A model for pastoral mobility in Iron Age Kazakhstan

Schmaus, Tekla M.; Chang, Claudia; Tourtellotte, Perry A.

doi:10.1016/j.jasrep.2017.10.029

Cited by 8 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…Samples (thin sections) with zero values in all five sections/tooth were excluded from the sample. Diagenetic apatite crystals can create false increments which should be distinguished from true cementum [ 5 ]. This can be done by using lambda plate, which is a frequently used approach (e. g., [ 4 , 5 , 43 ]).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using cementochronology to assess the seasonality of catastrophic events in medieval mass graves (Kutná Hora-Sedlec, Czechia, 14th century): Preliminary results

Zazvonilová,

Brzobohatá,

Frolík

et al. 2023

PLoS ONE

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While season-of-death estimation using cementochronology is routine in archaeozoology, its use is much less frequent in bioarchaeology. Based on the character of the outermost increment (bright or dark), two seasons (spring/summer, autumn/winter) can be distinguished. Although many studies mention its potential and possible use in forensic anthropology or bioarchaeology, few exist with estimation results. This study aimed to apply cementochronology–a histological method based on counting and assessing regular circa-annual acellular cementum increments–to 42 individuals from medieval mass graves from Kutná Hora-Sedlec (Czechia, 14th century) to estimate the season-of-death. The mass graves belong to two stratigraphically distinct groups; written and archaeological sources relate them to two catastrophic events (the famine of 1318 and the plague epidemic of 1348–1350). Using cementochronology, we distinguished two distinct seasons corresponding to the two groups of graves, with individuals from the first group dying predominantly in spring/summer, while those from the second group died in autumn/winter. Taking into account the typical seasonal dynamics of epidemics, the results would be more in line with written sources. However, during the evaluation, we faced difficulties identifying the outermost increment and detecting the dark (thinner) increment; we recommend including only young and middle-aged adults in future studies, due to the difficulty of evaluation, and to consider the readability of the tissue (often affected by diagenesis). In conclusion, cementochronology has potential in the context of estimating the season-of-death, but the technical possibilities for enhancing the outermost increment need to be addressed, and the amount of data analysed expanded.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using cementochronology to assess the seasonality of catastrophic events in medieval mass graves (Kutná Hora-Sedlec, Czechia, 14th century): Preliminary results

Zazvonilová,

Brzobohatá,

Frolík

et al. 2023

PLoS ONE

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“…A model for agropastoral economies emerging from the analysis of cementum annulations in caprine (sheep/goat) teeth from the site of Tuzusai suggests that prehistoric populations with mixed economies occupied the same location year-round, with a seasonal spike due to fall slaughter (Schmaus, Chang, and Tourtellotte 2018). A comparable data set from Tasbas in the second and first millennia BC displays a similar pattern of yearround deposition with a seasonal spike in the fall (Schmaus, Doumani Dupuy, and Frachetti 2020).…”

Section: Zooarchaeologymentioning

confidence: 98%

An Imagined Past?

Spengler

Miller

Schmaus³

et al. 2021

Current Anthropology

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Nomads, or highly specialized mobile pastoralists, are prominent features in Central Asian archaeology, and they are often depicted in direct conflict with neighboring sedentary peoples. However, new archaeological findings are showing that the people who many scholars have called nomads engaged in a mixed economic system of farming and herding. Additionally, not all of these peoples were as mobile as previously assumed, and current data suggest that a portion of these purported mobile populations remained sedentary for much or all of the year, with localized ecological factors directing economic choices. In this article, we pull together nine complementary lines of evidence from the second through the first millennia BC to illustrate that in eastern Central Asia, a complex economy existed. While many scholars working in Eurasian archaeology now acknowledge how dynamic paleoeconomies were, broader arguments are still tied into assumptions regarding specialized economies. The formation of empires or polities, changes in social orders, greater political hierarchy, craft specialization-notably, advanced metallurgy-mobility and migration, social relations, and exchange have all been central to the often circular arguments made concerning so-called nomads in ancient Central Asia. The new interpretations of mixed and complex economies more effectively situate Central Asia into a broader global study of food production and social complexity.

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“…This is further supported by evidence of cultivation of foxtail millet at the site as early as the Late Bronze Age, identified through phytoliths (Roberts 2016). In addition, at nearby Iron Age sites there is evidence for a system of seasonal transhumance of livestock alongside crop production (Chang 2017;Schmaus, Chang, and Tourtellotte 2018;Ullah, Chang, and Tourtellotte 2019).…”

Section: Seasonal Foddering and Patterns Of Transhumancementioning

confidence: 99%

Close management of sheep in ancient Central Asia: evidence for foddering, transhumance, and extended lambing seasons during the Bronze and Iron Ages

Miller

Haruda

Varfolomeev

et al. 2020

STAR: Science & Technology of Archaeological Research

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Pastoralism in Central Asia directed the utilization of natural resources, yet information on livestock management strategies remain scarce. Carbon (δ 13 C) and oxygen (δ 18 O) isotope analyses of domesticated sheep teeth are used to identify animal management strategies. Sheep from Kent exhibit an inverserelationship where low δ 18 O values coincide with high δ 13 C values, consistent with the foddering of caprines in the winter for this location which occursalongside evidence for an extended lambing season. At the high altitude encampment of Turgen, Bronze Age sheep exhibit low δ 18 O values that coincide withhigh δ 13 C values, suggesting that livestock were moved to low altitude pastures in the winter months. Iron Age sheep sequences also have an inverserelationship, where low δ 18 O values coincide with high δ 13 C values, yet high δ 13 C values in the winter suggest that livestock were foddered. Our findingsindicate variation in livestock management strategies with distinct adaptations to local ecologies.

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A model for pastoral mobility in Iron Age Kazakhstan

Cited by 8 publications

References 40 publications

Using cementochronology to assess the seasonality of catastrophic events in medieval mass graves (Kutná Hora-Sedlec, Czechia, 14th century): Preliminary results

Using cementochronology to assess the seasonality of catastrophic events in medieval mass graves (Kutná Hora-Sedlec, Czechia, 14th century): Preliminary results

An Imagined Past?

Close management of sheep in ancient Central Asia: evidence for foddering, transhumance, and extended lambing seasons during the Bronze and Iron Ages

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