TY - JOUR
T1 - Variability in seasonal mobility patterns in Bronze and Iron Age Kazakhstan through cementum analysis
AU - Schmaus, Tekla M.
AU - Doumani Dupuy, Paula N.
AU - Frachetti, Michael D.
N1 - Funding Information:
Many thanks are due to Dr. Della Cook for her support and guidance on methods, and use of materials purchased under NSF Grant 7725310. Microscopy was undertaken at the Light Microscopy Imaging Center at Indiana University. Thanks are also due to the two anonymous reviewers, whose comments improved this article greatly. This work was supported by Wenner-Gren Grant 8503, the Social Science Research Council Eurasia Program, the Schrader Endowment in Classical Archaeology at Indiana University, NSF Grant 1132090, Lambda Alpha National Honor Society, and Washington University in St. Louis. Faunal remains are stored at the Institute of Archaeology, Almaty, Kazakhstan.
Funding Information:
Many thanks are due to Dr. Della Cook for her support and guidance on methods, and use of materials purchased under NSF Grant 7725310 . Microscopy was undertaken at the Light Microscopy Imaging Center at Indiana University. Thanks are also due to the two anonymous reviewers, whose comments improved this article greatly. This work was supported by Wenner-Gren Grant 8503 , the Social Science Research Council Eurasia Program , the Schrader Endowment in Classical Archaeology at Indiana University , NSF Grant 1132090 , Lambda Alpha National Honor Society, and Washington University in St. Louis. Faunal remains are stored at the Institute of Archaeology, Almaty, Kazakhstan.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA
PY - 2020/4/20
Y1 - 2020/4/20
N2 - Understanding seasonal mobility patterns in prehistoric pastoral groups is essential to understanding regional dynamics. In this paper, we present data on the seasonality of site use in southeast Kazakhstan during the Bronze and Iron Ages. The data for this study come from the settlements of Begash and Tasbas. Begash has previously been described as a winter settlement, while Tasbas provides evidence for agricultural production and was initially considered a summer settlement. We performed analysis of cementum annulations on 49 caprine teeth from Begash and 29 caprine teeth from Tasbas. We demonstrate that occupation at Begash was not strictly limited to winter, and that occupation at Tasbas was year-round. These results demonstrate more variation in seasonal occupation patterns than was previously expected, which indicates more complexity in mobility patterns as well. Introducing additional variation and complexity in seasonal movement means that we will need to revise our models of mobile pastoral economies in the Bronze and Iron Ages. The results of this study lead to questions about what factors influenced movement, and how variability in mobility patterns affected larger social structures and interactions between populations in Central Eurasia in prehistory.
AB - Understanding seasonal mobility patterns in prehistoric pastoral groups is essential to understanding regional dynamics. In this paper, we present data on the seasonality of site use in southeast Kazakhstan during the Bronze and Iron Ages. The data for this study come from the settlements of Begash and Tasbas. Begash has previously been described as a winter settlement, while Tasbas provides evidence for agricultural production and was initially considered a summer settlement. We performed analysis of cementum annulations on 49 caprine teeth from Begash and 29 caprine teeth from Tasbas. We demonstrate that occupation at Begash was not strictly limited to winter, and that occupation at Tasbas was year-round. These results demonstrate more variation in seasonal occupation patterns than was previously expected, which indicates more complexity in mobility patterns as well. Introducing additional variation and complexity in seasonal movement means that we will need to revise our models of mobile pastoral economies in the Bronze and Iron Ages. The results of this study lead to questions about what factors influenced movement, and how variability in mobility patterns affected larger social structures and interactions between populations in Central Eurasia in prehistory.
KW - Bronze Age
KW - Cementum analysis
KW - Central Asia
KW - Iron Age
KW - Kazakhstan
KW - Pastoralism
KW - Seasonality
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U2 - 10.1016/j.quaint.2019.04.018
DO - 10.1016/j.quaint.2019.04.018
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85064594628
SN - 1040-6182
VL - 545
SP - 102
EP - 110
JO - Quaternary International
JF - Quaternary International
ER -
