Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: Neolithic Ovicaprine Herd Management by Multiple Isotope Analysis: a case study at Catalhoyuk, Turkey

在T博士的指导下。道格拉斯普莱斯，大卫梅格斯将使用同位素分析的绵羊和山羊的牙齿从网站的格里蒂耶，土耳其东南部调查的地理范围和季节模式，在史前放牧策略的居民。格里蒂耶是幼发拉底河上的一个村庄，8500 - 9500年前被占领。经济主要是基于种植的植物，如小麦，大麦和扁豆，以及绵羊和山羊，直到占领中期才被公认为驯化。由于同位素比率在地理上随环境条件而波动，因此对每颗牙齿的一系列测量将记录动物的运动模式。可以说是人类社会最根本的变化之一，从基于狩猎和采集的经济向农业和畜牧业的转变是过去几十年来许多考古研究的焦点，特别是在近东。这项研究表明，种植植物的实验始于近12，000年前，在所谓的“肥沃的新月”的西翼，但山羊和绵羊最初是在大约10，000年前的扎格罗斯山脉的东翼。这两种发展显然在大约9,000年前在叙利亚和土耳其的幼发拉底河沿着地区融合在一起，形成了第一个既有家养植物又有家养动物的经济体。欧亚大陆的民族志研究发现，人们在选择放牧地点、特定地区放牧的人以及放牧的季节性模式时存在很大的差异。这些选择对早期农耕和放牧村庄的劳动组织和经济各方面的整合具有重要的社会意义，但考古学家很难使用传统的动物学分析这些遗址的动物遗骸。哺乳动物牙齿中的釉质从牙冠向下向牙根生长，是身体中矿化最多的物质。因此，它可以长期保存牙齿的生物组成，而不会发生显着的化学变化。该项目将利用特定牙齿上釉质的这种时间渐进性，以及组成釉质的不同元素的同位素比率的不同地理变异来源，促进史前放牧实践的研究。将在每颗牙齿的侧面钻取一系列样本，为每种分析元素生成同位素“轮廓”。这些数据可以统一用于解释动物在其生命期间的特定地理和季节运动。除了与考古学家相关的问题外，该项目的广泛影响还延伸到环境科学家，古生物学家和历史学家。它将促进对使用同位素来了解过去环境条件的更好理解，并增加史前动物物种放牧范围的数据库。该项目将培养跨学科网络以及与各种国际学者的伙伴关系。研究结果将对经济和区域历史学家产生影响，并适用于影响现代游牧民族的生态和发展问题。

Under the supervision of Dr. T. Douglas Price, David Meiggs will use isotopic analysis of sheep and goat teeth from the site of Gritille, southeast Turkey to investigate the geographic extent and seasonal patterns in prehistoric herding strategies the inhabitants employed. Gritille is a village site on the Euphrates River occupied 8,500-9,500 years ago. The economy was largely based on cultivated plants such as wheat, barley, and lentils, and sheep and goat which only become recognizably domesticated during the middle of the occupation. Because isotope ratios fluctuate geographically with environmental conditions, a series of measurements from each tooth will document the animals' movement patterns.Arguably one of the most fundamental changes in human society, the transition from economy based on hunting and gathering to agriculture and pastoralism has been the focus of much archaeological research in the last several decades, particularly in the Near East. This research has shown that experimentation with cultivation of plants began nearly 12,000 years ago at sites in the western wing of the so-called 'Fertile Crescent', but that goat and sheep were first herded somewhere in the eastern wing of this area in the Zagros Mountains approximately 10,000 years ago. These two developments apparently merged about 9,000 years ago at sites along the Euphrates River in Syria and Turkey, forming the first economies with both domestic plants and animals. Ethnographic studies throughout Eurasia have observed large variability in choices people make about where herds are grazed, who grazes in particular areas, and the seasonal patterns of these herd movements. These choices have important social implications for the organization of labor and integration of various facets of the economy in early farming and herding villages, but have been difficult for archaeologists to address using traditional zoological analysis of animal remains from these sites. Enamel in mammalian teeth grows from the crown down toward the root, and is the most mineralized substance in the body. As such, it preserves the biogenic composition of a tooth without significant chemical alteration over long periods. This project will contribute to the study of prehistoric herding practices by taking advantage of this time-progressive nature of enamel on a given tooth, and the different sources of geographic variability in the isotope ratios of different elements which compose enamel. A series of samples will be drilled down the side of each tooth, producing an isotopic 'profile' for each element analyzed. These can then be used in unison to interpret specific geographic and seasonal movement of the animal during its life.Beside issues relevant to archaeologists, this project's broader impact extends to environmental scientists, paleontologists, and historians. It will advance greater understanding of the use of isotopes to understand past environmental conditions, and add to the database of grazing ranges of prehistoric animal species. The project will cultivate inter disciplinary networks as well as partnerships with a variety of international scholars. The results will have implications for economic and regional historians, as well as applicability to ecological and development issues affecting modern pastoral peoples.