Specialized wool production economy of prehistoric farmstead of Chap I in the highlands of Central Tian Shan (Kyrgyzstan)

Abstract

Agro‐pastoral economies of prehistoric populations of Central Tian Shan highlands (2,000 masl and higher) have been poorly studied to date. Currently, we lack a general understanding of mobility and seasonality patterns of livestock herding and also lack knowledge about management strategies for particular productive goals in these high mountain valleys. In this paper, we report the results of the first systematic zooarchaeological analysis from the Final Bronze Age–Early Iron Age settlement Chap I located in Central Tian Shan highlands and discuss the data in relation to zooarchaeological evidence from contemporaneous sites in Central Asia. Our research has shown that Chap I was dominated by four domesticated herbivores: cattle, horses, sheep and goats. Data from Chap I demonstrate a strong focus on the exploitation of sheep and goats for meat and secondary products. Analysis of collagen peptides (ZooMS) from sheep/goats indicated that sheep were kept in greater numbers than goats. Sheep/goat mortality profiles and material evidence point to wool as an important product of highland pastoralism in the Central Tian Shan.

The integration of millet into the diet of Central Asian populations in the third millennium BC

“…The rise in δ 15 N values during the Final Bronze Age and Early Iron Age points towards an intensification of the pastoral economy and increased consumption of animal products. Recent zooarchaeological analysis from Early Iron Age Chap I has shown that caprine animals were exploited for secondary products (wool and milk) as well as meat (Ananyevskaya et al 2020b). Advances in agriculture and the intensification of field manuring may also have contributed to the overall rise in δ 15 N values in humans (Fraser et al .…”

Carbon and oxygen stable isotopic evidence for diverse sheep and goat husbandry strategies amid a Final Bronze Age farming milieu in the Kyrgyz Tian Shan

“…Ten mandibular second (M/2) or third molars (M/3) from domesticated sheep and goats were recovered from the well‐dated occupational strata of Chap‐1 (Motuzaite Matuzeviciute, Tabaldiev, et al, 2020), which met the inclusion criteria of having a crown height greater than 2 cm and having at least one loph with a complete buccal portion (Table S1). Although having comparative isotopic data from domesticated cattle would give a more complete picture of animal management strategies, Bos M/2s or M/3s were not recovered from Chap‐1 (Ananyevskaya et al, 2021). For a modern comparative dataset from wild bovids, we obtained two mandibular M/2s and M/3s each from two modern Siberian ibex ( Capra sibirica ) from snow leopard kill sites in the Jeti‐Oguz nature reserve of Kyrgyzstan (Table S1).…”

“…Because the species of the analyzed teeth were not determined with biomolecular methods such as ZooMS (Zooarchaeology by Mass Spectrometry) (Buckley et al, 2010), and could not be reliably differentiated based on dental morphology, the specific goals of production for sheep or goats at Chap-1 cannot be identified. Zooarchaeological research at Chap-1 identified kill-off patterns of caprines (presumably sheep) favoring survivorship of older animals, suggesting a strategy of wool production (Ananyevskaya et al, 2021).…”

“…Chap‐1 was occupied from 1065 to 825 cal BCE and yielded rich macrobotanical remains of several wheat and barley varieties, foxtail and broomcorn millets, lentils, and peas, in addition to glume bases and rachis internodes, indicating local crop processing (Motuzaite Matuzeviciute, Tabaldiev, et al, 2020; Motuzaite Matuzeviciute, Mir‐Makhamad, & Tabaldiev, 2021). Importantly, the zooarchaeological assemblage from Chap‐1 demonstrates that animal exploitation was focused on domesticated caprines with smaller components trained on cattle and horses, and more specifically, mortality profiles for caprines show the survival of older animals, suggesting milk and wool production (Ananyevskaya et al, 2021). The ceramic assemblage from Chap‐1 shows participation in sprawling cultural networks, which indicates the site's inhabitants were well engaged in communication and exchange with diverse cultural communities in neighboring regions (Luneau et al, 2020; Motuzaite Matuzeviciute, Tabaldiev, et al, 2020).…”

An Imagined Past?

“…However, since the submission of our original paper in 2018, additional zooarchaeological research in this region has been published, which further expands the data beyond basic presence/absence tables. For example, at the high-altitude site of Chap 1, Kyrgyzstan, zooarchaeological analysis was supported by ZooMS (zooarchaeology by mass spectrometry), suggesting that wool-based pastoralist strategies were likely part of a complex agropastoral lifeway (Ananyevskaya et al 2021;Taylor et al 2018b). Further developing this model, at the nearby site of Aigyrzhal-2, relatively few animal bones were recovered, but evidence for cereal processing was identified (Motuzaite Matuzeviciute et al 2017).…”