Management and domestication of cattle (<i>Bos taurus</i>) in Neolithic Southwest Asia

Arbuckle, Benjamin S.; Kassebaum, Theo M

doi:10.1093/af/vfab015

Cited by 7 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 36 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…In the Neolithic Near East, it is believed that sheep and goats were domesticated at the same time as or earlier than pigs (Zeder, 2008;Arbuckle and Hammer, 2019). Therefore, the prehistoric Near East populations who owned domesticated pigs would also have known how to herd and pasture these herd ruminant livestock (Arbuckle and Hammer, 2019;Arbuckle and Kassebaum, 2021) as the Greek pig herders. For example, at Çayönü Tepesi, known for pig husbandry during the Early and Middle Neolithic periods (Hongo et al, 2004), there is evidence of prior progress in domestication of cattle and other ungulates (Hongo et al, 2009).…”

Section: Sitementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Therefore, it is highly likely that extensive sheep herding was operated at this site (Stiner et al, 2014(Stiner et al, , 2021Buitenhuis et al, 2018). By the Middle Neolithic period, a fullblown herding system had emerged in Turkey and the Near East, where herds of sheep and cattle were allowed to graze and return to the pens or corrals at night (Portillo et al, 2020;Arbuckle and Kassebaum, 2021). It is possible that these familiarities with herding and pasturing led Neolithic populations in the Near East to treat pigs similarly.…”

Section: Sitementioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Pig management in the Neolithic Near East and East Asia clarified with isotope analyses of bulk collagen and amino acids

Itahashi

2022

Front. Ecol. Evol.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The chemical analysis of animal bones from ancient sites has become a common approach in archeological research investigating animal utilization and domestication by past humans. Although several chemical indicators have been used to determine pig management practices in ancient societies, one indicator that can clarify human-animal relationships in the early stages of domestication is the change in the animal’s diet from its wild diet, which can be detected using isotope analysis of its bones. Omnivores, such as boars, are assumed to have shared foods with humans as their interaction increased, and a shift in the isotopic (carbon and nitrogen) compositions of their bone collagen toward humans are considered evidence of domestication. This approach has found evidence of early-stage pig management with human leftovers and feces in prehistoric East Asia, including in Neolithic China, Korea and Japan. However, in the Near East, one of the origins of animal domestication, even individual animals considered to be domesticated pigs according to zooarcheological data (such as morphological characteristics and mortality patterns) display isotopic compositions of bulk collagen that differ from those of humans but are close to those of herbivores. This result indicates that these pigs were fed special foods, such as legumes, rather than human leftovers or feces. However, the carbon and nitrogen isotopic compositions of the bulk collagen of herbivores found at the same sites showed huge variations, so the interpretation of the pigs’ diet is consequently unclear. In this study, a compound-specific nitrogen isotope analysis was used to clarify the pig diet and management strategies unique to the Neolithic Near East, Turkey and Syria, together with a carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis of bulk collagen. This study examines the diversity of pig management techniques in early agricultural societies and their relationship with the availability of other domestic animals and farming practices.

show abstract

Section: Sitementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Sitementioning

confidence: 99%

Pig management in the Neolithic Near East and East Asia clarified with isotope analyses of bulk collagen and amino acids

Itahashi

2022

Front. Ecol. Evol.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Estimating the Ontogenetic Age and Sex Composition of Faunal Assemblages with Bayesian Multilevel Mixture Models

Wolfhagen

2023

J Archaeol Method Theory

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Understanding the ontogenetic age and sex composition of zooarchaeological assemblages can reveal details about past human hunting and herding strategies as well as past animal morphology and behavior. As such, the accuracy of our estimates underlies our ability to ascertain details about site formation and gain insights into how people interacted with different animals in the past. Unfortunately, our estimates typically rely on only a small number of bones, limiting our ability to fruitfully use these estimates to make meaningful comparisons to theoretical expectations or even between multiple assemblages. This paper describes a method to use zooarchaeological remains with standard biometric measurements to estimate the ontogenetic age and sex composition of the assemblage, focused on immature, adult-sized female, and adult-sized male specimens. The model uses a Bayesian framework to ensure that the parameter estimates are biologically meaningful. Simulated assemblages show that the model can accurately estimate the biometry and composition of zooarchaeological assemblages. Two archaeological case studies also show how the model can be applied to produce tangible insights. The first, focused on sheep from Neolithic Pinarbaşı B, highlights the model’s ability to elucidate site formation and function. The second, focused on cattle remains from four assemblages from 7th-6th millennium BCE northwestern Anatolia, showcases how to use the mixture modeling results to compare assemblages to one another and to specific hypotheses. This modeling framework provides a new avenue for investigating long-term trajectories in animal biometry alongside contextual analyses of past human choices in butchery and consumption.

show abstract

Management of symbols: Weapons variability and the emergence of large tanged points in early pre-pottery neolithic context of Motza, Judean Hills, Israel

Yaroshevich

Eirikh-Rose

Khalaily

2023

Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Management and domestication of cattle (Bos taurus) in Neolithic Southwest Asia

Cited by 7 publications

References 36 publications

Pig management in the Neolithic Near East and East Asia clarified with isotope analyses of bulk collagen and amino acids

Pig management in the Neolithic Near East and East Asia clarified with isotope analyses of bulk collagen and amino acids

Estimating the Ontogenetic Age and Sex Composition of Faunal Assemblages with Bayesian Multilevel Mixture Models

Management of symbols: Weapons variability and the emergence of large tanged points in early pre-pottery neolithic context of Motza, Judean Hills, Israel

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About