Kalavan 1 is an Epigravettian hunting campsite in the Aregunyats mountain chain in northeastern Armenia (Lesser Caucasus). The site lies at an elevation of 1640 m in a bottleneck that controls the ...descent into the Barepat Valley from the alpine meadows above. The lithic and faunal assemblages show evidence of the production of hunting weapons, the hunting and targeting of wild sheep (Ovis orientalis), and the constitution of animal product reserves. A seasonal occupation of the site was proposed within a model of occupation by Epigravettian hunter-gatherers that involved a search for obsidian resources in high altitude sources from the spring to the summer and settling at Kalavan 1 at the end of summer or during autumn to coincide with the migration of wild herds from the alpine meadows to the valley. A key parameter of this model is wild sheep ethology, with a specifically seasonal vertical mobility, based on observations from contemporary mouflon populations from the surrounding areas. In this study, the vertical mobility of Paleolithic wild sheep was directly investigated through sequential isotope analysis (δ18O, δ13C) in teeth. A marked seasonality of birth is suggested that reflects a physiological adaptation to the strong environmental constraints of this mountainous region. Most importantly, a recurrent altitudinal mobility was demonstrated on a seasonal basis, which confirms that wild sheep migrated from lowland areas that they occupied in the winter and then moved to higher altitude meadows during the summer. Last, low inter-individual variability in the stable isotope sequences favors a hypothesis of accumulation for these faunal remains over a short time period. Overall, this new dataset strengthens the previous interpretations for Kalavan 1 and contributes to an understanding of the pattern of occupation of mountain territories by Epigravettian communities.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZRSKP
Present-day domestic cattle are reproductively active throughout the year, which is a major asset for dairy production. Large wild ungulates, in contrast, are seasonal breeders, as were the last ...historic representatives of the aurochs, the wild ancestors of cattle. Aseasonal reproduction in cattle is a consequence of domestication and herding, but exactly when this capacity developed in domestic cattle is still unknown and the extent to which early farming communities controlled the seasonality of reproduction is debated. Seasonal or aseasonal calving would have shaped the socio-economic practices of ancient farming societies differently, structuring the agropastoral calendar and determining milk availability where dairying is attested. In this study, we reconstruct the calving pattern through the analysis of stable oxygen isotope ratios of cattle tooth enamel from 18 sites across Europe, dating from the 6th mill. cal BC (Early Neolithic) in the Balkans to the 4th mill. cal BC (Middle Neolithic) in Western Europe. Seasonal calving prevailed in Europe between the 6th and 4th millennia cal BC. These results suggest that cattle agropastoral systems in Neolithic Europe were strongly constrained by environmental factors, in particular forage resources. The ensuing fluctuations in milk availability would account for cheese-making, transforming a seasonal milk supply into a storable product.
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Dogs have cohabited with humans since the Upper Paleolithic and their lifestyle and diet during late prehistory probably already depended on the role they played in past societies. Here, we used a ...combination of stable isotope analyses and three-dimensional geometric morphometrics to test for differences in, and associations between, diet and mandibular morphology based on 150 dogs of three sites of the Chalcolithic Gumelniţa culture in Romania (4550–3900 cal. BCE) characterized by different socio-economic systems. At Hârşova-tell and Borduşani-Popină, where the subsistence economy is mainly based on herding, dogs have a variable diet that is rich in domestic animals (sheep, cattle, pig) and may contain fish. In contrast, at Vităneşti-Măgurice, where hunting predominates, the diet of dogs is more specialized towards large game (red deer, aurochs, wild horse), reflecting the composition of human food refuse. Moreover, dogs have more robust (but not larger) mandibles at this site with shapes suggesting a greater importance of the temporal muscle important for the capture of large prey and the breaking of large bones. The strong covariation between mandible shape and stable isotope signatures suggests functional adaptations to diet. Overall, our results support the idea that prehistoric dogs adapted to human lifestyles.
•Dog remains from Romanian Chalcolithic sites allowed analyses of diet and jaw shape.•Dog diet and jaw shape reflect the human subsistence economy.•Where hunting prevails, dogs show low δ15N values corresponding to large game.•When hunting predominates, dogs have more robust but similar sized mandibles.•Covariations between diet and jaw shape show functional adaptations to diet.
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In southeastern Romania, the Gumelniţa culture is characterized by the appearance of tell sites. Whether this phenomenon was accompanied by increasing specialization of the economy may be ...investigated through the zooarchaeology of pastoral systems. The scale of herding is an important element of this framework. A case study was conducted on the tell sites of Hârşova and Borduşani-Popină situated in the Danube River basin. Both sites, located respectively on a terrace of the river and on the island of Balta Ialomiţei, delivered occupations from the Gumelniţa A2 dated to the second half of 5th millennium cal BC. Their occupants subsisted on an economy focused to a large extent on aquatic resources but also heavily dependent on cattle, pig and caprines husbandry and agriculture. The role of riverbanks resources in herding strategies and the extent to which the island of Balta Ialomiţei may have sustained domestic animal stocks was addressed through stable isotope analysis of animal skeleton remains. At both sites, results revealed local herding for cattle and caprines, reflected in an unexpectedly high contribution of C4 plants to their diet, most likely from ruderal C4 plants that are more abundant around the settlements as well as in cultivated fields. Domestic pigs had a higher trophic status than their wild counterparts, highlighting a significant contribution of animal protein to their diet most likely provided by human activities, suggesting that they were maintained in the settlement. Overall the findings suggest domestic stocks were reared in close proximity to the settlements, rather than in an extensive system. This scheme complements the small-scale cultivation system highlighted from the archaeobotanical analysis. Gumelniţa tell sites have been previously described as being part of larger pastoral systems including locations with complementary functions, although functional complementarity in time was not made explicit in this model. In this regard, the results obtained at Hârşova and Borduşani-Popină are not in favour of large-scale seasonal mobility.
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Camels in Romania Bălăşescu, Adrian
Anthropozoologica,
12/2014, Volume:
49, Issue:
2
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
A large number of animal remains (186 pieces) were accidentally discovered in 2008, during construction works on a private property in Agighiol village (Tulcea County), in an area previously unknown ...to have archaeological relevance. This material led to the identification of camel remains (155 bones), an exceptional result because camel material had been previously reported from only two other localities in Romania, both of them in Romano-Byzantine archaeological sites from Dobruja (9–12th centuries). Two 14C dates obtained on the camel remains from Agighiol place the animals in the Middle Ages, 17–18th centuries, thus relating the presence of camels to Ottoman Turk influences. We review the archaeological record of camels from Roman until Ottoman times, in Romania and surrounding countries. Camels were encountered in Dobruja up to the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, as proven by old photographs.
Taxonomic over-splitting of extinct or endangered taxa, due to an incomplete knowledge of both skeletal morphological variability and the geographical ranges of past populations, continues to confuse ...the link between isolated extant populations and their ancestors. This is particularly problematic with the genus Equus. To more reliably determine the evolution and phylogeographic history of the endangered Asiatic wild ass, we studied the genetic diversity and inter-relationships of both extinct and extant populations over the last 100,000 years, including samples throughout its previous range from Western Europe to Southwest and East Asia. Using 229 bp of the mitochondrial hypervariable region, an approach which allowed the inclusion of information from extremely poorly preserved ancient samples, we classify all non-African wild asses into eleven clades that show a clear phylogeographic structure revealing their phylogenetic history. This study places the extinct European wild ass, E. hydruntinus, the phylogeny of which has been debated since the end of the 19th century, into its phylogenetic context within the Asiatic wild asses and reveals recent mitochondrial introgression between populations currently regarded as separate species. The phylogeographic organization of clades resulting from these efforts can be used not only to improve future taxonomic determination of a poorly characterized group of equids, but also to identify historic ranges, interbreeding events between various populations, and the impact of ancient climatic changes. In addition, appropriately placing extant relict populations into a broader phylogeographic and genetic context can better inform ongoing conservation strategies for this highly-endangered species.
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Extant dog and wolf DNA indicates that dog domestication was accompanied by the selection of a series of duplications on the Amy2B gene coding for pancreatic amylase. In this study, we used a ...palaeogenetic approach to investigate the timing and expansion of the Amy2B gene in the ancient dog populations of Western and Eastern Europe and Southwest Asia. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction was used to estimate the copy numbers of this gene for 13 ancient dog samples, dated to between 15 000 and 4000 years before present (cal. BP). This evidenced an increase of Amy2B copies in ancient dogs from as early as the 7th millennium cal. BP in Southeastern Europe. We found that the gene expansion was not fixed across all dogs within this early farming context, with ancient dogs bearing between 2 and 20 diploid copies of the gene. The results also suggested that selection for the increased Amy2B copy number started 7000 years cal. BP, at the latest. This expansion reflects a local adaptation that allowed dogs to thrive on a starch rich diet, especially within early farming societies, and suggests a biocultural coevolution of dog genes and human culture.
Borduşani-Popină is a Gumelniţa tell site in south-eastern Romania. The cattle mortality profile suggests a husbandry oriented towards prime meat exploitation and dairy production highlighted by the ...keeping of cattle to advanced age. Besides, the culling strategy also targeted young calves. A stable isotope ratio study was undertaken on dental rows. Bone and dentine collagen δ
15
N values show that the calves within the slaughtering peak were well-advanced in the weaning process, suggesting that the slaughter was delayed until the end of the cows' lactation. A consequence would be the sharing of milk production between herders and calves. High inter- and intra-individual variability in bone collagen and enamel bioapatite δ
13
C values indicated variations in the seasonal ratio of C
4
and C
3
plants in fodder and between age groups. Overall, the complementary study of mortality profiles and stable isotopes provide evidence of sophisticated husbandry during the fifth millennium cal. bc.
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BFBNIB, DOBA, INZLJ, IZUM, KILJ, NMLJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, ZRSKP
•Isotopic and geometric morphometric analyses reveal Gumelniţa pig husbandry practices.•Pigs were fed from refuse of human activities, suggesting small scale husbandry.•Large suids with domestic ...molar shape show close proximity to the wild ecosystem.•The large suids with domestic molar shape were feral pigs acquired through hunting.
In south-eastern Romania, a prominent place was given to pigs in the Gumelniţa culture (Late Chalcolithic, second half of 5th millennium BC); as was the highly prized wild boar, one of a variety of species targeted for hunting. The wild boars’ ecological niche and the scale of pig husbandry were investigated during a stable isotope study of the Gumelniţa A2 occupations at Borduşani-Popină, Hârşova-tell and Vităneşti-Măgurice. Results from the bone collagen δ15N and δ13C analysis suggested that the wild boars did not inhabit dense forests, in any of these locations. The emerging picture is of small-scale pig husbandry involving household management: pigs being fed leftovers and/or by-products of human activities. At Vităneşti, previous work involving geometric morphometrics on suid molars evidenced, besides the two expected groups of small domestic pigs and large specimens with wild molar shape (i.e. wild boar), the presence of specimens with large size and domestic shape molars, whose relationship with the human community was unclear. Results from the combined geometric morphometric and stable isotope analyses, suggested that the large specimens with domestic molar shape lived in close proximity to the wild ecosystem. They were probably not part of the domestic stock, but belonged to a feral population and were acquired through hunting.
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