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

在t·道格拉斯·普莱斯（T. Douglas Price）博士的指导下，大卫·梅格斯（David Meiggs）将对土耳其东南部格里蒂尔（Gritille）遗址的绵羊和山羊牙齿进行同位素分析，调查史前居民放牧策略的地理范围和季节模式。Gritille是幼发拉底河上的一个村庄遗址，距今8500 - 9500年。经济在很大程度上以种植植物为基础，如小麦、大麦和扁豆，以及绵羊和山羊，这些植物在占领中期才被驯化。由于同位素比率随环境条件在地理上波动，对每颗牙齿的一系列测量将记录下动物的运动模式。从以狩猎和采集为基础的经济向农业和畜牧业的过渡，可以说是人类社会最根本的变化之一，这是过去几十年来许多考古研究的重点，特别是在近东地区。这项研究表明，大约12000年前，在所谓的“新月沃土”西翼的地方开始了植物种植的实验，但大约10000年前，山羊和绵羊在扎格罗斯山脉的东翼的某个地方首次被放牧。大约9000年前，在叙利亚和土耳其的幼发拉底河沿岸地区，这两种发展显然融合在一起，形成了第一批拥有家畜和植物的经济。欧亚大陆的民族志研究发现，人们在放牧地点、谁在特定地区放牧以及这些牧群迁徙的季节性模式等方面的选择存在很大差异。这些选择对早期农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，但考古学家很难利用传统的动物遗骸动物学分析来解决这些问题。哺乳动物牙齿的牙釉质从牙冠往下向牙根生长，是体内矿化程度最高的物质。因此，它可以保存牙齿的生物成分，而不会在很长一段时间内发生重大的化学变化。该项目将通过利用特定牙齿上牙釉质的这种时间递进性质，以及组成牙釉质的不同元素的同位素比率的不同地理变异来源，为史前放牧实践的研究做出贡献。将在每颗牙齿的侧面钻取一系列样本，为所分析的每种元素生成同位素“剖面”。然后，这些可以统一用于解释动物在其一生中特定的地理和季节运动。除了与考古学家相关的问题外，该项目还对环境科学家、古生物学家和历史学家产生了更广泛的影响。它将促进对利用同位素来了解过去环境条件的更多理解，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合作伙伴关系。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.