Pastoralist Mobility in Bronze Age Landscapes of Northern Kazakhstan:87Sr/86Sr and δ18O Analyses of Human Dentition from Bestamak and Lisakovsk

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

Populations in Mongolia from the late second millennium B.C.E. through the Mongol Empire are traditionally assumed, by archaeologists and historians, to have maintained a highly specialized horsefacilitated form of mobile pastoralism. Until recently, a dearth of direct evidence for prehistoric human diet and subsistence economies in Mongolia has rendered systematic testing of this view impossible. Here, we present stable carbon and nitrogen isotope measurements of human bone collagen, and stable carbon isotope analysis of human enamel bioapatite, from 137 well-dated ancient Mongolian individuals spanning the period c. 4400 B.C.E. to 1300 C.E. Our results demonstrate an increase in consumption of C 4 plants beginning at c. 800 B.C.E., almost certainly indicative of millet consumption, an interpretation supported by archaeological evidence. The escalating scale of millet consumption on the eastern Eurasian steppe over time, and an expansion of isotopic niche widths, indicate that historic Mongolian empires were supported by a diversification of economic strategies rather than uniform, specialized pastoralism. Mongolian empires, such as the Xiongnu and Mongols, are some of the most renowned imperial entities in public and academic thought. This is, in part, due to their historical portrayal as highly mobile, predatory horseback polities with a specialized dairy and meat-based economy 1-4 , an image that is perpetuated in cinema, novels, and documentaries alike. While such stereotypes likely arose from the hyperbolized accounts of neighboring adversaries, starting with the Han, who fought against the Xiongnu 5 , they have persisted and now pervade academic evaluations of the economic basis of these ancient peoples. The modern economic focus on pastoralism in rural areas of Mongolia today is frequently viewed as a relic of the past and has been drawn upon to interpret the often-fragmentary archaeological record of this region 6,7 , although ethnoarchaeological approaches often ignore the role of urban markets and motorized transport in modern mobile pastoralism. The view of uniformly specialized pastoral economies has also furthered the scholarly fascination with historical Mongolian populations, resurrecting the long-standing question of whether an empire can meet the costs and challenges of long-term political and economic organization in the absence of grain surpluses 6,7. Empires are, however, inherently complex and, by definition, extend their control over multiple societies, cultures, and economies, as well as heterogeneous landscapes 8-10. Crop surplus has traditionally been viewed as an essential component of stable political entities and complex imperial food production and procurement systems are often oversimplified by historians and archaeologists, leading to their characterization as single-resource systems (such as maize for the pre-Columbian empires of South America). Refined analyses generally reveal diverse and dynamic economies supporting imperial expansions, which draw together a variety of food sou...

Section: Environmental Differencesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Economic Diversification Supported the Growth of Mongolia’s Nomadic Empires

Wilkin

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

“…Human isotope data provide insights into mobility and subsistence at the level of the individual. Strontium isotope analysis provides direct evidence for human mobility, as 87 Sr/ 86 Sr ratios in food and drink varies broadly in accordance with geology ( Fig 2 ), with distinctions being passed on to consumers [ 54 , 57 – 64 ].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…insights into mobility and subsistence at the level of the individual. Strontium isotope analysis provides direct evidence for human mobility, as 87 Sr/ 86 Sr ratios in food and drink varies broadly in accordance with geology ( Fig 2), with distinctions being passed on to consumers [54,[57][58][59][60][61][62][63][64]. Stable oxygen isotope measurements of human enamel offer further insight into human mobility and landscape use [65][66][67] as they primarily reflect imbibed water [68][69][70][71] with some caveats (see methods).…”

Section: Plos Onementioning

confidence: 99%

Re-evaluating Scythian lifeways: Isotopic analysis of diet and mobility in Iron Age Ukraine

Johnson

Makhortykh³

et al. 2021

PLoS ONE

Self Cite

The Scythians are frequently presented, in popular and academic thought alike, as highly mobile warrior nomads who posed a great economic risk to growing Mediterranean empires from the Iron Age into the Classical period. Archaeological studies provide evidence of first millennium BCE urbanism in the steppe while historical texts reference steppe agriculture, challenging traditional characterizations of Scythians as nomads. However, there have been few direct studies of the diet and mobility of populations living in the Pontic steppe and forest-steppe during the Scythian era. Here, we analyse strontium, oxygen, and carbon isotope data from human tooth enamel samples, as well as nitrogen and carbon isotope data of bone collagen, at several Iron Age sites across Ukraine commonly associated with ‘Scythian’ era communities. Our multi-isotopic approach demonstrates generally low levels of human mobility in the vicinity of urban locales, where populations engaged in agro-pastoralism focused primarily on millet agriculture. Some individuals show evidence for long-distance mobility, likely associated with significant inter-regional connections. We argue that this pattern supports economic diversity of urban locales and complex trading networks, rather than a homogeneous nomadic population.

“…In the northern steppe (Kostanay Oblast') river water δ 18 O values were measured in the summer of 2014 within a 15 km radius of the archaeological sites of Lisakovsk and Bestamak (Ventresca Miller 2018;Ventresca Miller et al 2018b). Six samples were taken along a 20 km stretch of the Tobol River which ranged from -10.8 to -11.1‰, two samples along a 10 km portion of the Ubagan River ranged from -9.01 to -11.0‰, and one sample of the Buruktal stream which measured -3.5‰ (Ventresca Miller 2018; Ventresca Miller et al 2018b) ( Figure 1).…”

Section: Variation Of Oxygen Isotopes In Diverse Systemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

STAR: Science & Technology of Archaeological Research

Haruda

Varfolomeev

et al. 2020

Self Cite

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.