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

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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.