and how researchers can differentiate between human and animal food remains. As the number of systematic archaeobotanical studies across West Asia and many other parts of the world increase, we are continually confronted with the question of the significance of dung burning. Herd animal dung is the dominant fuel source in many parts of West Asia today and the high densities of seeds of wild plants in archaeobotanical assemblages suggest that people were using dung as fuel across Inner Asia for millennia. Seed assemblages that represent herd animal dung are assisting scholars in understanding palaeoecology and herd animal diet in the past as well as human economy and pasturing practices. However, interpreting these assemblages is not always simple and there are predictable biases that need to be taken into account, notably an overrepresentation of endozoochoric seeds (seeds dispersed through animal ingestion). In West Asia, the most prominent of such seeds in dung assemblages are from the Amaranthaceae family, notably Chenopodium.

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Section: The Archaeology Of Dungmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dung burning in the archaeobotanical record of West Asia: where are we now?

Spengler

2018

Veget Hist Archaeobot

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“…However, cattle pastures after the monsoonal rains are more focused on the exploitation of marshlands and interdunal vertisols rather than the top of fossilised dunes. Moreover, recent ethnoarchaeological studies on goat and cattle daily grazing in drylands (Elliot et al, 2014) detected higher amounts of P in soils (>5000 ppm and >11,000 ppm, respectively). These values are far from the highest concentrations in our samples.…”

Section: Anthropic Markers: Upper Slope and Dune Topmentioning

confidence: 98%

Multi-proxy survey of open-air surface scatters in drylands: Archaeological and physico-chemical characterisation of fossilised dunes in North Gujarat (India)

Conesa

Lobo

Alcaina

et al. 2017

Quaternary International

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This research aims at improving our understanding of open-air archaeological surface scatters in drylands, their extension and the intensity of human activities during their occupation. To do so, the study of physico-chemical proxies is integrated to that of archaeological artefacts by means of systematic field survey combined with laboratory sedimentary analyses and a robust statistical approach. In most dry regions, archaeological survey has traditionally aimed at the collection of artefacts. When present, the study of physical and geochemical samples has been limited to excavated archaeological levels. In this work, we evaluate the archaeological significance of physico-chemical proxies from surface samples collected within and around four mid and late-Holocene surface scatters in North Gujarat, a semi-arid region located at the south-west margin of the Thar Desert in India. The four archaeological scatters are found on top of fossilised sand dunes. Archaeologically, they represent subsistence strategies based on hunting and gathering, agro-pastoralism, or a succession/ mixture of the two. The four locations were systematically sampled across a linear transect. For each sampling unit, the archaeological materials were quantified and classified by means of a Linear Discriminant Analyses. Physio-chemical variables were ordinated in a PCA space and clustered through a Hierarchical Clustering. Results were displayed along the dune transect and integrated into a Correspondence Analysis. Significant differences are attested in the spatial distribution and content of Ca, P and grain size, allowing us to suggest a set of distinct cultural soilscapes that characterise the dunes of the study area: vertisols (agric horizons in interdunal lower slopes), aridisols (relict dune surfaces in the mid-slope), and anthrosols (top dune). The last show a strong correspondence with the presence of archaeological artefacts, and the different intensity of human footprint are discussed accordingly to potential past subsistence strategies and the intensity of human occupation.

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“…The final contribution is that of Elliott et al (2015), who conduct an ethnoarchaeological study of animal husbandry in the modern village of Bestansur, which is situated some 700 m from the Early Neolithic site of Bestansur (as discussed by Iversen 2015). The location of Bestansur is within a region of the ancient Near East with early evidence for the emergence of goat husbandry (Zeder 2011).…”

Section: Institute Of Archaeology University Of Oxford Ukmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The location of Bestansur is within a region of the ancient Near East with early evidence for the emergence of goat husbandry (Zeder 2011). The study of Elliott et al (2015) is aimed at providing the groundwork for archaeological investigations of past animal husbandry practices in the local landscape on the basis that modern behaviours and identifiable ecological constraints and affordances can suggest testable patterns for past practices within the same functional and ecological domains. This paper explores how modern families use and manage their livestock within the local landscape and identifies traces of this use through archaeologically detectable methods.…”

Section: Institute Of Archaeology University Of Oxford Ukmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The application of diverse methodologies is identifying continuity and change in the plant and animal economies and wider environments of sites Salavert et al 2015) and the long-term interaction between landscape change and cultural evolution (Zhuang 2015). The continued construction and improvement of region-specific modern reference datasets as control data for archaeological studies is also an important part of such research (Elliott et al 2015). As Elliott et al also discuss, ethnoarchaeological research can provide useful analogy for archaeological research through providing examples of possible behaviours, strategies and processes within defined contexts.…”

Section: Institute Of Archaeology University Of Oxford Ukmentioning

confidence: 99%

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