Spilling Blood: Conflict and Culture over Animal Slaughter in Mongol Eurasia

May, Timothy

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-24363-0_5

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 28 publications

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“…Rather than true accounts, these statements seem like exaggerated portrayals of steppe peoples as barbarians and “others”. There are no archaeological indications of the kinds of meats and bloods consumed, or the ways in which these were described to have been prepared, beyond a few historic references to slaughter techniques common during the Mongol Empire 27 – 30 , over about 2000 years after our cauldrons were used. When considering both historical and archaeological sources, there has been no reason to give fresh blood consumption in ancient Mongolia serious consideration, but rather that a preference to not waste resources from animal sources 30 that appears to have extended much further into the past than previously known.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cauldrons of Bronze Age nomads reveals 2700 year old yak milk and the deep antiquity of food preparation techniques

Wilkin,

Bayarsaikhan,

Ganbold

et al. 2024

Sci Rep

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Cauldrons, vessels that are simultaneously common and enigmatic, offer insights into past cultural and social traditions. While assumed to possess a special function, what these cauldrons contained is still largely mysterious. These vessels, such as those made from bronze or copper alloys, function as reservoirs for ancient organics through the antibacterial qualities provided by the metal surfaces. Here we show, through protein analysis, that cauldrons from the Final Bronze Age (ca. 2700 BP) were primarily used to collect blood from ruminants, primarily caprines, likely for the production of sausages in a manner similar to contemporary practices in Mongolia’s rural countryside. Our findings present a different function from the recent findings of cooked meat in copper-alloy vessels from the northern Caucasus 2000 years earlier, exposing the diversity in food preparation techniques. Our secondary findings of bovine milk within the cauldron, including peptides specific to Bos mutus, pushes back their regional domestication into the Bronze Age.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cauldrons of Bronze Age nomads reveals 2700 year old yak milk and the deep antiquity of food preparation techniques

Wilkin,

Bayarsaikhan,

Ganbold

et al. 2024

Sci Rep

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Palaeolithic innovations in response to faunal fluctuations

Litov,

Barkai

2024

Hunter Gatherer Research

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Animal acquisition, butchering and processing was a crucial activity continuum in the subsistence of Lower Palaeolithic hunter-gatherers bolstered by a persistent Acheulian stone toolkit. Scrapers, bifaces, flakes and other Acheulian implements were successfully used during carcass manipulation, entailing functional compatibility with the prey taxa to be processed. Major changes to the Acheulian butchery toolkit occurred in the late Lower Palaeolithic Levant, with the introduction of novel lithic trajectories stemming from anchored Acheulian traditions. This paper presents two late Acheulian innovations: Quina-like scrapers and flat bifacial knives. Both tool types emerge at a different pace and are rarely recognised in Acheulian contexts. However, numerous fully-fledged Quina scrapers used for butchery and hide working are characteristic of the proceeding Acheulo-Yabrudian Cultural Complex in the Levant, where they are supplemented by a limited number of flat bifaces. Changes to local faunal communities, marked by a decline in megaherbivore availability, may have accelerated the introduction of a new set of butchery implements oriented towards effective processing of smaller-sized ungulates, a habitual Acheulo-Yabrudian subsistence pattern. Dependency on animal-induced calories and underlaying human–animal relationships may have facilitated the development of new butchery implements acting as ‘mediators’ between humans and their preferred prey. The gradual emergence of new butchery tools may signal the practical and ontological adaptability of late Lower Palaeolithic hunter-gatherers to new ecological conditions and trophic interactions in a time of shifting faunal communities and highlight the paramount role of human–animal relationships in Lower Palaeolithic cultural evolution.

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Spilling Blood: Conflict and Culture over Animal Slaughter in Mongol Eurasia

Cited by 2 publications

References 28 publications

Cauldrons of Bronze Age nomads reveals 2700 year old yak milk and the deep antiquity of food preparation techniques

Cauldrons of Bronze Age nomads reveals 2700 year old yak milk and the deep antiquity of food preparation techniques

Palaeolithic innovations in response to faunal fluctuations

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