Prehistoric Steppe Adaptation and the Horse (McDonald Institute Monographs)

M C DONALD INSTITUTE MONOGRAPHS

Prehistoric steppe adaptation and the horse Edited by Marsha Levine, Colin Renfrew & Katie Boyle

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Published by: McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research University of Cambridge Downing Street Cambridge CB2 3ER (0)(1223) 339336

Distributed by Oxbow Books United Kingdom: Oxbow Books, Park End Place, Oxford, OX1 1HN. Tel: (0)(1865) 241249; Fax: (0)(1865) 794449; http://www.oxbowbooks.com/ USA: The David Brown Book Company, P.O. Box 511, Oakville, CT 06779, USA. Tel: 860-945-9329; FAX: 860-945-9468

ISBN: 1-902937-09-0 ISSN: 1363-1349

© 2003 McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research

All rights reserved. No parts of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research.

Edited for the Institute by Chris Scarre (Series Editor), Dora A. Kemp (Production Editor) and Katie Boyle (Conference Series Editor).

Cover illustration: Przewalski’s horse and a relief map of Eurasia highlighting the area of interest. (Shaded relief map of Eurasia by Maproom44 Ltd., Peterborough, Ontario, Canada.) Printed and bound by Short Run Press, Bittern Rd, Sowton Industrial Estate, Exeter, EX2 7LW.

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CONTENTS Contributors Figures Tables Acknowledgements

v vii xi xii

Chapter 1

Focusing on Central Eurasian Archaeology: East Meets West MARSHA LEVINE

Part I

Environment and Ecology

Chapter 2

Steppe and Forest-steppe Belt of Eurasia: Holocene Environmental History KONSTANTIN V. KREMENETSKI

Chapter 3

Green Grows the Steppe: How can Grassland Ecology Increase our Understanding of Human–Plant Interactions and the Origins of Agriculture MIM A. BOWER

Part II

Horse Exploitation on the Eurasian Steppe

Chapter 4

Organic Residue Analysis of Lipids in Potsherds from the Early Neolithic Settlement of Botai, Kazakhstan STEPHANIE N. DUDD, RICHARD P. EVERSHED & MARSHA LEVINE

1

11

29

45

Chapter 5

Eneolithic Horse Rituals and Riding in the Steppes: New Evidence DAVID W. ANTHONY & DORCUS R. BROWN

55

Chapter 6

Horse Exploitation in the Kazakh Steppes during the Eneolithic and Bronze Age NORBERT BENECKE & ANGELA VON DEN DRIESCH

69

Chapter 7

The Exploitation of Horses at Botai, Kazakhstan SANDRA L. OLSEN

83

Chapter 8

Geomorphological and Micromorphological Investigations of Palaeosols, Valley Sediments and a Sunken-floored Dwelling at Botai, Kazakhstan CHARLY FRENCH & MARIA KOUSOULAKOU

Chapter 9

A Note on the Early Evidence for Horse in Western Asia JOAN OATES Were the Donkeys at Tell Brak (Syria) Harnessed with a Bit? JULIET CLUTTON-BROCK

Chapter 10 Equids in the Northern Part of the Iranian Central Plateau from the Neolithic to Iron Age: New Zoogeographic Evidence MARJAN MASHKOUR

105 115 126

129

Chapter 11 A Walk on the Wild Side: Late Shang Appropriation of Horses in China KATHRYN M. LINDUFF

139

Chapter 12 The Horse in Late Prehistoric China: Wresting Culture and Control from the ‘Barbarians’ VICTOR H. MAIR

163

Chapter 13 Horseback Riding: Man’s Access to Speed? UTE LUISE DIETZ

189

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Part III Subsistence and the Origins of Pastoralism Chapter 14 Origins of Pastoralism in the Eurasian Steppes ELENA E. KUZMINA

203

Chapter 15 The Horse and the Wheel: the Dialectics of Change in the Circum-Pontic Region and Adjacent Areas, 4500–1500 BC ANDREW SHERRATT

233

Chapter 16 The Importance of Fish in the Diet of Central Eurasian Peoples from the Mesolithic to the Early Iron Age TAMSIN O’CONNELL, MARSHA LEVINE & ROBERT HEDGES

253

Chapter 17 Correlations between Agriculture and Pastoralism in the Northern Pontic Steppe Area during the Bronze Age KATERYNA P. BUNYATYAN

269

Chapter 18 Palaeoethnobotanical Evidence of Agriculture in the Steppe and the Forest-steppe of East Europe in the Late Neolithic and Bronze Age GALINA PASHKEVICH

287

Chapter 19 First Cattle-breeders of the Azov-Pontic Steppes VOLODYMYR N. STANKO

299

Chapter 20 Farmers and Pastoralists of the Pontic Lowland during the Late Bronze Age YAKOV P. GERSHKOVICH

307

Chapter 21 The Economic Peculiarities of the Srubnaya Cultural-historical Entity VITALIY V. OTROSHCHENKO

319

Chapter 22 Srubnaya Fauna and Beyond: a Critical Assessment of the Archaezoological Information from the East European Steppe ARTURO MORALES MUÑIZ & EKATERINA ANTIPINA Chapter 23 Yamnaya Culture Pastoral Exploitation: a Local Sequence NATALIA I. SHISHLINA Chapter 24 Problems of Inhabiting Central Eurasia: Mesolithic–Eneolithic Exploitation of the Central Eurasian Steppes GERALD MATYUSHIN

329 353

367

Chapter 25 The Steppes of the Urals and Kazakhstan during the Late Bronze Age SVETLANA ZDANOVICH

395

Index

405

COMPILED BY DORA KEMP & ALEXANDRA HEMMING

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CONTRIBUTORS DAVID W. ANTHONY Anthropology Department, Hartwick College, Oneonta, NY 13820, USA. Email: [email protected]

CHARLY FRENCH Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3DZ, UK. Email: [email protected]

EKATERINA ANTIPINA Laboratory of Archaeology, Academy of Sciences of Russia, 117036 Moscow, Russia.

YAKOV P. GERSHKOVICH Institute of Archaeology, Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Pr Geroew Stalingrada 12, 254655 Kiev 210, Ukraine. Email: [email protected]

NORBERT BENECKE Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, EurasienAbteilung, Im Dol 2-6, D-14195 Berlin. Email: [email protected]

ROBERT HEDGES Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, University of Oxford, 6 Keble Road, Oxford, OX1 3QJ, UK. Email: [email protected]

MIM A. BOWER Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3DZ, UK. Email: [email protected]

MARIA KOUSOULAKOU Associate Member, Fitch Laboratory, British School at Athens, 52 Soudias St, Athens 106 76, Greece. Email: [email protected]

DORCUS R. BROWN Anthropology Department, Hartwick College, Oneonta, NY 13820, USA. Email: [email protected]

KONSTANTIN V. KREMENETSKI Institute of Geography, Russian Academy of Sciences, Staromonetny lane 29, Moscow 109017, Russia. Email: [email protected]

KATERYNA P. BUNYATYAN Institute of Archaeology of Ukrainian National Academy of Sciences, Av. Geroyev Stalingrada,12, UA-254655 Kiev-210, Ukraine. Email: [email protected]

ELENA E. KUZMINA Academy of Science, 20 Bersenevskaya Nab., Moscow 109072, Russia. Email: [email protected]

JULIET CLUTTON-BROCK Department of Zoology, The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London, SW7 5BD, UK. Email: [email protected]

MARSHA LEVINE McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3ER, UK. Email: [email protected]

UTE LUISE DIETZ Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität, Seminar für Ur- und Frühgeschichte, Domplatz 20-22, D-48143 Münster, Germany. Email: [email protected]

KATHRYN M. LINDUFF University of Pittsburgh, 104 Frick Arts Building, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA. Email: [email protected]

STEPHANIE N. DUDD School of Chemistry, Cantock’s Close, Bristol, BS8 1TS, UK.

VICTOR H. MAIR Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, Suite 200, Room 209, 3701 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104-5502, USA. Email: [email protected]

RICHARD P. EVERSHED School of Chemistry, University of Bristol, Cantock’s Close, Bristol, BS8 1TS, UK. Email: [email protected] v

Contributors Figures

MARJAN MASHKOUR CNRS/MNHN-ESA 8045 ‘Archéozoologie et histoire des sociétés’, Laboratoire d’Anatomie Comprée, 55, rue Buffon, 75005 F- Paris, France. Email: [email protected]

GALINA PASHKEVICH Institute Archaeologii NAN Ukraine, Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, ul. Geroew Stalingrada 12, 254655 Kiev - 210, Ukraine. Email: [email protected]

GERALD MATYUSHIN † Moscow University, Building L, Apt 11, Lengory, MGU, Moscow 117234, Russia.

ANDREW SHERRATT Department of Antiquities, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford OX1 2PH, UK. Email: [email protected]

ARTURO MORALES MUÑIZ Laboratorio de Arqueozoología, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, E-28049 Madrid, Spain. Email: [email protected]

NATALIA I. SHISHLINA State Historical Museum, 1–2 Red Square, Moscow 103012, Russia. Email: [email protected]

JOAN OATES McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3ER, UK.

VOLODYMYR N. STANKO Moscow University, Building L, Apt 11, Lengory, MGU, Moscow 117234, Russia. Email: [email protected]

TAMSIN O’CONNELL Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, University of Oxford, 6 Keble Road, Oxford, OX1 3QJ, UK. Email: [email protected]

ANGELA VON DEN DRIESCH Institut für Paläoanatomie und Geschichte der Tiermedizin, Kaulbachstraße 37, D-80539 Münich, Germany. Email: [email protected]

SANDRA L. OLSEN Associate Curator, Section of Anthropology, Carnegie Museum of Natural History, 5800 Baum Blvd, Pittsburgh, PA 15206-3706, USA. Email: [email protected]

SVETLANA ZDANOVICH ‘Arkaim’ Centre, General Post-Office P/O 283, Cheliabinsk 454899, Russia. Email: [email protected]

VITALIY V. OTROSHCHENKO Institute of Archaeology of Urkainian National Academy of Sciences, Av. Geroyev Stalingrada, 12, UA-04655 Kiev-210, Ukraine. Email: [email protected]

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Figures

Figures 1.1. 1.2. 1.3. 1.4. 2.1. 2.2. 2.3. 2.4. 2.5. 2.6. 2.7. 2.8. 2.9. 2.10. 3.1. 3.2. 3.3. 3.4. 3.5. 4.1. 4.2. 4.3. 4.4. 4.5. 4.6. 4.7. 4.8. 5.1. 5.2. 5.3. 5.4. 5.5. 5.6. 6.1. 6.2. 6.3. 6.4. 6.5. 6.6. 6.7. 6.8. 7.1. 7.2. 7.3. 7.4. 7.5. 7.6. 7.7. 7.8. 7.9. 7.10.

Dereivka age structure. Botai age structure. Age structure of a modern Kazakh horse herd. Pooled Palaeolithic sites age distribution. Location of the Black Sea–Kazakhstan steppe region. Orgeev. Percentage pollen diagram plotted against calibrated age. Kardashinskoe. Percentage pollen diagram plotted against calibrated age. Percentage pollen diagram of Razdorskoe settlement. Lipigi. Percentage pollen diagram plotted against calibrated age. Buzuluk. Percentage terrestrial pollen diagram plotted against calibrated age. Mokhovoe. Percentage pollen diagram plotted against calibrated age. Pashennoe. Percentage pollen diagram plotted against calibrated age. Ozerki. Percentage terrestrial pollen diagram plotted against calibrated age. Human impact on pine Pinus sylvestris L. forests in the steppe belt at the Bronze Age A breckland type ruderal weed community. The grassland ecotope which covers a large part of the Eurasian continent. The modern-day spread of wild cereals within the grassland ecotope is limited. Human–plant interactions include cultivation and domestication. Human interaction with the environment mapped in terms of changes in tree species. Location map showing the Eneolithic settlement of Botai, Kokchetau Oblast in northern Kazakhstan. Site plan of Botai. Plan of the polygonal ‘dwellings’ excavated at Botai. Graph showing the age stucture of the horses from Botai. Examples of typical ceramic vessel forms and decorations. Location of the excavations from which the sherds were recovered. Partial high temperature gas chromatogram of the total lipid extract from potsherd N26. Carbon number distributions of triacylglycerols in total lipid extracts of Eneolithic potsherds. Late Neolithic and Eneolithic sites in the steppes. The Khvalynsk I cemetery with above-grave ritual deposits. Graves 91 and 90, covered by Ritual Deposit 4, with cattle, sheep, and horse bones. Horse figurines made from carved bone, dated 5200–4500 BC. Wear facets or bevels on the mesial (front) edge of horse second lower premolars. The effects of horseback riding on American Indian cultures in the North American plains. Floor plain of the chariot grave at Krivoe Ozero. Composition of selected faunal assemblages from North and Central Kazakhstan. Skeletal element representation of the horse bone assemblages from two sites of Botai. Age structure of the Botai horses according to epiphyseal fusion of postcranial elements on sites 32 and 33. Age structure of the Botai horses from the sites 31–3 according to tooth wear on the incisors. Sex ratio of the Botai horses (sites 31–3) and the Krasnyi Yar horses identified on jaw bones and pelves. Size comparison between horses from Central Europe, East Europe and North Kazakhstan. Size comparison between Eneolithic–Early Bronze Age horses and Middle–Late Bronze Age horses. Map of Kazakhstan locating Botai culture sites. Midden excavated at the site of Botai containing large quantities of horse remains. Wound in horse rib showing a) entry and b) opposite side with deformation and fracture of the bone. Horse cranium with circular depressed fracture in maxilla, possibly from pole-axing. Articulated thoracic vertebrae in situ in midden at Botai. Locations of cut-marks on Botai horse. Fore and hind metapodials and phalanges are combined here. Locations of chopping-marks on Botai horse. Fore and hind metapodials and phalanges are combined here. Major marrow-yielding bones. Sectioned bones with no indication of impact or chopping-marks. a) Incised proximal phalanx; b) bone harpoon. vii

2 2 3 3 12 13 14 16 18 19 20 21 22 24 30 31 32 33 38 45 46 47 48 48 49 50 50 59 60 61 62 64 65 69 73 74 75 75 76 77 80 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 91

Figures

7.11. 7.12. 7.13. 7.14. 7.15. 7.16. 8.1. 8.2. 8.3. 8.4. 8.5. 8.6. 8.7. 9.1. 9.2. 9.3. 9.4. 9.5. 9.6. 9.7. 9.8. 9.9. 9.10. 9.11. 9.12. 9.13. 9.14. 10.1. 10.2. 10.3. 10.4. 10.5. 11.1. 11.2. 11.3. 11.4. 11.5. 11.6. 11.7. 11.8. 11.9. 11.10. 11.11. 11.12. 11.13. 12.1. 12.2. 12.3. 12.4. 12.5. 12.6. 12.7. 12.8.

Artefact raw materials at Botai. Fore and hind metapodials and phalanges are combined here. Harpoons with tip damage and shaft fractures. Thong-smoother made on a horse mandible. Arrow shows where use polish was located. Scanning electron photographs of thong-smoother. Dog burial in extramural pit outside House 139 with cache of horse bones on the west side. Dog skull resting on horse skull in midden. Location map of Botai in Kazakhstan. General plan of the Eneolithic settlement at Botai. Cross-section of excavation site 32 through the sunken-floored dwelling. Excremental/pellety fabric indicative of turf (plane-polarized light: frame width = 4.5 mm) B horizon fabric containing abundant illuvial clay and silty clay indicative of brown soil development. Micritic, very fine sandy clay loam fabric exhibiting fine planar voids in horizontal orientation. Degraded plant and bone remains, partially replaced by amorphous iron in phosphatized fabric. Seal impression rolled on a large jar shoulder, depicting a four-wheeled vehicle drawn by four equids. Seal impressions from Tell Brak (ancient Nagar) and nearby Tell Beydar (Nabada). Early Akkadian seal impression depicting an equid with rider. Modern impression of serpentine cylinder seal showing a ‘contest scene’. Sealing on tablets of SÙu-Sin (2037–2039 BC) from Ur, showing a rider astride (?) an equid. a) Donkey and rider figurine, Tell Selenkahiye (Syria). b) Seal impression from Kültepe Karum II. Early second-millennium clay plaque showing a horse, identified by his mane and tail. Detail from a seal impression from Kültepe (Karum Kanesh II, c. 1950–1850 BC). Detail from a seal impression from Kültepe, eighteenth/seventeenth century BC, perhaps a hunting scene. a) Detail of stone relief of Assur-nasir-pal II from Nimrud; b) seventh-century BC Assurbanipal relief. Notching on the incisor teeth, probably caused by chewing wood. Bony outgrowths on the top of the neural spines probably caused by heavy loading on the spine. Unnatural wear on the first upper right cheek tooth (premolar 2). Three views of the lower right second premolar to show the green staining in the tooth. Geographical location of Qazvin Plain prehistoric sites marked by black squares. Scatter diagram for upper cheek teeth. Scatter diagram for Humerus. Scatter diagram for Calcaneus. Log Ratio Diagram for third Metacarpal. Jade horses from the Tomb of Lady Hao at Yinxu, Anyang, Henan province. Bronzes from M1, Jingjiecun, Shanxi province. Chariot burial of Tomb 175, Dasikong, Anyang, Henan province. Bronze objects associated with horses in burials. Distribution of horse remains in Neolithic China (4000–1500 BC). Copper objects from the Qijia culture. Metal earrings from China and Siberia. Bronze ornaments, Siba culture, from Huoshaogou, Yumen, Gansu. Bronze spatulas (bishou), Siba culture, from Huoshaogou, Yumen, Gansu. Distribution of Chinese sites of late Shang date (c. 1250–1050 BC) with evidence of horses. Sites with horse remains in Anyang, late Shang period. Bronze tools and weapons, Siba culture, from Huoshaogou, Yumen, Gansu. Bronzes of Northern Zone-type unearthed from the Fuhao tomb and their northern counterparts. Map showing archaeological sites in China mentioned in the text. Magnificent, exquisitely wrought bronze halberd showing a bearded, tattooed, cattle-herding Europoid. The first evidence for horseback riding in East Asia. a) Use of the horse-drawn chariot for hunting; b) ancient horseriding hunters in Southwest Asia. Bronze and a gold belt buckle showing mounted warriors on the borders of China in the Western Han. Bronze plaque showing a cavalryman with sword drawn against an enemy. Xichagou. Horseriding in the heartland of China. Scene on a bronze mirror found at Loyang The first concrete evidence for spoked wheels in East Asia. viii

92 93 93 94 99 100 105 106 108 109 109 111 113 115 116 118 118 118 119 119 121 121 122 126 126 127 127 130 132 134 134 135 139 139 140 141 144 146 146 146 147 149 153 154 154 167 169 170 171 171 172 172 173

Figures

13.1. 13.2. 13.3. 13.4. 13.5. 13.6. 13.7. 13.8. 14.1. 14.2. 14.3. 14.4. 14.5. 14.6. 14.7. 14.8. 14.9. 14.10. 14.11. 14.12. 14.13. 14.14. 14.15. 15.1. 16.1. 16.2. 16.3. 16.4. 16.5. 16.6. 16.7. 16.8. 16.9. 16.10. 16.11. 17.1. 17.2. 17.3. 17.4. 17.5. 17.6. 17.7. 18.1. 18.2. 20.1. 20.2. 20.3. 20.4. 21.1. 21.2. 21.3. 22.1. 22.2.

Modern snaffle bit made of a copper alloy with traces of horse teeth. Double-pointed antler tool of the Ostorf type from Tangermünde, Kr. Stendal, Germany. Bone plate of the Sabatinovka type. Copper wire loop of the Maikop type from Maikop. Antler tine of the Dereivka type with two openings from Dereivka, r. Onufrievka, o. Kirovograd, Ukraine. Antler tine of the Dereivka type with cutting marks on the end from Dereivka. Reconstruction of a Late Bronze Age headstall with its specific simple structure. Bitless bridles with rigid noseband. Hobble bones of a horse with incision from Varfolomeyevskaya. Depiction of horse and ox in the area of Volga and the Urals. Stone zoomorphous sceptres. Depiction of horse in the area of Volga and the Urals. Moulds from Lyavlyakan, casts. Pottery and metal artefacts of the cemetery and settlement Zaman-Baba. Pottery of Tanabergen cemetery, kurgan 7. Pottery of Tanabergen cemetery, kurgan 7. Complex of artefacts of Tanabergen cemetery, kurgan 7. Cheek-pieces. Map of the distribution of disc-shaped cheek-pieces with tenons. Complex of Zardcha-Khalifa burial. Horse depictions from Zardcha-Khalifa and their analogies. Cheek-pieces from Zardcha-Khalifa and their analogies. Vessels from the settlement Tugay. Detail of the scarf-joint on one of the large, multi-spoked, bentwood wheels of the carriage from Pazyryk. Human and animal isotopic results from this study. Botai trepanned skull. Ak-Alakha 3, kurgan 1, woman in a wig. Map showing locations of all central Eurasian sites mentioned. Map showing locations of Ukraine sites. Map showing locations of Kazakh sites. Eurasian human and animal isotopic values by time period. The Iman-Burluk river at Botai. Fish hooks and tools. Fish pictures. Possible dietary compositions consistent with isotopic modelling. The earliest Kurgan burial. Town Ordzhonikidze of Dnipropetrovsk district: 1) ochre. The earliest Kurgan burial. Town Ordzhonikidze of Dnipropetrovsk district: 1) bone. Yamnaya culture burial. Town Ordzhonikidze of Dnipropetrovsk district. Catacomb culture burial. Town Ordzhonikidze of Dnipropetrovsk district. Catacomb culture burial. Town Ordzhonikidze of Dnipropetrovsk district. Mnogovalikova culture burial. Town Ordzhonikidze of Dnipropetrovsk district. Mnogovalikova culture burial. Town Ordzhonikidze of Dnipropetrovsk district. Linear pottery spectrum. Composition of cultivated plants in Sabatinovka culture. Map showing Sabatinovka culture settlements and temporary stations from the Northern Pontic area. Correlation of individuals of domestic mammals and camels from the sites of the second millennium BC. Total number of the animals from the northern part (‘manor’) of the Novokievka settlement. Total number of the animals from the southern part (‘manor’) of the Novokievka settlement. Diffusion of cultures of Srubnaya entity. Periods of development of Pokrovskaya Srubnaya culture. Periods of development of the Berezhnovsko-Mayivskaya Srubnaya culture. The East European Steppe zone. Faunal spectra for the main domestic stocks from Srubnaya culture sites of the East European Steppe. ix

193 194 195 195 195 195 196 196 210 210 211 212 215 216 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 245 255 256 257 259 260 260 261 261 263 264 266 272 273 275 277 278 280 281 289 292 308 312 313 313 320 322 324 338 339

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22.3. 22.4. 22.5. 22.6. 22.7. 22.8. 22.9. 23.1. 23.2. 23.3. 23.4. 23.5. 23.6. 23.7. 24.1. 24.2. 24.3. 24.4. 24.5. 24.6. 24.7. 24.8. 24.9. 24.10. 24.11. 24.12. 24.13. 24.14. 25.1. 25.2. 25.3. 25.4. 25.5. 25.6. 25.7.

Faunal spectra for the main domestic stocks from Abashevo culture sites of the East European Steppe. Faunal spectra for the main domestic stocks from Kazan culture sites. Cohort frequencies of cattle for selected sites. Cohort frequencies of ovicaprines for selected sites. Cohort frequencies of horse for selected sites Cohort frequencies of pig for selected sites. Fracturation patterns of cattle metatarsals from Gorny. Kalmykia steppe environment. Horses breaking snow in search of fodder (Kalmykia, January 2000). Kalmykia steppe winter environment: tall grasses (reed) stand high over the surface snow cover. Kalmykia main Yamnaya culture sites and the neighbouring territories. Kalmykia. Yamnaya culture sites. Localization of the Yamnaya culture sites. A modern Kalmyk shepherd on a horse, summer 1999. The main sites and settlements of the southern Urals. The spread of geometrical microliths (village farming). Microliths of a) the Iran Belt, and b) the southern Urals (Yangelkaskaya culture). Davlekanovo man: a) burial; b & c) reconstruction. Disposition of the multi-layered settlement Mullino in a water meadow, river Ik. Excavations at Mullino: a) section showing layers; b) cultural sequence from Mullino artefacts. Appearance of domesticates in the Near East, Central Asia, and the southern Urals. Location of Stone Age sites by the lakes of the eastern Urals. Surtanda and Botai-Tersek sites. Pottery of the Surtanda lakeland and steppe region. The spread of Surtanda culture. Fluctuation in the altitude of sites and settlements in the Mesolithic–Eneolithic period. The correspondence between the fluctuations of sea-level, temperature of the atmosphere, and vegetation. Cultural developments related to the climatic changes of the Holocene. Map of Roller pottery cultures. The borders of Sargary culture are outlined by the author. Sargary settlement. Reconstruction of a Sargary dwelling. Metallic articles of the Sargary culture. Stone implements of the Sargary culture. Pottery from the settlement of Sargary. Pottery from the settlement of Sargary.

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339 339 341 341 342 342 345 356 357 357 358 359 361 362 368 369 370 371 374 375 379 383 384 385 386 389 389 390 396 397 398 399 399 400 400

Tables Figures

Tables 1.1. 4.1. 4.2. 5.1. 5.2. 6.1. 6.2. 6.3. 6.4. 8.1. 8.2. 10.1. 10.2. 10.3. 10.4. 10.5. 11.1. 11.2. 14.1. 14.2. 16.1. 16.2. 18.1. 18.2. 18.3. 18.4. 18.5. 18.6. 18.7. 18.8. 22.1. 22.2. 22.3. 22.4. 22.5. 24.1. 24.2. 24.3. 25.1. 25.2.

Dereivka and Molukhov Bugor taxon list according to Bibikova. Summary of lipid content and components present in solvent-soluble residues from Botai potsherds. δ13C values1 (‰) for fatty acids in lipid extracts. Radiocarbon dates from selected steppe sites. Bevel measurements on the P2s of bitted and never-bitted mature (>3 yrs) horses.3 Selected late prehistoric faunal assemblages from Northern and Central Kazakhstan. New radiocarbon dates from Botai. Composition of selected faunal assemblages from Northern and Central Kazakhstan. Statistical parameters of LSI-distributions in Figures 6.7 and 6.8. Summary of the field descriptions of the sampled profiles. The summary description of the buried soil profiles and excavation 32 sequence. New radiocarbon dates for the Qazvin Plain. Measurements for some of the Qazvin plain upper cheek teeth in (mm). Measurements for humerus in (mm). Measurements for Calcaneus in (mm). Measurement for third metacarpal from Qabrestan (in mm). Neolithic sites in China with reported remains of horses (c. 4000–1500 BC). Sites in China of Late Shang date (c. 1250–1050 BC) with evidence of horses. Absolute and percentage faunal species composition at Ivanovka. Species composition of hoofed animals of Tersek culture. List of samples analyzed and their isotopic results. Isotopic values of all samples discussed, listed by time period. Plant composition from sites of the Bug–Dnestr culture. Plant composition from the sites of Linear pottery. Plant composition from the sites of Volunskaya culture. Plant composition from sites of the Dnepr–Donets culture. Plant composition from the Eneolithic sites. Plant composition from sites of the Bronze Age. Plant composition from the sites of Sabatinovka culture. Plant composition from the sites of the Sabatinovka culture. Archaeological signatures of nomad and sedentary bone assemblages. Late Bronze Age (LBA) faunas from the Azov (2), Orenburg (4) and West Caspian (3) steppe zones. Age ranges, expressed in years, for the conventional cohorts of domestic mammals. Wild mammals from the four steppe zones under consideration. Number of manufactured items, rough drafts and residues and bone types for bone tools at Gorny. Animal remains of the Eneolithic and Neolithic in the South Urals and Central Aisa. Percentage of fauna remains at Neolithic and Eneolithic sites in eastern Urals. Comparisons between settlement, economic and artefact data for the Surtanda and Agidel cultures The correlation of species of domestic animals on single-layer Late Bronze Age settlements. Species composition of the domestic animals based on material of the Developed and Late Bronze Age.

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6 49 51 56 63 70 71 72 77 107 108 130 133 135 135 135 143 150 207 213 254 262 288 289 289 290 292 293 294 294 332 337 338 343 344 372 377 380 401 403

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Acknowledgements

T

he editors would like to thank the British Academy, the Sloan Foundation, the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research and the Soros Foundation for financially supporting the conference ‘Late Prehistoric Exploitation of the Eurasian Steppe’ in January 2000 and particularly the delegates from the CIS. Thanks are also due to Sarah Wright who translated much of the first steppe volume Late Prehistoric Exploitation of the Eurasian Steppe (1999). This acted as a pre-conference volume and formed the stimulus for the symposium from which the papers in the current and its companion volume (Ancient Interactions: East and West in Eurasia) result. In addition the conference organizers would like to thank Irina Matyushina for translating from Russian at the conference — not only for her father but also for gallantly stepping into the breach and helping in interpretation for other Russian-speaking delegates; similarly, Denis Semenov acted as interpreter for Professor Gennady Zdanovich and Dr Svetlana Zdanovich during the conference, and for this we are duly grateful. We are also grateful to Mei Jianjun for looking after Li Shuicheng during the four-day meeting. No meeting such as that held in Cambridge can take place without the help of others during the

months beforehand. We should therefore like to thank Ludmila Koryakova and Yuri Rassamakin for taking financial support to their colleagues from Cambridge to Russia and the Ukraine; Patricia Salazar and Anne Threlkeld for their organizational help during the run-up to the conference; Fraser Sturt, Matthew Brundell and Kevin Lane for invaluable help throughout the meeting; and Victor Paz, who will be sorely missed from Cambridge, coped gallantly with the audio-visual equipment away from the McDonald Institute. The editors would also like to thank Dora Kemp, the series Production Editor, for tackling a particularly challenging set of papers — challenging in content, presentation and format; Jakov Gershkovich for frequently acting as a go-between between the editors and production team in the UK and his Ukrainian colleagues; and two referees whose valuable opinions were welcomed. Many of these opinions were acted upon by both the editors and authors. Finally, Marsha Levine and Katie Boyle would particularly like to thank David Redhouse for the time spent and effort expended late into the evening helping them to produce a massive formatted printout of pre-conference circulation papers, without which neither the conference nor the subsequent publications would have been possible.

xii

East Meets West

Chapter 1 Focusing on Central Eurasian Archaeology: East Meets West Marsha Levine I

t is probably reasonable to suggest that east and west were never so far apart as they were when divided by the Iron Curtain. The Curtain has been torn away and now we can get down to business, working together and learning from one another. With participants from England, Ireland, Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, China, the United States, Germany, France, Spain and Italy, the symposium, ‘Late Prehistoric Exploitation of the Eurasian Steppe’, upon which this volume is based, took up that challenge. Perhaps the most significant achievements of the symposium were: to bring into focus various points of view on Central Eurasian archaeology; to highlight the gaps in our knowledge; and to illustrate the differences in approach used by various scholars — differences which are at least partly related to the academic traditions to which they belong. Most importantly, the symposium makes explicit the obvious advantages of working together in collaborative projects — in the field, in laboratories and at meetings such as this — where differing points of view can be aired and debated. Of the many important issues that were discussed, from my own point of view, the following are of particular interest: 1. the origins of horse domestication: its social, historical and ecological context; 2. the evolution of horse husbandry: the development of riding tack, harnessing and vehicles; the development and dissemination of riding and driving skills; 3. the impact of the horse upon societies to which it was introduced as a domestic animal: for example, changes in demography, settlement size and distribution, trade (distance, intensity, goods), social and political relations and warfare; 4. the development of pastoral nomadism: the political context in which it evolved has long been explored, but more fundamental questions concerning its origins still remain unanswered.

Standing in the way of resolving these questions are practical problems, including: 1. the need to develop methodologies for identifying early horse domestication; 2. understanding the exploitation of other taxa; 3. understanding the relationship of wild to domestic taxa; 4. assessing the importance of plant foods; 5. recognizing the importance of freshwater resources, especially fish; 6. absolute dating of Central Eurasian sites to allow the research focus to move from chronology and typology to understanding human behaviour; 7. defining such concepts as pastoralism and nomadism — particularly in the archaeological context; 8. development of methodologies for identifying pastoralism and nomadism in the archaeological record; 9. development of models to help us interpret changes in site occupation. Central Eurasian settlement change is most usually explained by climatic change or environmental degradation resulting from population growth, but such assertions are rarely supported by evidence; 10. the development of models which will help us to understand the causes of demographic change. Scholars are often polarized into either those who explain everything or those who explain nothing by migration. There are many possible explanations for culture change and some do indeed involve migration of either large or small numbers of people. Identifying such phenomena in the archaeological record is a real challenge. Each of these problems could be tackled using a variety of approaches. Our best chance for progress would be to attack from as many directions as feasible. Co-operative and collaborative interdisciplinary research is the strategy most likely to yield results. It is clear from the symposium that many such projects are in hand. One of the great advantages of such 1

Chapter 1

25

25

% unadjusted

Der% unadjusted Der% adjusted

20

%

% adjusted

20

15

%

15

10

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5

5 0

0 0

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0

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Age in years

Age in years

Figure 1.1. Dereivka (Der) age structure.

Figure 1.2. Botai age structure.

meetings is that they enable researchers to develop further fruitful alliances. It is not necessary here to reiterate arguments already put forward in Levine (1999a). Rather it makes more sense, on the one hand, to clarify a few points which have apparently been misunderstood and, on the other, to highlight other issues which have not yet received sufficient attention.

been herded on foot. I also believe that it is quite impossible for hunters to manage — in terms of controlling their movements — wild horse herds, especially if they were accustomed to being hunted. Various explorers have described how wary even feral horses are of humans. Catlin stated that: ‘they will generally run “at the sight”, when they are a mile distant; being, no doubt, able to distinguish the character of the enemy that is approaching when at that distance’ (Catlin 1841, 57). J. Clutton-Brock (pers. comm.) wisely cautions against direct analogies between the responses of animals used to being hunted with firearms and those which are not. On the African savanna ungulates and their predators can be found in close proximity. Fleeing as soon as their predators appeared would be too disruptive of preyfeeding behaviour. Schaller demonstrates how prey species minimize disruption to crucial activity patterns by carefully observing their predator’s behaviour and by fine-tuning their response to the perceived threat:

Horse domestication In response to some comments, criticisms and observations addressed to me in connection with my symposium contribution and with the preceding paper (Levine 1999a), I would like to offer some thoughts. First of all I would like to reaffirm my belief that we do not know when or where the horse was first domesticated either for food or for riding. Clearly the earliest domestication must have taken place prior to the earliest chariot burials, that is, before the beginning of the second millennium BC (Levine 1999b). Logic dictates that the horse was most probably ridden before being used for traction, but there really is no evidence to prove this (Levine 1999b). The role of the pack-horse and its identification in the archaeological record is another problem which needs to be addressed. I do not believe that the horse was first domesticated for its flesh and other carcass by-products. The population structures of the assemblages from Dereivka (Fig. 1.1) and Botai (Fig. 1.2) are very unlike those resulting from herding for meat production (Fig. 1.3), but fit very well those resulting from hunting (Fig. 1.4) (for further details see Levine 1999b).

. . . zebra may permit wild dog and cheetah to approach to within 20 m or less without fleeing whereas a lion is usually avoided at 40 m. If, however, the herd contains vulnerable young, it may retreat when these predators are still 100 m away . . . zebra are quite casual about the proximity of hyenas, permitting approach to within 10 m or less. Probably the animals can detect from the behaviour of the hyena whether it is hunting. (Schaller 1972, 387)

It is almost certainly impossible to reconstruct the pre-firearm flight behaviour of the ancestor of the domestic horse. For one thing, most studies of equid behaviour are post-firearm. For another, we do not know precisely what that equine ancestor was (for a description of wild horse variability see Heptner et al. 1989). Assuming that the anti-predator behaviour

The management of wild horses It is virtually inconceivable that horses — particularly wild or newly domesticated ones — could have 2

East Meets West

of the earliest domestic horse was probably similar to that of Przewalski’s horse, then the best way to understand this problem is to draw together the information available about equids with a similar social organization — Plains zebra, feral horses, and the Przewalski’s horse. This is not the place for an exhaustive investigation into horse flight behaviour from humans, but a few examples are informative. Mustangs: Catlin’s journey to the Comanche, quoted above, took place in 1834. By this time the Comanches were using firearms in warfare (Secoy 1953). Catlin’s description, however, only mentions lances and bows and arrows. It is not clear whether guns had been used for hunting mustangs either by the Comanches or any of the explorers passing though this region.

60 % survival % mortality

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40

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Age in years

Figure 1.3. Age structure of a modern Kazakh horse herd.

20

Number of teeth = 3455 before adjustment after adjustment

Quagga (Equus quagga): Stow’s description of Bushman quagga hunting in South Africa seems to suggest that humans were seen by their prey as a serious enough threat — even without firearms — that the Bushmen hunted them in camouflage:

% 10

In stalking the quagga the Bushmen generally disguised themselves in skins 0 of the ostrich, with a long 0 5 10 15 20 25 pliant stick run through Age in years the neck to keep the head erect, and which also enaFigure 1.4. Pooled Palaeolithic sites age distribution. bled them to give it its natural movement as they Singling out his victim, the hunter let fly his fatal walked along . . . When they sighted a herd of quaggas which they wished to attack, they did not shaft, and immediately continued feeding; the move directly towards them, but leisurely made a wounded animal sprang forward for a short distance, circuit about them, gradually approaching nearer the others made a few startled paces, but seeing nothand nearer . . . until at length the apparently friendly ing to alarm them, . . . they also resumed their tranostrich appeared, as was its wont in its natural quillity, thus enabling the dextrous huntsman to mark a second head . . . (Stow 1905, 84–5) state, to be feeding among them.

3

Chapter 1

The Przewalski’s horse (or tarpan1): A few points can be made about Przewalski’s horse behaviour, which might be relevant to the question of prehistoric wild horse management. Heptner et al. (1989, 1040) describes this equid as ‘very high-strung and vicious when frightened’. ‘An encounter with a tarpan male in the steppes by a rider, especially one on a mare, could sometimes pose serious danger’ (Heptner et al. 1989, 1052). Regarding their flight behaviour, they write:

only have been domesticated. The authors supporting this theory appear to assume that wild animals would have been of insufficient importance to have been represented in Eneolithic art. This assumption is not supported by the evidence we have of ancient art. Most strikingly, in spite of the complete absence of any convincing evidence for Upper Palaeolithic horse domestication (Levine 1996), some of the most splendid of all artistic representations of horses have been found in the Upper Palaeolithic of southwestern France at such sites as Grottes Chauvet, Lascaux, Pech-Merle, and many others. The hunting of horses and other equids was widespread in Central Eurasia throughout the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic. Wild horses did not become extinct in Central Eurasia until historical times and historical records indicate that they were hunted by the Mongols. Therefore, it should not surprise anyone that horses should have been hunted during the Neolithic and Eneolithic, particularly where hunting, gathering and fishing appear to contribute significantly to the human diet. But, even where crops were raised and livestock husbanded, horse hunting could still have been important. Because of its special nutritional characteristics — for example, being relatively high in polyunsaturated fat and fat-soluble vitamins — at certain times of the year and for particular purposes (for example, as a weaning-food), it might have been especially important and highly valued, just as it is today in Kazakhstan and part of Mongolia (Levine 1998). The artistic depiction of animals — wild or domestic — could probably be taken as evidence of their importance to the society producing the art, but further interpretation of meaning, in the absence of independent evidence, is unwise. Another example should place this argument in perspective: no one takes the Scytho-Siberian representations of elk, snow leopards and griffins as evidence that they were domesticated.

Even foals fell prey to hunters only after a long and persistent chase and it was almost impossible to catch an adult . . . Tarpan were very cautious animals. They came quite close to a man on foot but ran away a few kilometers from one on horseback (Heptner et al. 1989, 1051).

Unfortunately ‘quite close’ is not defined and no further details are given. It is quite clear from the authors’ comments, however, that the true wild horse — like the zebra — based its flight behaviour upon its predator’s identity and actions. Interestingly, Heptner et al. repeatedly observe that Przewalski’s horses were hunted with spears and lances: ‘Groups of hunters on horseback used to chase and spear them’ (Heptner et al. 1989, 1053). They never mention firearms (Heptner et al. 1989). Significantly, ‘the hunting of tarpan was considered a difficult and dangerous sport in which man could exhibit not only his bravery, but also test the quality of his horses’ (Heptner et al. 1989, 1053). That the tarpan did not fear humans on foot lends credence to the possibility that they really were not hunted with firearms at the time described by Heptner and colleagues. These suggestive (though admittedly inadequate) data lend support to my belief that, even without firearms, true wild horses would have been too wary of their hunters to allow their movements to have been ‘managed’. More on the ‘horse-head maces’ For those supporting the theory that the earliest evidence of horse domestication is to be found at Dereivka (Ukraine, c. 4500–4000 BC), the so-called horse-head maces from the North Pontic and adjacent regions are regarded as important because it is assumed that they depict domestic horses (e.g. Anthony & Brown 1991; Gimbutas 1991; Telegin 1986). The ‘mace’ evidence is, of course, only viable if the horses depicted were domesticated. Leaving aside other arguments against this theory which have been discussed in considerable detail elsewhere (Häusler 1994; Levine 1999b; Rassamakin 1999), I would like to deal with the assumption that these horses representations — if horses they were — could

So, what about the origins of horse domestication? As a working hypothesis, I suggest that horse domestication first developed out of horse taming, and that horse taming probably first arose as a by-product of horse hunting for meat (Levine 1999a). Orphaned foals, captured between the ages of perhaps two months and one year, or possibly somewhat later, would sometimes have been adopted and raised as pets. Eventually, and perhaps repeatedly, the discovery was made that these pets could be put to work. This knowledge could have been acquired and lost many times from the Pleistocene onwards. 4

East Meets West

But it was, apparently, only during the Holocene — possibly between the Neolithic and the Early Bronze Age — that it began to influence human social developments. Apparently before this time, the social and economic context necessary for the development of horse husbandry did not exist. Before we can determine just what that context was, however, we need to be able to distinguish wild from domestic horses. I believe that the only chance that we will have of solving this problem will be by using an interdisciplinary, multi-dimensional approach.

the horse was the only species from Dereivka ever to have been intensively studied (Table 1.1). She stated that no detailed work had ever been carried out on the cattle or pig bones. Aside from a few specimens on display, all the osteological material from Dereivka has since then been discarded. Sadly most of the other Neolithic and Eneolithic assemblages described by Tsalkin and Bibikova have met a similar fate. Moreover, archaeozoologists working on material from this region rarely, state the criteria they use for determining whether skeletal material came from wild or domestic animals (Levine & Rassamakin 1996). In addition, not only do they usually assume that the ancient and modern geographical ranges of ungulates are virtually the same, but they also ignore the immense diversity of wild Central Eurasian species belonging to the Bovidae family — including a huge variety of Caprinae (wild sheep, goats, chamois, saiga, gorals) (Heptner et al. 1989). It is also worth noting that most of the assemblages dealt with from these periods were very small (Rassamakin 1999; Tsalkin 1970). The new excavations at Molyukhov Bugor, a Dereivka culture site, neatly illustrate the problem.2 The faunal assemblage from the old excavations, according to Tsalkin and Bibikova, was very similar in composition to that of Dereivka (Table 1.1). I therefore eagerly accepted Y. Rassamakin’s and T. Nerudenko’s invitation to study the horse bones from the new excavations at Molyukhov Bugor, but my heart sunk when I realized that I would need to sort out the horse from the other taxa. The experience, however, was something of a revelation. Even without undertaking a systematic analysis it was clear that there were major discrepancies between published descriptions of the fauna from the old excavations (Tsalkin 1970) and the new assemblage before me. The most numerous taxon from the new excavation is turtle. The bovids and suids are too large for anyone to simply assume that they are domesticates. Caprinae are only represented by a few loose teeth, which are rather large and long-crowned for domestic sheep or goat. It seems more likely that these teeth would belong to saiga, which are virtually never identified from North Pontic Neolithic and Eneolithic sites, though they are found in both earlier and later ones. Other taxa present in the Eneolithic assemblage from Molyukhov Bugor include birds, fish, amphibians, carnivores, beaver and bear. The taxon composition of the Neolithic assemblage from this site is very similar, except that deer are present while Caprinae are not. Doubtless a more detailed analysis would reveal further taxa. Interestingly, Zhuravlev

A few words about everything else Because of its importance both as a food source and for transport, understanding the role of the horse is crucial to our understanding of Central Eurasian steppe and forest-steppe human adaptations. Equally important, however, and even less well understood, are the human exploitation of plants and other animal taxa in this region. Because plant foods are less visible than animal bone in the archaeological record, and because large mammals are usually assumed to be a more important food source, less energy has been invested in collecting palaeobotanical data — Pashkevich’s work on grain impressions in pottery being a notable exception (Pashkevich 1993; this volume). Even without the benefit of large, sieved samples she has been able to recognize clear patterns in the data from the North Pontic region. Her work calls out, figuratively if not literally, for more systematic macrobotanical plant remains sampling programmes to be established. Relationships between people and other aspects of their environment also need to be opened up to new ideas. Throughout the literature and throughout the symposium, we talk about the steppe and steppe adaptations. In fact, most of the steppe populations under consideration occupied river valleys and lake edges and many of their subsistence activities depended upon those biotopes. The work by O’Connell and Hedges (O’Connell et al. this volume) and other specialists should prepare us for further surprises. What about the larger question of animal husbandry? What role did livestock production play in Central Eurasian societies from the Neolithic to the Early Bronze Age? The more we examine these questions, the more insistent their reconsideration will become. Taking a specific example: did any livestock breeding take place at Dereivka at all? The late Natalya Belan, who had helped Bibikova with her study of the bones from Dereivka, informed me that 5

Chapter 1

Table 1.1. Dereivka and Molukhov Bugor taxon list according to Bibikova. (Adapted from Telegin 1986, 84, 88.)

Taxon Horse (Equus caballus) Cattle, domesticated (Bos taurus) Sheep/Goat (Ovis aries/Capra hircus) Pig, domesticated (Sus scrofa) Dog (Canis familiaris)

Dereivka No. of MNI bones

Molyukhov Bugor No. of MNI bones

2412 618 88 114 33

52 18 16 9 5

47 28

3 3

5

2

394 99 50 12 9 5 2 4 26 50 22

18 12 11 3 4 2 2 2 7 15 7

51 24 89 12 6 4 1 1

5 4 6 3 3 1 1 1

1

1

3938

183

269

33

Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) Pintail (Anas acuta) Duck (Anas sp.) Greylag goose (Anser anser) Teal (Anas querquedula) Coot (Fulica atra)

14 3 3 1 1 3

4 2 2 1 1 2

Total - Birds

25

12

Silurus (Silurus glanis) Perch (Lucioperca lucioperca) Roach (Rutilus rutilus) Rudd (Scardinius erythrophthalmus) Carp (Cyprinus carpio) Asp (Aspius aspius) Pike (Esox lucius)

94 20 11 2 3 1 5

21 5 5 1 2 1 2

Total - Fish

136

37

Terrapin (Emys onbicularis)

177 4276

Red deer (Cervus elaphus) Roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) Wild boar (Sus scrofa) Elk (Alces alces) Badger (Meles meles) Bear (Ursus arctos) Otter (Lutra lutra) Wolf (Canis lupus) Fox (Vulpes vulpes) Beaver (Castor fiber) Hare (Lepus sp.) Stone marten (Martes foina) Total - Mammals

Total - All Taxa

Because of the locations of Molyukhov Bugor, Dereivka and many, if not most, other Eneolithic sites — on river banks, islands and lake edges — it should not be surprising that the primary economic orientation of many should have been towards water rather than steppe, as suggested by O’Connell and colleagues in this volume. Perhaps it was migratory fish rather than ungulates which allowed for the apparently sedentary existence we have observed in the North Pontic region and elsewhere. The bones of ungulates, such as horses and cattle, will always be overrepresented by comparison with those of fish and birds, particularly in areas, such as the Dnepr region, where bone preservation is generally poor. The development of new analytical methods will be crucial to our understanding of these problems. Acknowledgements

95

23

32

156

22

264

520

78

and Markova (unpublished) have identified domestic horse, cattle, pig and sheep from this site. No criteria were given to explain how these identifications were made. Sometimes I feel that I am in danger of sounding as if I believed that nothing on the Central Eurasian steppe was domesticated before 2000 BC. I do not actually believe that. But I do believe that some researchers have assumed too much. I do believe that we have to be more critical of older sources. Imagine telling geneticists that they should not question the results of work carried out in their field 30 years ago. We learn from our predecessors and then move on.

I would like to thank Colin Renfrew, the driving force behind the symposium, ‘Late Prehistoric Exploitation of the Eurasian Steppe’, and its resulting publications, of which this is one. I would like to thank my co-organizer and co-editor Katie Boyle for her cool head and hard work; and Dora Kemp, our production editor, who routinely meets the most impossible deadlines. I would like to express my gratitude to all my research collaborators, both in the CIS and in the UK. Finally I would like to thank all the symposium participants and contributors to the ensuing volumes for making this enterprise so interesting and successful.

Notes 1. 2.

Heptner et al. use ‘tarpan’ as the common name for E. przewalskii (Heptner et al. 1989, 1037). Excavated in 1994 and 1995 by Tatiana Nerudenko, Scientific Director of the Chigirin State Historical Park, Ukraine.

References Anthony, D.W. & D.R. Brown, 1991. The origins of horseback riding. Antiquity 246, 22–38. Catlin, G., 1841. Letters and Notes on the Manners, Customs and Conditions of the North American Indians Written

6

East Meets West

during Eight Years’ Travel 1832–1839 amongst the Wildest Tribes of Indians in North America, vol. 2. 1973 edition. New York (NY): Dover Publications Inc. Gimbutas, M., 1991. The Civilization of the Goddess. San Francisco (CA): Harper. Häusler, A., 1994. The North-Pontic region and the beginning of the Eneolithic in South-east and Central Europe, in The Archaeology of the Steppes: Methods and Strategies, ed. B. Genito. Naples: Istituto Universitario Orientale, 123–47. Heptner, V.G., A.A. Nasimovich & A.G. Bannikov, 1989. Ungulates, vol. 1: Mammals of the Soviet Union. Leiden: E.J. Brill. Levine, M.A., 1996. Domestication of the horse, in The Oxford Companion to Archaeology, eds. B.M. Fagan, C. Beck, G. Michaels, C. Scarre & N.A. Silberman. New York (NY): Oxford University Press, 315–17. Levine, M.A., 1998. Eating horses: the evolutionary significance of hippophagy. Antiquity 275, 90–100. Levine, M.A., 1999a. Botai and the origins of horse domestication. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 18, 29– 78. Levine, M.A., 1999b. The origins of horse husbandry on the Eurasian Steppe, in Levine et al. 1999, 5–58. Levine, M.A. & Y.Y. Rassamakin, 1996. Problems related to archaeozoological research on Ukrainian Neolithic to Bronze Age sites [O probleme arkheozoologicheskikh issledovanii pamiatnikov Neolita–Bronzy Ukrainy], in The Don–Donets Region in the Bronze Age System of the East European Steppe and Forest Steppe [Dono–Donetskii Region b

Sisteme Drevnoctei Epokhi Bronzy Vostochnoevropeiskoi Stepi i Lesostepi]. Voronezh: RussianUkrainian Conference and Ukrainian-Russian Field Seminar, 25–9. Levine, M.A., Y.Y. Rassamakin, A.M. Kislenko & N.S. Tatarintseva, 1999. Late Prehistoric Exploitation of the Eurasian Steppe. (McDonald Institute Monographs.) Cambridge: McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research. Pashkevich, G.A., 1993. Features of Eneolithic–Bronze Age palaeoethnobotanical complexes in the territory ot the Ukraine [Osobennosti paleoetnobotanicheskikh kompleksov eneolita–bronzy territorii Ukrainy], in The Fourth Millennium BC, ed. P. Georgieva. Sofia: New Bulgarian University, 99–108. Rassamakin, Y.Y., 1999. The Eneolithic of the Black Sea Steppe: dynamics of cultural and economic development 4500–2300 BC, in Levine et al. 1999, 59–182. Schaller, G.B., 1972. The Serengeti Lion. Chicago (IL): Chicago University Press. Secoy, R.R., 1953. Changing Military Patterns on the Great Plains. Seattle (WA): University of Washington Press. Stow, G.W., 1905. The Native Races of South Africa. London: Swan Sonnenschein and Co., Ltd. Telegin, D.Y., 1986. Dereivka, a Settlement and Cemetery of Copper Age Horse Keepers on the Middle Dnieper, vol. 287. (British Archaeological Reports International Series 287.) Oxford: BAR. Tsalkin, B.I., 1970. The Most Ancient Domestic Animals of Eastern Europe [Drevneishie Domashnie Zhivotnye Vostochnoi Evropy]. Moscow: Nauka.

7

Part I Environment and Ecology

Chapter 2

10

Steppe and Forest-steppe Belt of Eurasia

Chapter 2 Steppe and Forest-steppe Belt of Eurasia: Holocene Environmental History Konstantin V. Kremenetski T

he climatic and environmental situation in the steppe and forest-steppe belt of Eurasia was far from stable during the Holocene. Global warming during the Early Holocene allowed an expansion of broadleaved forest in Eastern Europe. Between 10,000 and 8500 BC in the forest-steppe belt, pine and birch dominated in forests, but there was a significant admixture of broad-leaved trees. Ulmus, Quercus, Tilia and Carpinus grew in the southwest region of the foreststeppe in Eastern Europe from 8500 to 6800 BC. By 7000 BC broad-leaved trees reached the forest-steppe belt in the Middle Russian Hills. From 8500 to 2800 BC pine forests with birch grew on the sandy terraces of the Dnepr, Severskii Donets and Don Rivers. In the Dnepr Valley Pinus, Quercus, Tilia, Carpinus betulus and Fraxinus reached the modern shoreline of the Black Sea between 6800– 6300 BC. The period between 6300 and 4800 BC was characterized by warm climate. The area of valley forests in the steppe belt shrank. The climate became more benign between 4800 and 2800 BC, a period which saw a maximum spread of broad-leaved forests in river valleys and in the forest-steppe belt. Human influence on vegetation cover increased with the expansion of farming, as evidenced by pollen analysis of archaeological sites. There were numerous sharp climate oscillations between 3200 and 600 BC. The climate became drier and more continental after 3200 BC. Peat accumulation rate in mires fell two to four times. Pine forest area decreased. In north Kalmykia the forested area in the Ergeni hills declined from 3400–3200 BC. The most continental phase of climate is dated to between 2800 and 2000 BC. Forest area decreased in the Dnepr, Don and Volga basins. A new phase of moist climate is dated to 1700–900 BC. At that time broad-leaved forests expanded in river valleys and the forest-steppe belt. After 600 BC the vegetation cover became simi-

lar to that of today. After AD 100 pine became extinct in the lower part of the Dnepr Valley. Forest degradation was caused by the combined effects of climatic deterioration and human impact. During the last two millennia pollen indicators of human activities are recorded in pollen diagrams from the south of Moldova, and in the forest-steppe belt in Ukraine. East from the Dnepr Valley human impact on vegetation cover has become evident in pollen data only during the last millennium. Broad-leaved forest area decreased from 600– 100 BC in the lower Volga Valley. A moist phase with expansion of broad-leaved forests occurred in northern Kalmykia at AD 1100–1300. Pine expanded in the Kazakhstan steppe belt until AD 400. Palaeoclimatic evidence derived from pollen data is supported by studies of buried soils and by data concerning the Balkhash lake level changes. Geography of the steppe region The steppe and forest-steppe belt of Eurasia extends from the Danube in the west to the mountains of Central Asia in the east. Broad-leaved and boreal forests border the steppe in the north. Toward the south the steppes are limited by the Black and Caspian Seas, the Caucasus and deserts of Central Asia (Fig. 2.1). Many parts of the steppes still preserved their natural vegetation cover until the middle of the twentieth century, but since then mass-farming activity has restricted natural vegetation to small strips of protected land. The geographic framework of this paper is limited to the area of the former USSR — Moldova, Ukraine, Russia and Kazakhstan. Such an approach is justified by the fact that steppe and forest-steppe in these countries form a single natural area. The region includes the southern part of East Europe and the West Siberian lowlands. In Kazakhstan it 11

Chapter 2

Irtysh

Ob

1 2

10

11

12

Ural

a

5

Vo lg

Dniepr

13

14

7

3 Don

4

Blac

6

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9

k Se

a Aral Sea

ian Casp

forest-steppe

Lake Balkhash Syr

Da

rya

Sea

steppe country border 0

500 km

Figure 2.1. Location of the Black Sea–Kazakhstan steppe region. (After Lavrenko et al. 1991.) Sites mentioned in the text: 1) Dovjok; 2) Orgeev; 3) Kardashinskoe; 4) Saki; 5) Rogalik; 6) Razdorskoe; 7) Lipigi; 8) Kharabuluk; 9) Solenoe Zaimische; 10) Buzuluk; 11) Mokhovoe; 12) Karasye; 13) Pashennoe; 14) Ozerki. also includes the melkosopochnik or Lowhills. The Ural Mountains and Ural River form the boundary between two main climatic regions. Climate in Eastern Europe is continental and temperate. Climate in Siberia and Kazakhstan is continental. Chernozems are the main soil type, while to the south chernozems are replaced by chestnut soils. All changes in climate and other natural parameters are gradual in south–north and west–east directions, without any pronounced thresholds. We will describe here the vegetation and climatic history of the steppe and forest-steppe belt in the main natural regions. The reconstruction is based on welldated key sections of lakes, peatlands and archaeological sites (Fig. 2.1). Soil studies and lake-level studies also provide useful information which indicates changes in humidity in the steppe belt during the Holocene. In the text of this paper we use a calibrated radiocarbon BC/AD chronology, which is in good agreement with calendar age (Stuiver & Reimer 1993). For technical purposes we use a calibrated radiocarbon BP chronology in the pollen diagrams (Figs. 2.2–2.9).

hornbeam dominate in forests (Sheliag-Sosonko et al. 1982). Palynological investigations of loess sequences and archaeological sites (Artushenko 1970; Pashkevich 1981; 1987) demonstrate that during the Late Glacial cold dry steppes were widespread in the Ukraine, while trees were represented by Scots pine and birch. Near the Carpathian Mountains we see spruce, willow and juniper. Trees grew in protected parts of the river valleys — pine and spruce occurred in the Dnestr River Valley much further to the south as compared with their modern limits (Haesaerts et al. 1998). Global warming during the Early Holocene allowed for an expansion of broad-leaved trees. Between 10,000 and 8500 BC pine and birch continued to dominate local forests in the forest-steppe belt but there was a significant admixture of Ulmus, Quercus and Corylus. The broad-leaved forest canopy comprised Ulmus, Quercus, Tilia and Carpinus and grew in the southwest area of the forest-steppe of Eastern Europe from 8500 to 6800 BC. Corylus grew in the undergrowth (Kremenetski 1991; 1995). A core from the Orgeev palaeolake, located in Moldova north of Kishinev, provides the best chronological coverage of the Holocene in the southwest (Fig. 2.2).

Moldova and Ukraine Forests occur only in river valleys and in large ravines in the steppe belt. There are forested watersheds only in the forest-steppe belt. Oaks and 12

Steppe and Forest-steppe Belt of Eurasia

Figure 2.2. Orgeev. Percentage pollen diagram plotted against calibrated age. (After Kremenetski 1991 with modifications.)

There are dated Holocene sequences in the forest belt and in the forest-steppe east of the Dnepr (Bezusko et al. 1988). In regions east of the Dnestr Valley at 8500– 6800 BC pine and birch continued to dominate in the local forests. Expansion of broad-leaved trees to the north and east was gradual; broad-leaved forests did not form a continuous canopy. There were important changes in the vegetation cover and climate between 6800 and 4800 BC. There are two well-dated sequences providing palaeoclimatic and vegetation data starting at 6800 BC. Kardashinskoe mire is located on the left side of the Dnepr Valley in the steppe belt (Fig. 2.3). Dovjok mire is located in the Dnestr basin in the foreststeppe belt in the Ukraine (see Fig. 2.1 for location) (Kremenetski 1991; 1995). Pine forests grew on the sandy terraces of the Dnepr and Don Rivers at 6800–6300 BC (see Figs. 2.3 & 2.4). Pine evidently grew there from the Last Glacial. In the Dnepr Valley Pinus, Quercus, Tilia, Carpinus betulus and Fraxinus reached the modern shore-line of the Black Sea at 6800–6300 BC. The climate in the steppe belt was close to that of today. The period between 6300 and 4800 BC was characterized by warm climate. January and July temperatures were 2°C higher than they are today. Precipitation was close to present-day levels. Warming triggered restriction of the forest area in the steppe belt (Fig. 2.3). Warming between 6300 13

Figure 2.3. Kardashinskoe. Percentage pollen diagram plotted against calibrated age. (After Kremenetski 1995 with modifications.)

Chapter 2

14

and 4800 BC made the expansion of thermophilous trees possible in the Volyn region in western Ukraine. Ulmus, Quercus and Tilia formed the forest cover. Quercus petraea, Quercus pubescens and Tilia cordifolia were present in the Volyn region. Ulmus dominated in forests in Moldova (Fig. 2.2), where Carpinus betulus and Fagus sylvatica also occurred in forests. The Kodry hills of Moldova were probably one of the regions of Early Holocene occurrence of Fagus, as compared with more northern regions of Central Europe. It is thought that the postglacial expansion of Fagus in Central Europe was, to a large extent, provoked by human farming activity (Küster 1997). Pollen evidence from the eastern margin of the beech range does not support this idea. The history of beech in the eastern part of its range was mainly under climate and edaphic control. Carpinus betulus grew in forests eastward to the Dnepr Valley. East from the Dnepr, since 6800 BC, Quercus, Ulmus and Tilia have dominated in broad-leaved forests (Bezusko et al. 1988). Climate became more benign between 4800 and 2800 BC. In the steppe belt January temperatures were 1°C higher and July temperatures 2°C lower; there were 100 mm more annual precipitation than at present. The period saw a maximum spread of broad-leaved forests in the Dnepr and Southern Bug Valleys in the steppe belt (Fig. 2.3). Broad-leaved forests reached the modern Black Sea shoreline in the Dnestr Valley (Khotinsky et al. 1988). The same favourable situation is reconstructed for the forest-steppe belt. Human influence on the vegetation cover increased with the expansion of farming in the steppe and forest-steppe belt (Wasilikowa et al. 1991; Larina & Kuzminova 1994; Pashkevich 1997; this volume). Human influence on the vegetation around settlements became evident according to pollen investigation of Neolithic and Eneolithic archaeological sites (Kremenetski 1997c). Numerous climatic oscillations occurred after 2800 BC (Gerasimenko 1997). Between 2800 and 2000 BC in the steppe belt precipitation was 50 mm lower than at present. The area of forest cover in river

Steppe and Forest-steppe Belt of Eurasia

The Razdorskoe settlement is located in the steppe belt, local tree vegetation being represented by poplars. The nearest Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) is now located in eastern Ukraine in the Donets River basin near Kharkiv (see Fig. 2.10). Birch forests grow on the sandy terraces of the Don River. The section of the Rasdorskoe settlement looks like a layered cake in which dark-coloured archaeological layers with artefacts are divided up by lightcoloured sterile horizons (Fig. 2.4). Archaeological cultures and their ages are indicated, based on personal communication from V.Y. Kiyashko. Two radiocarbon dates were obtained on charcoal. A sample from a layer of Maikop culture material provided an age of 3250±180 BC (5200±180 BP) (IGRAS-723). The layer attributed to the Rakushechnyi Yar culture was dated to 8522±310 BC (10,472± 310 BP) (IGRAS-722) (Fig. 2.4). Fishing and hunting were the main activities of the Razdorskoe settlers. In the Bronze Age herding became important (Kiyashko 1994).

valleys was reduced while steppe cover became more arid. From 1500 to 900 BC precipitation was 100 mm higher than today, July temperature was 2°C lower and January temperature 1°C lower. Forest area in the Dnepr Valley expanded. Hornbeam still grew in the Dnepr Valley (Fig. 2.3). Pollen data correlate rather well with the palaeoclimatic interpretation of annually-laminated lake sediments of Lake Saki in the Crimea (Fig. 2.1). According to these data there was, between 2125 and 1700 BC, a dry phase in the steppe belt. Increased climatic moisture levels of about 20 per cent, as compared to the modern level, can be reconstructed for AD 700–900 (Zolotokrylin & Popova 1995). The climate became colder and drier after 3200 BC, provoking a decline in Ulmus in pollen diagrams (Fig. 2.2). In the forest-steppe belt the forested area was reduced and the steppe area expanded. From 2400 BC Carpinus betulus was present in the foreststeppe belt east of the Dnepr, while during the climatic optimum, at 1500–900 BC in the Volyn region, the broad-leaved forest area increased (Kremenetski 1995). After 600 BC vegetation cover became similar to that of today. After AD 100 pine became extinct in the lower part of the Dnepr Valley where, at AD 1000– 1300, the forest area increased. July temperature was 1°C lower and annual precipitation was 100 mm higher than at present (Kremenetski 1995). At the same time beech expanded in the nearby Carpathian region in western Ukraine (Artushenko et al. 1982). Since the birth of Christ human influence on vegetation cover has increased: Tilia and Corylus species have become extinct in the lower part of the Dnepr Valley over the last few centuries. Degradation of forests was caused by the combined effect of climatic deterioration and human impact. During the last two millennia indications of human activity are observed in pollen diagrams in southern Moldova (Volontir 1989), and in the forest-steppe belt in the Ukraine (Kremenetski 1991; 1995). East of the Dnepr Valley human impact on vegetation cover has become evident in pollen data only during the last millennium.

Results of pollen analysis The pollen diagram is shown in Figure 2.4. The lower part of the diagram (the Rakushechnyi Yar, Mariupol, Khvalynsk, Sredny Stog, Maikop and Konstantinovsk culture layers) is characterized by relatively high percentages of arboreal pollen, which is dominated by Pinus. Pollen of Betula, Alnus, Corylus, Quercus, Tilia, Carpinus and Ulmus is recorded. Among herbaceous pollen the percentage of Compositae is higher than that of Chenopodiaceae. In layers of late Yamnaya, Catacomb and Srubnaya cultures, percentages of arboreal pollen declined. The Chenopodiaceae pollen curve rises and that of Compositae falls. In the Yamnaya culture layer Cerealia pollen is recorded. Maximum spread of Chenopodiaceae and minimum percentage of Compositae are recorded in the Catacomb culture layer. In the Srubnaya culture layer the Chenopodiaceae percentage decreases while Compositae increase. In the Belozer culture layer there is an increase in arboreal pollen, while pollen grains of Cerealia are also recorded. Pollen of Chenopodiaceae dominated in the upper part of the section, in layers attributed to the Scythian-Sarmatian and Saltov cultures. Cerealia pollen is present in both cultural layers.

Southern Russia (the southeast East European plain) The Razdorskoe multi-layer settlement (Fig. 2.4) The Razdorskoe multi-layer settlement in the lower part of the Don River was studied by V.Y. Kiyashko (1994). The settlement section was investigated by the present author in 1984–85 (Kremenetski 1991; 1997b).

Vegetation history From 8500 to 2800 BC pine forests with birch grew on the sandy terraces of the Severskii Donets and Don. 15

Figure 2.4. Percentage pollen diagram of Razdorskoe settlement. (After Kremenetski 1997b with modifications.)

Chapter 2

16

Steppe and Forest-steppe Belt of Eurasia

Tilia, Quercus, Acer, Corylus and Alnus glutinosa grew on the Don floodplain. Carpinus betulus was also more widespread in the Don basin than at present. Steppe and meadow vegetation was widespread near the settlement. At 4300–3700 BC the area of pine forests declined somewhat; between 3700 and 3300 BC the area of valley forest was restricted and from 3300 to 2900 BC forest expansion occurred in the Don Valley. Maximum climatic aridity occurred between 2800 and 2000 BC, at which point forest area was significantly reduced. The first pollen evidence of farming around the Razdorskoe settlement is dated to 2400 BC. At 1700–1400 BC the climate became milder. At 1200–1000 BC the forested area increased and the presence of hornbeam is recorded for the last time in the Don Valley. Farming formed an element of the economic activity of the Belozer culture settlers in the Don Valley. Since 500 BC climate and vegetation cover have differed little from that of today, although human influence on vegetation cover increased at the time of the Scythian-Sarmatian and Saltov cultures.

(Fig. 2.1) demonstrates that dry steppe, as the zonal type of vegetation, has existed in northern Kalmykia without any major changes since at least 7000 BC. The Climatic Optimum occurred between 4800 and 3200 BC, when summer temperatures were lower and annual precipitation higher than today by up to 100–150 mm today. Forest area increased in the Don and Volga Valleys; broad-leaved forests with Tilia, Quercus, Ulmus, Carpinus and Corylus grew in the lower part of the Don Valley (Figs. 2.4 & 2.5). At 4800 and 3200 BC the forested area in the Ergeni hills in northern Kalmykia increased (Kremenetski et al. 1999b). There were numerous sharp climatic oscillations between 3200 and 600 BC. The climate became drier and more continental after 3200 BC, the peat accumulation rate in mires dropping two to four times. Pine forest area decreased; in northern Kalmykia the forested area in the Ergeni hills declined from 3400–3200 BC (Kremenetski et al. 1999b). Forest area was restricted in the Volga Valley after 3200 BC (Bolikhovskaya 1990). In the Don basin climatic aridity was most pronounced after 2700 BC. The most continental phase of climate is dated to between 2700 and 2000 BC, at which point forest area was reduced in the Don and Volga basins. The maximum stage of aridity in eastern Ukraine is dated to 2000 BC (Gerasimenko 1997). In the more northerly regions of the foreststeppe belt in the Middle Russian Hills a phase of broad-leaved forest expansion is dated to c. 2400 BC (Serebryannaya 1979; 1982). The regression of the Caspian Sea is dated to 2486±50 BC and 1199±60 BC (Varuschenko et al. 1987). Aeolian processes were very active in the desert and semi-desert region north of the Caspian Sea between 2400 and 2000 BC. Sands in the regions north from the Caspian Sea were relatively stable between 2000 and 1500 BC (Lavrushin et al. 1991). We must bear in mind, however, the fact that periods of sand formation in the region north of the Caspian Sea can be related not only to climatic change but also to changing human occupation of the area. A new phase of moist climate is dated to between 1700 and 900 BC. At this time broad-leaved forests expanded into the forest-steppe belt in the Middle Russian Hills (Serebryannaya 1979; 1982). In the lower part of the Volga Valley the moist phase is dated to 1800–800 BC (Bolikhovskaya 1990), while in eastern Ukraine the moist phase is dated, according to archaeological data, to 1700–1200 BC (Gerasimenko 1997). Broad-leaved forest area in the Ergeni hills in northern Kalmykia increased at 1500–900 BC (Krem-

South Russian steppes and forest-steppes Until 9000 BC spruce grew in the central part of the Don River basin. At around 8500 BC Tilia and Quercus expanded in the middle part of the Don basin (Voronezh region of Russia), with steppe formations dominating on the watersheds (Spiridonova 1991). The amount of available palynological data increases for the period after 8500 BC (Bolikhovskaya 1990; Spiridonova 1991; Gerasimenko 1993; 1997; Kremenetski 1991; Kremenetski et al. 1999b). Pine forests grew on sandy terraces in river valleys. In the forest-steppe belt birch forests with mixed lindentree and oak were widespread. Quercus, Tilia, Ulmus and Corylus grew in the steppe belt in river valleys. The climate was similar to that of today but winter temperatures were probably lower than at present. After 7000 BC broad-leaved trees expanded into the forest-steppe belt in the Middle Russian Hills (Serebryannaya 1979; 1982). Warm continental climate has been reconstructed for 6800–4800 BC, at which point the area of valley forests in the steppe belt is reduced; such changes are recorded by pollen data in the lower part of the Don Valley and in northern Kalmykia (Ergeni hills) (Kremenetski et al. 1999b). Similar trends in forest area reduction can be reconstructed for the lower part of the Volga Valley and in the middle part of the Don Valley. Palynological investigation of the Kharabuluk mire in northern Kalmykia (Kremenetski et al. 1999b) 17

Figure 2.5. Lipigi. Percentage pollen diagram plotted against calibrated age. (After Kremenetski et al. 1999b with modifications.)

Chapter 2

18

enetski et al. 1999b); at the same time Ulmus expanded in the lower part of the Volga Valley (Bolikhovskaya 1990). The vegetation cover in the Don basin became similar to that of today at c. 400 BC. The area of broad-leaved and birch forests increased in the lower part of the Don Valley at AD 50–600 (Fig. 2.5). From 500 BC there were serious changes in the vegetation and climate in the lower part of the Volga Valley and Kalmykia. Broadleaved forest area decreased at 600–100 BC in the lower Volga Valley. A moist phase with expanding broad-leaved forests occurred in northern Kalmykia at AD 1100– 1300 (Kremenetski et al. 1999b). AD 600–1300 is characterized by a moist climatic phase in the region north of the Caspian Sea (Lavrushin et al. 1991). In the forest-steppe belt of the Middle Russian Hills soon after the birth of Christ a phase of restriction of forest area is recorded which can, at last partly, be related to increased human impact (Serebryannaya 1979; 1982). Middle Volga region — Buzuluk pine forest A well-dated full Late Glacial and Holocene sequence has been studied in the Buzuluk pine forest area of the steppe belt in the eastern part of the Samara region (Kremenetski et al. 1999a) (Fig. 2.6). At 9200 BC pine expanded in the Samara River Valley and pine forest with birch developed. During the Late Glacial pine probably persisted in protected parts of the Volga Valley. The environmental situation between 9500 and 4800 BC was relatively stable. At 8000 BC Ulmus, Quercus and Corylus penetrated as far as the Buzuluk area, while alder (Alnus glutinosa (L.) Gaertn.

Figure 2.6. Buzuluk. Percentage terrestrial pollen diagram plotted against calibrated age. (After Kremenetski et al. 1999a with modifications.)

Steppe and Forest-steppe Belt of Eurasia

19

and Alnus incana (L.) Moench) has been growing in the Buzuluk forests since 5800 BC. For both species the area is the southeast limit of their continuous range. Tilia and Acer appeared in the Buzuluk forest at c. 4800 BC, and we should point out that the relatively late penetration of Tilia in the forest cover is recorded also in the neighbouring steppeand forest-steppe regions of western Siberia and northern Kazakhstan (Kremenetski 1997a; Kremenetski et al. 1997a). After 4800 BC the role of pine in the Buzuluk forest increased dramatically and the total area of the forest expanded. A decline in Artemisia and Chenopodiaceae pollen curves indicates that the climate became less continental and more humid (Fig. 2.6). Between 3200 and 1800 BC the forested area in the Buzuluk region declined and the role of steppe formation increased. These processes can be related to a phase of arid climate recorded in the steppe and forest-steppe belts in the Ukraine and southern Russia. In many parts of the forest belt in northern Eurasia climatic deterioration is also recorded at that time (Velichko et al. 1997; Kremenetski et al. 1998b). Forest area in the Buzuluk region increased between 1800 and 400 BC. Between 400 BC and 0 BC the area of pine forest declined, probably due to climatic deterioration. After AD 100 forest area increased and since then the shape of the Buzuluk pine forest has been similar to that of today (Fig. 2.6). Sharp oscillations in percentages of Pinus and Betula in the pollen diagram are partly related to forest fires. For example, forest fires are indicated by levels at about AD 0 and AD 1000 (Fig. 2.6). Pine forests suffer from relatively frequent fires (Agee 1998). After fire birch usually forms the primary canopy and is subsequently replaced, once again, by pine. Similar changes in the pollen spectra related to forest fires are also recorded in southern Ukraine and in Kazakhstan (Kremenetski 1995; Kremenetski et al. 1997a, figs. 3 & 7). Kazakhstan A few well-dated Holocene sequences from Kazakhstan make it possible to describe

Figure 2.7. Mokhovoe. Percentage pollen diagram plotted against calibrated age. (After Kremenetski et al. 1997a with modifications.)

Chapter 2

20

the vegetation and climatic history of the forest-steppe and steppe belt in that country. Mokhovoe mire, on the watershed of the Tobol and Ubagan Rivers (Fig. 2.1), is the thickest peat mire in northern Kazakhstan. Sedimentation in the Mokhovoe sequence started at c. 5800 BC (Fig. 2.7). At that time regional vegetation was represented by steppe and birch-poplar forest. Pine, together with birch, grew on the sandy terraces of the Tobol River. It also penetrated into the Tobol region, most likely between 5400 and 4800 BC. At 1000–900 BC Tilia, Quercus and Ulmus grew on the watershed of the Tobol and Ubagan (Fig. 2.7). The general structure of vegetation was the same as at 5400–4800 BC. At AD 100–400 the climate became less continental and pine forests, with a pure pine canopy, expanded onto the sandy terraces of the Tobol and Ubagan Rivers. Broad-leaved trees were still present as components of the regional pine and birch forests. Soon after AD 500 broad-leaved trees became extinct in the regional forests. Pashennoe lake is located in the Karkaralinsk Mountains in the highest part of the southeast region of the Kazakhstan Lowhills (Fig. 2.8) (Kremenetski et al. 1997b). Dry grass-wormwood and wormwood steppes were widespread in the region at 9500–7000 BC. Picea obovata and Hippophäe rhamnoides occurred in protected parts in the intermontane valleys of the Karkaralinsk Mountains, Salix and Betula also occurring in valleys. Between 6800 and 4800 BC forest vegetation in the Karkaralinsk Mountains was represented by birch forest. Pine penetrated the mountains between 4800 and 4300 BC but did not form large forests.

Figure 2.8. Pashennoe. Percentage pollen diagram plotted against calibrated age. (After Kremenetski et al. 1997b with modifications.)

Steppe and Forest-steppe Belt of Eurasia

21

At the same time the geographical spread of Alnus glutinosa reached its maximum. The general structure of the regional vegetation was stable up to AD 500. At around AD 500 pure pine forests expanded over the Karkaralinsk Mountains and around Lake Pashennoe. A number of lakes have been investigated in the Borovoe Mountains in the south of the Kokchetav region of Kazakhstan (Davydova et al. 1995; Kremenetski et al. 1997a). In the Early Holocene birch forests dominated the regional vegetation. Pine expanded in Borovoe at c. 5800 BC. The well-dated sequence from the Karasye lake demonstrated that pine forests have dominated the regional vegetation since 4100–3900 BC (Kremenetski et al. 1997a; Fig. 2.1). A section of lakebog sediment from the Ozerki mire in the Irtysh River Valley represents the history of vegetation and climate on the southern margin of the West Siberian Lowland since 14,000 BC (Fig. 2.9) (Kremenetski et al. 1997a). Dry cold steppe communities grew in the Irtysh Valley at 14,000 BC. Picea obovata and Hippophäe rhamnoides occurred in the Irtysh Valley together with Betula and Salix. The climate became slightly warmer between 12,000 and 8500 BC. After 8500 BC Picea became extinct in the Irtysh

Figure 2.9. Ozerki. Percentage terrestrial pollen diagram plotted against calibrated age. (After Kremenetski et al. 1997a with modifications.)

Chapter 2

22

Valley and the regional vegetation was represented by dry steppe and birch forests with willow near streams and lakes. At c. 5400 BC Ozerki lake was transformed into the peat mire. At 5100–5000 BC pine penetrated the Irtysh Valley around the Ozerki mire. Pure pine forests have been dominant in the Ozerki region since 4300 BC and the general structure of the regional vegetation was very similar to that of the modern one. Buried soil studies Investigations of soils buried under barrows provide an important source of palaeoclimatic information for the period from c. 3700 BC. Soil studies allow us to recognize changes in the soil types which have occurred since the establishment of a barrow and thereby make estimates of changes in the climatic situation possible. It is not easy, however, to correlate soil data with other palaeoproxy evidence because the time involved in soil formation is very long and the chronological framework for palaeosoil reconstruction is larger than that for palynological investigations. The most spectacular moist climatic phase for the region is observed north of the Caspian Sea in the Ryn sands (west Kazakhstan, in the Volga–Ural watershed). In Ryn sands, at 4000–3000 BC, soil cover was represented by dark chestnut soils. Such a zonal shift suggests that annual precipitation was 100–150 mm higher than at present (Ivanov 1992; Lukovskaya & Ivanov 1997), and at the same time an increase in humidity is observed

Steppe and Forest-steppe Belt of Eurasia

for the steppe belt of northern Kazakhstan (Ivanov 1992). These data correlate well with palynological investigations. Features of the drier climate, reconstructed from buried soils of the Kazakhstan steppe, can probably be related to a phase of arid climate dated to 3200– 1900 BC. At that time chernozem soils were replaced by dark-chestnut solonet soils (Ivanov 1992). Increased soil salinity is seen between 3200 and 1800 BC in the area of the Elton saline lake in a lowland area north of the Caspian Sea (Demkin et al. 1997).

South of western Siberia and Kazakhstan The climate between 4800 and 3200 BC was benign for Neolithic and Eneolithic settlers. The number of archaeological sites dated to this period is higher than the number of sites known for the period 6800– 4800 BC. Between 3700 and 3200 BC cultures practising animal husbandry appeared on the steppes of Kazakhstan (Levine et al. 1999). The Arkaim area in the southern Urals represents a network of Bronze Age settlements with animal husbandry (Zdanovich this volume). Archaeozoological investigations demonstrate that hunting was still important during the Eneolithic and Bronze Age; forest animals such as elk, deer and bear were hunted. These data correlate well with results of pollen investigations (Figs. 2.6– 2.9). After 3200 BC cattle-herding cultures spread over the steppe and forest-steppe belt. The importance of hunting, however, was much greater in the foreststeppe zone than in the steppe belt. In the Ishim River basin in northern Kazakhstan animal husbandry became dominant only at about 1800 BC, which is much later than the first-known evidence of domestication of horse at Botai in north Kazakhstan (Zaibert 1993; Levine et al. 1999; Olsen this volume). Archaeological data suggest that by about 1800 BC settlers of the Andronovo culture practised animal husbandry and farming (Levine et al. 1999).

Balkhash Lake level changes Lake Balkhash is located in southern Kazakhstan in the semi-desert belt (Fig. 2.1). Its water level was not stable during the Holocene: oscillations reflect changes in precipitation and humidity in Kazakhstan. These data are very useful for correlation with other proxy data (Khrustalev & Chernousov 1992). The transgressive phase of Balkhash lake occurred until 3200 BC. Subsequent climate aridization provoked the Balkhash regression which is dated to 2990±150 BC (4960±150 BP). According to B.G. Venus (1983) submerged peat layers related to the Balkhash regression are dated to 2314±120 BC (4264±120 BP), when the lake level was 2–3 m lower than at present. The Novobalkhash transgression started after 1910±120 BC (3860±120 BP), when the Balkhash lake level was 2–3 m above its modern equivalent. The Novobalkhash regression started after 821±120 BC (2771±120 BP), while the modern transgressive layer is dated to AD 84±100 (1866±100 BP).

The environmental effect of early metallurgy With the beginning of the Bronze Age, settlements with evidence of bronze-smelting workshops appeared. As charcoal was necessary for bronze smelting, metal workshops are concentrated near forests where the wood supply was sufficient to support metal production. Recent history of metalwork plants in the Urals supports this statement: until the nineteenth century the regional industry used charcoal without any problem (Chernykh 1998). The situation was quite different in the foreststeppe and especially in the steppe belt. As a result pine forests and valley forests which grew in the steppe belt were very important for successful metal production. Figure 2.10 shows the modern location of pine forests in the steppe and forest-steppe belt together with the major centres of metallurgy in the steppe and forest-steppe belt during the Bronze Age. Archaeological data demonstrate three main centres of copper ore production in the steppe belt of Eurasia: the Donets basin in eastern Ukraine, the southern Urals and the Kazakh Lowhills (Chernykh 1998; Fig. 2.10).

Palaeoeconomic evolution of human communities South of East Europe Farming and animal husbandry expanded in Moldova and southeast Ukraine after 5500 BC, although hunting and fishing dominated in the forest belt. Representatives of the Eneolithic Tripolye culture used copper (Yanushevich 1989; Benecke 1993; this volume; Larina & Kuzminova 1994; Pashkevich 1997; this volume; Levine et al. 1999). We can see that climate and environment were favourable for early farming communities (Figs. 2.2–2.5). The transition to the Bronze Age occurred at c. 3200/2900 BC. The economy remained complex in Moldova and Ukraine, while in south European Russia animal husbandry began to dominate (Anthony & Brown this volume; Levine this volume; Morales-Muñiz & Antipina this volume; Otroschenko this volume; Rassamakin this volume; Shishlina this volume). 23

Chapter 2

Irtysh

Ob

Ural

Vo lga

Dnepr on

D

Blac

k Se

a Syr

Lake Balkhash

Dar

ya

Aral Sea

Casp ian

limit of the steppe belt

Sea

country border boundary between the steppe and the forest-steppe pine forests in the steppe and forest-steppe belt main regions of mining and metal production

0

500 km

extinct pine forests

Figure 2.10. Human impact on pine Pinus sylvestris L. forests in the steppe belt at the Bronze Age. The limit of the steppe and forest-steppe belt is shown (after Lavrenko et al. 1991). Locations of pine forests in the steppe and foreststeppe belts are shown (after Gribanov 1960; Pravdin 1964 and Gribova et al. 1980). Main regions of mining and metal production in the steppe and forest-steppe belt are shown (after Chernykh 1978). Locations of extinct pine forests in the steppe belt are shown (after Kremenetski et al. 1999b). The region of the Lower Dnepr (Oleshki) sands was the largest area of concentration of workshops of bronze-smelters in the steppe belt in the Ukraine (Berezanskaya & Sharafutdinova 1985). The settlements are dated to 1800–1000 BC. The Donets basin in the eastern Ukraine was another important Srubnaya culture (1500–1400 BC) centre of metallurgy. Numerous copper mines and bronze workshops have been discovered here (Tatarinov 1993), the location of these centres being easily explained from a palaeoecological viewpoint. The restriction of forest area in the river valleys of southern Ukraine and Russia and the extinction of pine from the lower parts of the Don and Dnepr Valleys, recorded in pollen and other palaeobotanical data, was, to a great extent, caused by human pressure on regional forests. The use of wood for metal production was one of major factors involved in the extinction of pine (Kremenetski 1995; Kremenetski et al. 1999b; see Fig. 2.10). The Buzuluk forest (Figs. 2.1, 2.6 & 2.10) lies within the Greater Ural region of bronze production. There is no direct proof, but changes in the wooded area of the Buzuluk forest after 3200 BC may be re-

lated not only to climatic changes but also to human activity. Numerous features of ancient copper mines and bronze workshops have been recorded in the Kazakh Lowhills since the late nineteenth century (Kuznetsova 1988; Kadyrbaev & Kurmankulov 1992). The source of the charcoal for metal production consisted of pine, birch and poplar from regional forests. Numerous archaeological sites of bronze-smelters are known in the vicinity of modern pine forests. Archaeological reconstruction demonstrates that the volume of ancient copper and bronze production was quite large (Kuznetsova 1988; Chernykh 1998). In known pollen diagrams, however, there are no traces of human-induced deforestation (Figs. 2.7– 2.9): we can suggest that the volume of ancient wood cutting for metal production requirements was within the natural long-term rate of tree growth and never created catastrophic ecological problems. A similar situation also prevailed during the Iron Age. Human influence on the environment was very important however in the area of copper mines and open casts (Chernykh 1998). 24

Steppe and Forest-steppe Belt of Eurasia

ence and provided the necessary financial support. I am grateful to S.V. Kuzminykh for very helpful consultation and discussion of ecological problems relating to ancient mining and metal work in the forest-steppe and steppe zones.

As we can see in Figure 2.10 the effect of human impact on vegetation cover was significant in the southern part of Eastern Europe. In the Urals and Kazakhstan human impact was not important. In the Don basin, where a more continental climate prevailed, pine became extinct earlier than in the Dnepr basin where the climate was less continental. In the lower part of the Dnepr Valley pine was extinct only in the early Iron Age, at around AD 0.

References Agee, J.K., 1998. Fire and pine ecosystems, in Richardson (ed.), 193–218. Artushenko, A.T., 1970. Vegetation of Steppe and Foreststeppe of Ukraine in Quaternary [Rastitelnost lesostepi i stepi Ukrainy v chetvertichnom periode]. Kiev: Naukova dumka. Artushenko, A.T., R.Y. Arap & L.G. Bezusko, 1982. Vegetation History of Western Ukraine in Quaternary [Istoria Rastitelnosti Zapadnykh Oblastei Ukrainy v Chetvertichnom Periode]. Kiev: Naukova Dumka. Behre, K.-E., 1998. Landwirtschaftliche Entwicklungslinien un die Veründerung der Kulturlandschaft in der Bronzezeit Europas, in Hänsel (ed.), 91–109. Benecke, N., 1993. Tierdomestikationen in Europa in vorund frühgeschichtlicher Zeit — Neue Daten zu einem alten Thema. Bericht der Römisch-Germanischen Kommission 74, 5–47. Berezanskaya, S.S. & I.N. Sharafutdinova, 1985. Sabatinovka culture [Sabatinovskaya kultura], in Telegin (ed.), 489–99. Bezusko, L.G., V.A. Klimanov & Y.R. Sheliag-Sosonko, 1988. Climate change in Ukraine in Lateglacial and Holocene [Klimaticheskie usloviya Ukrainy v pozdnelednikovye i golotsene], in Holocene Palaeoclimates of the European Territory of the USSR [Paleoklimaty Golotsena Evropeiskoi Territorii SSSR], eds. N.A. Khotinsky & V.A. Klimanov. Moscow: Institute of Geography USSR Academy of Sciences, 125– 35. Bolikhovskaya, N.S., 1990. Palaeoindicators of environmental changes in the low part of the Volga River basin for the last 10,000 years [Paleoindikatsiya izmeneniya landshaftov Nizhnego Povolzhya v poslednie 10 tysiach let], in Caspian Sea: Problems of Geology and Geomorphology [Kaspiiskoe More: Voprosy Geologii i Geomorfologii], eds. L.I. Lebedev & E.G. Maev. Moscow: Nauka, 52–68. Chapman, J. & P. Dolukhanov (eds.), 1997. Colloquia Pontica 3. Landscape in Flux: Central and Eastern Europe in Antiquity. Oxford: Oxbow Books. Chernykh, E.N., 1978. Metallurgic provinces and periodization of early metal age in the USSR [Metallurgicheskie provintsii i periodizatsya epokhi rannego metalla na terriitorii SSSR]. Soviet Archaeology [Sovetskaya Arkheologiya] 4, 53–81. Chernykh, E.N., 1998. Ancient mining and metalurgy in Eastern Europe: ecological problems, in Hänsel (ed.), 129–33. Dalfes, H.N., G. Kukla & H. Weiss (eds.), 1997. Third Millennium BC Climate Change and Old World Collapse.

Conclusion We can see that the main stages of climatic and environmental history are synchronous in the large area covered by the Eurasian steppe and forest-steppe belt. The climate and environmental situation was far from stable in the Holocene. Mild climatic conditions at 4800–3200 BC were followed by sudden changes in humidity and vegetation cover at 3200– 900 BC. There is a relatively good correlation between different palaeoproxy approaches to environmental reconstruction. There is currently no complete compatibility in chronology of wet/dry climatic phases in different remote parts of the steppe and forest-steppe belt. This difference can be explained partly by the specific climatic history of different regions. Another problem may be the insufficient absolute dating of some archaeological cultures. In other cases it is difficult to a separate climatic signal of a past event from human-induced changes. Such problems may be resolved by future investigations. From this viewpoint we should bear in mind that environmental palynology of lake and peat sediments can be a useful tool, as it provides independent, well-dated palaeoclimatic and ecological information. Since the Neolithic there has been considerable difference between the European and Siberian/ Kazakhstan sectors of the steppe and forest-steppe belt. In the forest-steppe belt in the Ukraine and Moldova human impact on the environment, as recorded in pollen diagrams, is much less pronounced in comparison to that of South East and Central Europe (Willis & Bennett 1994; Behre 1998). On the other hand, human influence on the vegetation cover in the steppe and forest-steppe belt of the Ukraine and southern Russia is much better recorded than in western Siberia and Kazakhstan. Acknowledgements I should like to thank Colin Renfrew and Marsha Levine who invited me to participate in the confer25

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(NATO ASI Series I, 49.) Berlin: Springer. Davydova, N.N., G.N. Berdovskaya, I.J. Neustrueva, M.J. Pushenko & D.A. Subetto, 1995. Lakes of the ‘Borovoe’ nature reserve [Ozera zapovednika ‘Borovoe’], in The History of Lakes of Northern Asia [Istorya Ozer Severa Asii], eds. N.N. Davydova, G.G. Martinson & D.V. Sevastjanov. Saint Petersburg: Nauka, 143–75. Demkin, V.A., Y.G. Ryskov, T.S. Demkina & R.F. Khakimov, 1997. Palaeosoils and palaeoenvironment of the Ural steppe region during the Bronze and early Iron Ages. ISKOS (Finska Fornminnesföreningen) 11, 266–70. Gerasimenko, N.P., 1997. Environmental and climatic changes between 3 and 5ka BP in Southeastern Ukraine, in Dalfes et al. (eds.), 371–99. Gribanov, L.N., 1960. Steppe Pine Forests of the Altaiski Krai and Kazakhstan [Stepnye Bory Altaiskogo Kraya i Kazakhstana]. Moscow-Leningrad: Goslesbumizdat. Gribova, S.A., T.I. Isachenko & E.M. Lavrenko (eds.), 1980. Vegetation of the European Part of the USSR [Rastitelnost Evropeiskoi Chasti SSSR]. Leningrad: Nauka. Haesaerts, P., I. Borziak, J. van der Plicht & F. Damblon, 1998. Climatic events and Upper Palaeolithic chronology in the Dniestr basin: new 14C results from Cosautsi. Radiocarbon 40, 649–57. Hänsel, B. (ed.), 1998. Mensch und Umwelt in der Bronzezeit Europas/Man and Environment in European Bronze Age. Kiel: Oetker-Voges Verlag. Ivanov, I.V., 1992. Evolution of Soils in Steppe Zone at Holocene [Evolutsiya Pochv Stepnoi Zony v Golotsene]. Moscow: Nauka. Kadyrbaev, M.K. & Z. Kurmankulov, 1992. Culture of Ancient Herders and Metal-Workers of Sary-Arka [Kultura Drevnikh Skotovodov i Metallurgov Sary-Arki]. AlmaAta: Gylym. Khotinsky, N.A., A.L. Chepalyga & N.N. Volontir, 1988. Palynological data on the vegetation history in lower part of Dnestr River basin in Holocene [Palynologicheskie dannye po istorii rastitelnosti Nizhnego Pridenstrovya v golotsene], in Environment of Moldova SSR and its Economic Significance [Prirodnye Usloviya Moldavskoi SSRi Ikh Khoziaystvennoe Znachenie], ed. M.F. Koshkodan. Kishinev: Stiinta, 71–80. Khrustalev, Y.P. & S.Y. Chernousov, 1992. On the Holocene history of the Balkhash Lake [K golotsenovoi istorii razvitiya ozera Balkhash]. Proceedings of Russian Geographical Society [Izvestia Russkogo Geographicheskogo Obschestva] 124(2), 164–71. Kiyashko, V.Y., 1994. Between stone and bronze (Lower Don region in V–III millennia BC) [Mezhdu Kamnem i Bronzoi (Nizhnee Podonye v V–III tys. do n.e.]. Donskye Drevnosti 3, 8–83. Kremenetski, C.V., 1991. Palaeoecology of the Earliest Farmers and Herders of the Russian Plain [Paleoekologiya Drevneishikh Zemledeltsev i Skotovodov Russkoi Ravniny]. Moscow: Institute of Geography. Kremenetski, C.V., 1995. Holocene vegetation and climate history of the southwestern Ukraine. Review of Palaeobotany & Palynology 85, 289–301.

Kremenetski, C.V., 1997a. The Late Holocene environmental and climate shift in the Russia and surrounding lands, in Dalfes et al. (eds.), 351–70. Kremenetski, C.V., 1997b. Environment of the Razdorskoe multilayer settlement (Rostov region, southern Russia). ISKOS (Finska Fornminnesföreningen) 11, 236– 41. Kremenetski, C.V., 1997c. Human impact on the Holocene vegetation of the South Russian plain, in Chapman & Dolukhanov (eds.), 275–88. Kremenetski, C.V., P.E. Tarasov & A.E. Cherkinsky, 1997a. Postglacial development of Kazakhstan pine forests. Géographie Physique et Quaternaire 51, 395–409. Kremenetski, C.V., P.E. Tarasov & A.E. Cherkinsky, 1997b. The Latest Pleistocene in southwestern Siberia and Kazakhstan. Quaternary International 41/42, 125–34. Kremenetski, C.V., K. Liu & G.M. MacDonald, 1998a. The late Quaternary dynamics of pines in northern Asia, in Richardson (ed.), 95–106. Kremenetski, C.V., L.D. Sulerzhitsky & R. Hantemirov, 1998b. Holocene history of the northern range limits of some trees and shrubs in Russia. Arctic and Alpine Research 30, 317–33. Kremenetski, C.V., T. Böttger, F.W. Junge & A.G. Tarasov, 1999a. Late- and postglacial environment of the Buzuluk area, middle Volga region, Russia. Quaternary Science Reviews 18, 1185–203. Kremenetski, C.V., O.A. Chichagova & N.I. Shishlina, 1999b. Palaeoecological evidence for Holocene vegetation, climate and land-use change in the low Don basin and Kalmuk area, southern Russia. Vegetation History and Archaeobotany 8, 233–46. Küster, H., 1997. The role of farming in the postglacial expansion of beech and hornbeam in the oak woodlands of Central Europe. The Holocene 7, 239–42. Kuznetsova, E.F., 1988. Ancient mining and metal production in the Central Kazakhstan in Bronze and early Iron Ages [Gornoe delo i drevnaya metallurgiya Tsentralnogo Kazakhstana v epokhu bronzy i rannego zheleza], in Problems of Palaeoeconomy of Kazakhstan According to Archaeological Data [Problemy Paleoekonomiki Kazakhstana po Arkheologicheskim Dannym], ed. A.V. Margulan. Alma-Ata: Nauka KazSSR, 50–62. Larina, O.V. & N.N. Kuzminova, 1994. The late Neolithic farming on the territory of the Prut–Dnestr interfluve. Préhistoire Européenne 7, 225–40. Lavrenko, E.M., Z.V. Karamysheva & R.I. Nikulina, 1991. Steppes of the Eurasia [Stepi Evrazii]. Leningrad: Nauka. Lavrushin, Y.A., E.A. Spiridonova & L.D. Sulerzhitsky, 1991. Geological and palaeoecological events in the north of the arid belt during the last 10,000 years [Geologo-paleoekologicheskie sobytiya severa aridnoi zony v poslednie 10000 let], in Quaternary Geology and Palaeoecology [Geologo-Paleoekologicheskie Obstanovki Chetvertichnogo Perioda], ed. Y.A. Lavrushin. Moscow: Geological Institute, 87–104. Levine, M., Y. Rassamakin, A. Kislenko & N. Tatarintseva,

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and revised CALIB 3.0 14C calibration program. Radiocarbon 35, 215–30. Tatarinov, S.I., 1993. Ancient Metal of Eastern Ukraine [Drevni Metall Vostochnoi Ukrainy]. Artemovsk: Ukrainian National Academy of Sciences. Telegin, D.Y. (ed.), 1985. Archaeology of Ukrainian SSR, vol. 1 [Arkheologiya Ukrainskoi SSR]. Kiev: Naukova Dumka. Varuschenko, S.I., A.N. Varuschenko & R.K. Klige, 1987. Changes in the Regime of the Caspian Sea and Interior Basins in the Past [Izmenenie Rezhima Kaspiiskogo Moria i Besstochnykh Vodoemov v Paleovremeni]. Moscow: Nauka. Velichko, A.A., A.A. Andreev & V.A. Klimanov, 1997. Climate and vegetation dynamics in the tundra and forest zone during the Late Glacial and Holocene. Quaternary International 41/42, 71–96. Venus, B.G., 1983. On the Lake Balkhash evolution in the late Holocene [O razvitii ozera Balkhash v pozdnem golotsene]. Proceedings of Russian Geographical Society [Izvestia Russkogo Geographicheskogo Obschestva] 1, 58–64. Volontir, N.N., 1989. About the history of the southern Moldavia vegetation in Holocene [K istorii rastitelnosti yuga Moldavii v golotsene], in Quaternary Age. Paleontology and Archaeology [Chetvertichny Period. Paleontologiya i Arkheologiya], ed. A.L. Yanshin. Kishinev: Stiintsa, 90–97. Wasilikowa, K., M. Carciumaru, E. Hajnalova, B.P. Hartyani, G.A. Pashkevich & Z.V. Yanushevich, 1991. East-Central Europe, in Progress in Old World Palaeoethnobotany, eds. W. van Zeist, K. Wasilikova & K.-E. Behre. Rotterdam: Balkema, 207–39. Willis, K.J. & K.D. Bennett, 1994. The Neolithic transition — fact or fiction? Palaeoecological evidence from the Balkans. The Holocene 4, 326–30. Willis, K.J., K.D. Bennett & J. Birks, 1998. The late Quaternary dynamics of pines in Europe, in Richardson (ed.), 107–21. Yanushevich, Z.V., 1989. Agriculture evolution north of the Black Sea from the Neolithic to the Iron Age, in Foraging and Farming: the Evolution of Plant Exploitation, eds. D.R. Harris & G.C. Hillman. London: Unwin & Hyman, 607–19. Zaibert, V.F., 1993. The Eneolithic of the Ural–Irtysh Interfluve [Eneolit Uralo-Irtyshskogo Mezhdurechya]. Petropavlovsk: Republic of Kazakhstan Academy of Sciences. Zolotokrylin, A.N. & V.V. Popova, 1995. Reconstruction of humidity changes after lake sediments [Rekonstruktsiya izmeneniya uvlazhnennosti po ozernym otlozheniyam], in Variability of European Climate in the Historic Past [Izmenchivost Klimata Evropy v Istoricheskom Proshlom], ed. A.N. Krenke. Moscow: Nauka, 131–3.

1999. Late Prehistoric Exploitation of the Eurasian Steppe. (McDonald Institute Monographs.) Cambridge: McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research. Lukovskaya, T.S. & I.V. Ivanov, 1997. Parameters of ecosystem and interaction of man and nature in sand deserts during different prehistorical periods. ISKOS (Finska Fornminnesföreningen) 11, 225–9. Otroshchenko, V.V., 1985. Belozerska culture [Belozerskaya kultura], in Telegin (ed.), 519–26. Pashkevich, G.A., 1981. Dynamics of vegetation cover of Northwest to the Black Sea region in the Holocene and its modification by human impact [Dinamika rastitelnogo pokrova severo-zapadnogo Prichernomorya v golotsene, ego izmenenya pod vliyaniem cheloveka], in Anthropogenic Factors in the History of the Modern Ecosystems Evolution [Antropogennye Faktory v Istorii Razvitiya Sovremennykh Ekosystem], ed. L.G. Dinesman. Moscow: Nauka, 74–86. Pashkevich, G.A., 1987. Palynological analysis of the multilayer site Molodova V sediments [Palynologicheskaya kharakteristika otlozheniy mnogosloinoi stoyanki Molodova V], in Multilayer Palaeolithic Site Molodova V. Stone Age People and Environment [Mnogosloinaya Paleoliticheskaya Stoyanka Molodova V. Liudi Kamennogo Veka i Okruzhaiuschaya Sreda], eds. I.K. Ivanova & S.M. Zeitlin. Moscow: Nauka, 141– 51. Pashkevich, G.A., 1997. Early farming in the Ukraine, in Chapman & Dolukhanov (eds.), 263–73. Pravdin, L.F., 1964. Scots Pine [Sosna Obyknovennaya]. Moscow: Nauka. Richardson, D.M. (ed.), 1998. Ecology and Biogeography of Pinus. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Serebryannaya, T.A., 1979. On the holocene history of forests in western part of the Middle Russian hills [K golotsenovoi istorii lesov zapada Srednerusskoi vozvyshennosti]. Bulletin of the Commission for Quaternary Studies [Bulleten Komissii po Izucheniu Chetvertichnogo Perioda] 50, 178–85. Serebryannaya, T.A., 1982. On holocene dynamics of forest-steppe in central Russian plain [O dinamike lesostepnoi zony v tsentre Russkoi ravniny v golotsene], in Environment Evolution of the USSR Territory in Late Pleistocene and Holocene [Razvitie Prirody Territorii SSSR v Pozdnem Pleistotsenei Golotsene], ed. A.A. Velichko. Moscow: Nauka, 179–86. Sheliag-Sosonko, Y.R., V.V. Osychniuk & T.L. Andrienko, 1982. Geography of Vegetation Cover of Ukraine [Geografiya Rastitelnogo Pokrova Ukrainy]. Kiev: Naukova Dumka. Spiridonova, E.A., 1991. Evolution of the Vegetation Cover in the Don River Basin in Upper Pleistocene and Holocene [Evolutsiya Rastitelnogo Pokrova Basseina Dona v Verkhnem Pleistotsene–Golotsene]. Moscow: Nauka. Stuiver, M. & P.J. Reimer, 1993. Extended 14C data base

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Green Grows the Steppe

Chapter 3 Green Grows the Steppe: How can Grassland Ecology Increase our Understanding of Human–Plant Interactions and the Origins of Agriculture Mim A. Bower The ecotope referred to as the grassland zone cov-

region. Instead it is intended to spark discussion and to broaden horizons by suggesting a different framework for thinking about human ecology in a grassland ecotope.

ers large tracts of the Eurasian continent stretching from Turkey to China. It encompasses key areas of archaeological importance and areas which are among those with the highest species diversity in the world. Thus it is this ecoform which may illustrate humankind’s long symbiosis with grasses (Poaceae) from which many of the domesticated species of grains were drawn and which still form a significant part of the human diet. An in-depth study of the ecology of the grassland zone may yield information that would make a valuable contribution to our understanding of those human–plant relationships, which have lead to the formation of the agricultural systems that uphold our current civilizations. Grassland is an important biotype and an important human environment. Humans have had a long and complex relationship with grasses over time. It is important to understand how this relationship functions and what affect this has on the environment, it is also crucial to understand how this might be recognizable in the landscape and in the archaeological record. Recent research in botany, human and plant genetics and modern field experiments in plant domestication may make important contributions to solving these issues. This paper examines our current perception of the human use of steppe in the light of grassland ecology. It will highlight the potential that the steppe zone might hold for enriching our comprehension of the spread of agriculture across Eurasia and show how a greater awareness of grassland ecology, and the role of humans within this ecosystem, would enrich our understanding of the human use of grassland in the past. This paper is not intended as a comprehensive description of all the archaeological and botanical data from the whole of the steppe

Biological communities Until recently, ecology has been dominated by the concept of biological communities, based on three central ideas: that biota can be categorized by recognizable communities; that these communities are at or close to equilibrium; and that inter-specific competition is the main determinant of community structure (Lavers & Haines-Young 1993). Thus, in past ecological research, it was common that only communities perceived to be at or near to equilibrium were viewed as legitimate objects of study. Changes in ecological thinking (Worster 1990; Sinton 1993; Zimmerer 1994; Turner 1998), however, influenced in part by quantum physics (Nicolis & Prigogine 1977; Prigogine & Stengers 1987), have caused us to consider whether a community equilibrium is a normal state of affairs in nature. Apparent equilibria may, after all, simply be a function of the scale, both spatial and temporal, at which a community is examined. Stable environments, in so-called equilibrium, probably exist only in a very restricted spatial and temporal range. Within ecology, the equilibrium concept is countered with a non-equilibrium view of nature (de Angelis & Waterhouse 1987; Carpenter 1998). Rather than in balance, nature is now suggested as being a chaotically shifting complex system of interacting structures (Schaffer 1985; Worster 1990). Ecologists now recognize that disturbance is pervasive even in the absence of humans (Veblen 1985; Botkin 1990; Sprugel 1991); plants establish, grow and die in such 29

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and that whole communities did not shift as homogeneous blocks of vegetation as climate changed (Blumler 1996). This forces a move away from the uniformitarian principles, which pervade ecological and archaeological thinking about agricultural origins and begs the development of non-analogue data on past biotic systems. A further concept experiencing rapid revision, generally regarded as the most important in plant ecology, is that of succession to climax (Glenn-Lewin et al. 1992). Ecologists now recognize that the notion of a final stable condition is dubious, however thinking about vegetation as if climax were a real phenomenon is still prevalent in ecological writing. The notion of stable climax also dominates the literature on agricultural origins especially in its emphasis on weedy or so-called early successional plants (Flannery 1969; Hawkes 1969; Harlan 1975; Rindos 1984). There are many agricultural developmental models with successional tendencies that assume a long progressive sequence of increasingly complex manipulations of wild or semi-wild plants, culminating in agriculture and domestication (Harlan 1975; Rindos 1984; Ford 1985). So far, ecologists have had only a minimal input into archaeology, consequently archaeologists have depended on second-hand renderings of ecology and evolutionary theory (Orlove 1980; Flannery 1968; Harris 1969; Rindos 1984); biology’s contribution to the debate on agricultural origins, in particular, has come primarily from crop geneticists and European palynologists. Even ecologically-minded archaeologists have generally viewed nature as a static, passive backdrop to human activity and cultural change and as a series of systems used and altered by humans (Blumler 1996). Archaeology needs to take a fresh look at ecology as it re-invents itself and to examine the new paradigm. Notions of equilibrium should be treated with caution. Assumptions that plant population structure can be understood in terms of a single factor such as climatic conditions or human impact, or even several factors across its range, should be modified. More information about past environments needs to be gathered from non-analogue contexts and interpreted on non-uniformitarian principles.

Figure 3.1. A breckland type ruderal weed community: is the pattern truly predictable or a product of our desire to find order in the natural world? a way that even the most apparently stable ecosystem is dynamic, with measurable changes over time (Fuller 1983). As with the equilibrium concept, so the plant community concept (Braun-Blanquet 1965) is being questioned (McIntosh 1985). This follows the rejection of the Lamarckian/Spencerian basis of the community concept (McIntosh 1985), but is also a result of an overwhelming accumulation of contemporary empirical data, which has caused a re-thinking of the approach to plant communities. In particular, pollen and other palaeoecological evidence have demonstrated that species associations change over time (Davis 1981; de Angelis & Waterhouse 1987; Parker 1993). The major implication of the passing of the community concept for the study of agricultural origins is that present-day plant communities almost certainly were not identical to those 10,000 years ago,

Steppe The arid temperate climate in Eurasia, which supports steppe vegetation, stretches from the mouth of the Danube across Eastern Europe and Asia to the Yellow Sea (Walter 1973). 30

Green Grows the Steppe

Up to two hundred years ago steppes were only lightly grazed, since nomads were constantly on the move with their herds and it was assumed that their vegetation remained almost unaltered. During the past two centuries the changeover to cultivation and intensive grazing has significantly affected the steppe ecosystem. Present-day steppe is maintained, in part, by anthropogenic influences, often by mowing or close grazing by domestic animals, or by burning and light grazing by wildlife and ungulates (Knapp 1979). Because grassland most commonly occurs along the climatic gradient between desert and forest, it has many dak del contacts with various other vegetation types. Boundaries Figure 3.2. The grassland ecotope covers a large part of the Eurasian continent are difficult to decide on, be- and encompasses many areas of archaeological importance. cause local variations in topography, soil characteristics and elevation result in and grow in only a few parts of the world. Weed a diversity of microclimates and vegetation types. ecology of past ruderal situations can be referenced Where the terrain is more regular, the choice of from archaeobotany, but there are taphonomic probboundaries along the vegetational continuum is very lems and interpretations are unavoidably based on subjective (Coupland 1992). uniformitarian principals. Current cereal ecological Steppe and desert occupy continental regions associations are strongly affected by the use of fertiand are extensive over the northern hemisphere, lizers and weed killers, which alter plant associawhere the temperature amplitude is greater, accomtions in ruderal situations. It is possible, however, to panied by a decrease in annual rainfall and arid discuss wheat and wild cereal ecology in general summers. The southern Urals interrupt the Asiatic terms in that, like other grasses, they are annuals steppe, the steppes then continue into the more conwith similar environmental requirements and so most tinental climate of Asia. In its major features, the probably perform similarly to other grasses. climate of mountain steppes is like the steppe zone Individual plant species have evolved different in the plains. Steppes frequently develop on the floor adaptations to seasonal rainfall. The annual habit is of mountain basins, which have forested slopes one such adaptation. Annual plants, which complete (Sochava 1979). Forest-steppe is not a homogeneous their entire life cycle in one year, store their reprovegetation formation like tropical savannas; it is a ductive abilities for the next wet season in abundant macro-mosaic of deciduous forest stands and seeds, which are scattered upon ripening. Since their meadow steppe. seeds do not germinate until the advent of sufficient rain, annual species escape summer drought by comWild cereals as part of the grassland ecotope pleting annual flowering and fruiting by late spring. By late summer the individual plants have died but The place of wild cereals in the grassland ecotope the gene pool for new populations is viable in seed can only be understood in general terms. Currently, banks in the soil. In unpredictable climates annuals grain crops are known in ruderal situations only and are best adapted to survive until the rainfall is adas monoculture; wild cereals are no longer common equate for germination and they may lie dormant 31

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variables which affected the patterning of plant communities in the past may well be different from those prevalent in the present day. Therefore, modern plant community data must be used with caution, as they may not be reflective of past plant communities. Patterns of associations, which are present today, may not have been found in the past. Furthermore, these patterns of associations, which may have been present in the wild tetraploid wheat past, may be not recognizable wild einkorn in the archaeological record. Aegilops squarosa The influence of humans dak del is detectable almost everywhere in the biosphere to a Figure 3.3. The modern-day spread of wild cereals within the grassland ecotope is greater or lesser degree; howlimited, but was this the case in the past? (After Zoharg & Hopf 1988, 34, 41 & 51.) ever, in the case of grasslands these influences are recognizable only on a large for more than twenty years (McCorriston & Hole scale, i.e. at the level of presence or absence of an 1991). A requirement of all grass species, whether entire ecotope. A greater understanding of past grasscultivated or not is that the seeds should survive the land ecology may allow the effects of natural and dry season in a well-baked, thin soil. This may have anthropogenic factors to be distinguished from each constituted a strong selection pressure for large seeds, other. For example, it would be useful to understand with large food reserves, to resist drying out and how many Poaceae species occupy the same habitat, grow quickly when the rains finally came. Large in order to elucidate what factors limit the geographifood reserves are of particular interest to humans cal range of individual species. This might throw who would choose them in preference to smaller light on how the ranges of the progenitors of domesseeded plants (Hawkes 1969). ticated crops have changed during the course of history. Some plants, particularly wild wheats, are Understanding past grassland ecology and human thought to be confined in their distribution to the and plant interactions areas in which they evolved and to which they are endemic; this forms the basis of many past theories The palaeoecology of grassland communities is on the geographical origin of domesticated plants. poorly understood at the present time and is hard to The assumption behind this theory is that species elucidate from such a great distance in time. Even if are adapted to live in the fixed set of physical condiuniformitarian principles can be relied on, there are tions of their particular microclimate. It is not clear, almost no occurrences of natural grasslands anyhowever, that such a specialized microclimate is necwhere in the world that could provide useful comessary for wild cereals. Their assumed confinement parative data. In this case ‘natural grassland’ should may be due to their mode of dispersion or to recent be taken as: grassland, which has not been affected evolution, i.e., the idea that they had recently evolved by some form of human agency. and not had time to spread from their centres of Human and plant ecology in the temperate origin. A greater understanding of past grassland grassland zone is a complex issue and one which has situations and the past range of wild cereal species not yet been addressed to any great extent, though may help to address such issues. current research is beginning to explore this area. In In the past it was believed that plant species a non-equilibrium, non-uniformitarian perspective, form close dependent unions with certain other it is difficult to identify a reliable information source plants, and that such associations are necessary for which can be used for the reconstruction of past the existence of communities of plants and animals plant communities. The biotic and environmental 32

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in nature. Furthermore, it was thought that, within a geographical area, these associations may be repeated in similar topographic and environmentally comparable sites. Although it is undoubtedly true that species interact, and that no species can be understood in terms of ecology and distribution in isolation from other species, these associations may be weaker than have been assumed. Plants and animals, including humans, come into contact at certain times in history, but have also been periodically separated when climates have changed. A greater understanding of the species composition of ancient grasslands might throw light on what associations and patterns of interaction may have existed in the past and which of those patterns were repeated and under what conditions.

Figure 3.4. Human–plant interactions include cultivation and domestication, which brought about genetic changes in exploited cereals.

Human–plant interaction within the grassland ecotope

still one of unpredictable surpluses and lean years, with considerable reliance on local wild products (Flannery 1969). Agricultural plant resources, compared to wild plant resources, however, are relatively concentrated and predictable in time and space (Harris 1989). They grow where they are planted and ripen at known times. The unpredictable aspects are crop yields, which can vary from year to year due to weather or diseases. Such activities as field clearance, fencing, planting, weeding establish the environmental conditions for their growth and development (Ingold 1996). Humans act as a corridor or pathway for the spread of domesticates as species, by the management of the immediate environment of the individual plants and by reducing competition from other plants. Humans enlarged and multiplied areas in which domesticates grew productively, providing more opportunities for plants to spread and increase. They acted as an agent for ecological change by burning vegetation and clearing or trampling near camps and trails (Sauer 1952).

Subsistence can be viewed as the fundamental survival mechanism of the human organism. It is, and most probably always has been, dependent in no small part on the efficient use of plant resources. The dimensions of the human ecological niche are set by availability of land, water, labour, critical capital, space and time. Decisions are made to allocate these resources, which make up various behavioural subsystems. Scarcity of resources leads to problems, whose solutions may force evolutionary change in human culture. These choices in human adaptation and the effects of human behaviour are reflected in the vegetational ecotope to a greater or lesser extent. Thus human–plant interactions are central to human subsistence and can be recognized as such in the archaeological record. Two of the most notable human–plant interactions must be cultivation and domestication. Cultivation may have begun as an attempt to artificially produce dense stands of cereals. But domestication led to a change in the means of production in human society. It made possible divisions of labour not usually characteristic of hunter-gatherer societies as we understand them (Flannery 1969). It also brought about significant genetic changes in the cereals being exploited. Eventually, domesticated plants lost their ability to disseminate their seeds effectively and now are dependent on humans for dispersal. The view of early cultivation as a drastic change or improvement in man’s diet may well be erroneous, as may be the frequently cited notion that early agriculture gave humans a more stable food supply. For example, given the erratic nature of rainfall in Southwest Asia, the era of early dry farming was

Human ecology The equilibrium view of ecology uses a combination of physical and biological components linked by a flow of energy, nutrients, water, etc. in a fixed structure of ecological populations and communities. Climatic, biological or human activity is viewed as disturbance or perturbation around equilibrium, exogenous to the system, driving it eventually to some new equilibrium state (Perez-Trejo 1993). But humans are part of the landscape dynamic, and not separate from it. Humans not only affect the biome but also 33

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are affected by it. The natural environment presents a set of conditions to which humans must respond and adjust and, conversely, humans present a set of conditions to which the environment must respond. The human dimension is important to landscape ecology, but its place in the ecological system is not necessarily obvious. It is simple to view humans as the top predators in a complex food web, however, human social systems have been seen to represent a completely separate level of energy flow and organization. Human social groups with weapons were thought to have primitively acted as top predators (Cousins 1993), but human interaction with the environment is considerably more complex; humans exchange energy and materials between ecosystems, thereby creating a new larger entity or organization. Instead of thinking about plants as part of the natural environment for humans, humans and their activities should be considered as part of the environment for plants. It is no longer considered appropriate to think of humans as inhabiting a social world of their own, over and above the world of nature (Ingold 1996). Humans and animals and plants are fellow participants in the same natural world of which human ‘social’ behaviour is also a part. Humans do not so much transform the material world as play a part in the world’s transformation of itself (Ingold 1993). As a species, we cannot help but modify our environment, this is a characteristic we share not just with humans in the past, but with all other organisms. There are examples of hunters practising selective cull, altering the environment, or removing other predators to sustain and increase the productivity of their wild animal resources (Mithen 1990). Equally, gatherers can manipulate their plant resources through clearances, ground preparation, planting and harvesting (Rindos 1984; Harris & Hillman 1989). Humans over the course of their evolutionary trajectory have adapted a clever system of manipulation of the environment, deflecting energy from other parts of the natural food web into the support of one species (Thomas et al. 1979; Jochim 1979).

grain-based agriculture became important to the region and which grain crops were most significant? Various sources of information are brought to bear in addressing these questions, but currently the most informative data set is charred plant remains from archaeological sites. Charred plant remains, however, are not always found in the archaeological record, either due to problems with preservation or because of a lack of sampling in the excavation methodology. An extensive flotation and wet-sieving program is one of the most reliable methods of extracting sufficient archaeobotanical material to be able to reconstruct human environments and human–plant interactions in the past. The impression gained from the archaeology of the Eurasian steppe region is that this intensive flotation program may not have been implemented on a wide scale (Levine pers. comm.), leaving lacunae in the potential data base from which we can develop hypotheses on plant use in the past grassland ecotope. Much of the evidence on which hypotheses are based is from sites dug in 1930s and 40s, when archaeobotany was not widely known, however, even more recent excavations are not yielding the evidence needed. At Dereivka, for example, specialist analyses were not conducted which could have shed light on plant-based aspects of the subsistence economy (Rassamakin 1999) Besides the presence of archaeozoological material, traces of possible past human plant use appear to be described chiefly from discoveries of grain impressions on pottery. For example, emmer wheat, barley and millet have been identified from pottery impressions (Pashkevich 1991; 1992; 1993), as have einkorn wheat and rye (Rassamakin 1999). Some finds of preserved seeds are recorded, however, though this material appears to be scarce. For example, finds of spelt are recorded in Georgia (Janushevich 1984) and unusually preserved sacks of emmer and spelt in an early Catacomb burial in the Crimean steppe (Korpustova & Lyashko 1990). Finds of preserved seeds, however, are sporadic and identifications are uncertain. For example, attempts to find evidence of cultivated grain to the East of the Dnepr have not been successful (Lebedeva 1996). Furthermore, Nesbitt (in press) calls into question identifications of the grains described, for example, finds described as spelt from Moldavia, Ukraine and the Crimea (Janushevich 1984) are more likely to be Aegilops cylindrica or Ae. tauschii both grasses which are found abundantly in these regions. In addition to these forms of evidence, there have been finds of tools, which are interpreted as signs of agriculture. For example, the discovery of

Subsistence and human ecology in the Eurasian steppe zone — where is their daily bread? One of the focal points in archaeological research is the identification of subsistence activity and agricultural practices in the landscape. For example, how do we recognize the human ecology of the steppe zone? How can we tell if wild grass resources were being exploited? How can we tell accurately when 34

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an object described as a wooden plough point in a late Catacomb burial in the Dnepr region (Bidzilya & Yakovenko 1973), and the finds of a great number of antler hoes, querns, pestles, grindstones and flint tools similar to Tripolye sickle blade elements from Dereivka (Rassamakin 1999). The interpretation of these finds, however, is fraught with difficulties. For example, these may be indicative of pre-domestication cultivation of wild grasses rather than any form of developed agricultural system. Neither do any of these tools show what plant materials were being exploited and to what intensity. Finally, it is impossible to know whether the plants exploited would have been reflective of local resources or whether they are representative of imported crops. Only detailed study of weed flora from archaeobotanical material sampled by flotation could hope to address these issues. Sedentism has also been associated with the development of agricultural systems (Ucko & Dimbleby 1969). Early Eneolithic steppe peoples are suggested to have been sedentary. Available data supports the assertion that a stable type of aboveground dwelling had already emerged in the Neolithic throughout most of the Eurasian steppe (Kislenko & Tatarintseva 1999) leading to a broadly sedentary way of life for the majority of the population (Rassamakin 1999) with a notable absence of nomadic forms of economy (Kislenko & Tatarintseva 1999). However, ethnography shows that although sedentism may be a sign that crops are being cultivated in some cases to the point of an organized agricultural system, nomadism does not preclude the planting of crops, neither does sedentism mean that grain-based agriculture is being carried out. For example, contemporary food collectors of the tropical forest are not particularly nomadic and need not be. If suitable food sources are available, then a remarkable degree of sedentism is possible and with it the mobilization of large amounts of food for social purposes. In Mesoamerica domesticated crops are known to have preceded permanent settlements by several millennia (Ellen 1994). Populations dependent on fishing may also achieve a sedentary lifestyle, ranging from the modest settlements of the Andaman islanders to the substantial villages of certain peoples of the North American Northwest Coast. Additionally, there is increasing evidence for the nucleation of settlement in the absence of animal or plant domestication from the prehistoric Near East. For example, Natufian data from the Levant have revealed permanent settlements supported by the reaping and storage of wild cereal grains (Henry 1983).

Models of steppe economy A number of models of Eurasian steppe economies are described. Each of the models, however, describe the advent of agriculture as occurring relatively late in the archaeological sequence compared to the rest of Europe. A second theme, which these models also have in common, is that the economies are dominated by pastoral agriculture as opposed to arable or mixed. For example, on the north coastal region of the Black Sea the foundations for the practice of grain agriculture are thought to have been laid by the Tripolye culture tribes as late as the Middle Eneolithic. This form of agriculture, however, based on the Anatolian model, was adapted to changing circumstances in the steppe region, presumably climatic fluctuations, with an increase in the significance of millet until the end of the Bronze Age. The Danilenko model (1974) describes agriculture as a cultural phenomenon originating in the east in the zone of contact between the primitive agriculturalists of the Near East and the primitive pastoralists of Central Asia and Caspian region, and as being swiftly diffused through the steppe of the Black Sea coast. The Volga–Ural model characterizes a mobile way of life with the opening up of the steppes and the rearing of sheep and goats throughout the Eneolithic and the Bronze Age. The North Caucasian model, however is a sedentary model involving the pasturing of cattle and the rearing of pigs. The Black Sea model is also sedentary, with horse breeding as an important focus, and long-term settlements with cattle breeding and mobile sheep breeding (for detailed description of these models see Rassamakin 1999). Archaeology of the Pontic steppe region has, in the past, found itself constricted by an overemphasization of culture history and a need to identify the current dwellers of the region with a noble warrior cult which relied on breeding and herding horses. Thus the focus of research has been turned away from subsistence and towards the warrior élite and the migration of socio-cultural groupings. This is linked to a perceived past in which the steppes were occupied by horse-based nomadic tribes, who were somehow outside the steppe ecotope, living on the edge of the grassland zone. These culture historical ideas may, however, be more reflective of the present-day ethnicity of the region and a need for the current inhabitants of the steppe to have ownership of their past (Bower 1995). This paradigm, however, is being challenged. For example, Rassamakin (1999) suggests that the 35

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early Eneolithic steppe region did not see warlike migrations of steppe peoples from the Volga and the Caspian region, but rather the emergence of a mutually-beneficial system of exchange between steppe populations and the production centres of the agricultural world. He notes evenly distributed settlements through the southern zone of the Black Sea steppes, with a complex architecture and standard burial rite (Rassamakin 1999), suggesting that these settlements must have been based on some form of agro-pastoral economy. He suggests that despite a long tradition, the idea that the Eneolithic and Early Bronze Age saw socio-cultural migrations from the steppes of the Volga and North Caspian region into the North Caucasus and the Black Sea is not proven (Rassamakin 1999). The appearance of stock breeding is now being associated with later periods and the factors relating to its emergence are considered within the structure of pre-existing agricultural cultures (Kislenko & Tatarintseva 1999). Without more data from the regions in question, however, new models will be difficult to construct, in particular they cannot be upheld without a greater emphasis on archaeobotanical data and models, which are not based solely on pastoralism. Compared to other parts of the world there is relatively little information on Pontic steppe economies and subsistence thus the precise nature of the economic systems of steppe peoples remains unknown. Because much of the subsistence data is in the form of animal bones, previous economic descriptions may be reduced to the simple assertion of the existence of various forms of mobile pastoralism. The steppe inhabitants are usually characterized as seasonal, semi-nomadic or nomadic without close attention being paid to defining the actual mechanisms by which they functioned within particular societies and cultures (Rassamakin 1994). Many arguments focus on the domestication of the horse, which is unarguably of great importance to the steppe economy (Levine 1999). Connected with this is the assumption that steppe pioneers were pastoralist horsemen, before which the steppe was a barren and uninhabited wasteland. Although the settlement of the steppe, however, may have been dependent on the horse, before its domestication the steppe is unlikely to have been empty. Neither will it have been uninhabitable, as grassland, in particular a forest-steppe-type environment, is rich with food resources for the hunter-gatherer. Although there may well have been a period when horse-based mobile groups existed and where pastoralism was favoured, it must surely be true to

say that these groups did not operate in a vacuum. No-one can really be suggesting that steppe peoples had no vegetal or carbohydrate part to their diet. If steppe nomads did not grow their own plant foods, these social groupings must have obtained them from somewhere, if not directly from their environment then from other social groups who were practising agriculture. Ethnographic examples of nomadic groups show them functioning next to developed mixed economies, separate from them but reliant on them for grain and other essentials. It is now known that the Ural and Kazakh steppe was characterized during the Eneolithic and the Bronze Age by large well-developed sites such as Botai, Sintashta and Arkaim (Kislenko & Tatarintseva 1999). But where did these sites develop from? What was there before and what was the subsistence base both during the Eneolithic and before? It is possible that a mixed agricultural economy existed and was more widespread that previously thought, but it has yet to be identified archaeologically. We need to consider the agricultural exploitation of the steppe prior to 2000 BC. Was it purely pastoral or was there cultivation of grain crops going on? If so, where did these grain crops come from? Although archaeologists have identified the Southern Levant as one of the locales for early agriculture, they have not generally considered it to have been the only possible locale (Bar-Yosef & Kislev 1989; Moore 1989). Only for the Levantine Near East, however, are there sufficient relevant data to constrain explanatory hypotheses significantly and to enable truly substantive attempts to explain the transition to agriculture, based on the genetics and ecology of crucial species, archaeology, chronology, stratigraphy and palaeoenvironment (Watson 1995; Bar-Yosef & Belfer-Cohen 1992; Cauvin & Cauvin 1982; Kaufmann & Ronen 1987). This situation could also exist for early agriculture on the steppe if a comparable amount of material was obtained, for example, by intensive sampling and flotation of archaeobotanical material from archaeological sites. There are many important issues to address through studying ancient grassland-culture interactions on the steppe. For instance was there a rapid eastwards dispersal of a mixed farming economy from the Ukraine or did the early farming communities of the Caucasus make little contribution to the early farming and pastoral economies of the steppe to the north? Was the advent of farming in the Ukraine from the West (Greece and Balkans and prior to that Anatolia) or was it based on a completely separate route from China, about which we 36

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can only guess because of the lack of excavated sites? If there was a mixed farming subsistence base, what was its nature and was it based on the Old World ‘Neolithic package’ domesticates which were domesticated in Anatolia and the Balkans according to genetic modelling (Heun et al. 1997; Allaby et al. 1998). Or was it based on a different group of domesticates, for example, barley (Hordeum sp.) and millets (Panicum milliaceum, Setaria italica) for which the domestication history is as yet unclear? We are now in an excellent position to be able to address some of these issues partly because of the information revolution which allows almost instant communication across large distances, but also because of many years spent forging relationships and working partnerships among the many research communities involved. In addition to this, the increasing reliability of ancient biomolecular techniques has given us a new tool with which we can examine the archaeology of any region. Some of the questions posed above can be addressed using molecular genetic techniques on both modern and ancient material.

Ancient DNA and grassland ecology In addition to the research work described above, a methodology for the extraction and amplification of ancient DNA from pollen preserved in sediments is under development (Bower 1998). This methodology has great potential to make a contribution to understanding past grassland ecotopes and the patterning of human behaviour within these ecotopes. It aims to enhance the level of information that can be gained from the pollen record and thus make more accessible a data set which stretches beyond the site level and can encompass whole landscapes and thus human biomes. Grassland projects carried out by botanists and ecologists over the past twenty years have documented the effects of the various biotic components on the modern grassland ecotope. Research has quantified the effects of grazing, fire, flood and anthropogenic factors. Although the functioning of a modern grassland system is reasonably well understood, the link between how the biotic landscape performs on the ground and how that translates into a pollen spectrum from a preserved sediment is made only in very broad terms. This is due in no small part to the perceived impossibility of separating the pollen of Poaceae species, which are uniformly spherical and monoporate, differentiated only by size or pollen index. Consequently when the need arises to describe grassland and human interactions, the characterisation falls to the small collection of so called indicator species, pollen of herbaceous species, which are more easily identified than those of Poaceae. Using this new methodology for the extraction and amplification of ancient DNA from pollen, a genetic test for the identification of cereal and grass species, which is not reliant on morphological characters, could be developed allowing for the location of a locus of sufficient polymorphism between the desired species. Such a genetic test would enrich the information available from pollen assemblages in lake sediment cores and make it possible to study past grassland ecology and human interaction without overly relying on inappropriate modern analogues. Human interaction with the environment is usually mapped in terms of changes in tree species. As tree species tend to be slow to respond to environmental influences there must be a delay in the impression of human impact. Grasses are annuals and so are more responsive to environmental changes. If it were possible to map changes in the species composition of grasslands it would be possible to gain more immediate information on human impact us-

Examining human–plant interactions through phylogenetics and ancient DNA Ancient biomolecule research has established itself as a useful tool to address significant issues in archaeology. In particular, contributions have been made to arguments surrounding the human use of plants. Recent research by Allaby et al. (1998) and Heun et al. (1997) has greatly advanced the discussion of the geographical location of the domestication of emmer and einkorn wheats respectively. Their research identified biogeographical distributions of DNA lineages in current cultivated wheats (Brown 1999). Hopefully, further research will extend these spatial patterns back into the past using archaeological material to see if the past phylogenetic relationships are similar to those identified in the research described above. Research on ancient DNA from plant remains has, thus far, focused mainly on two key issues; the domestication of wheat and sorghum (Renfrew 1998). Now, however, research has begun on the elucidation of the complex issues surrounding barley phylogenetics and the biogeography of its domestication and subsequent spread. This research will prove to be of some importance to archaeology in the steppe zone, for, as described above, the spread of this grain crop may well have preceded the use of wheats in the area. 37

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logues that project observed patterns of modern plant behaviour and modern ecological associations into the past. These problems are augmented further once uniformitarian principles are imposed on past grassland communities, as there are very few modern analogues for Holocene grasslands, that is to say ‘natural’ grasslands remaining in the world. Indeed it is possible that there are in actuality no natural grasslands, i.e. grasslands that have been unaffected by humans in one way or another, currently in existence. As it is not possible, at the present time, to create a coherent picture of past grassland composition from palynology owing to the associated problems with the identification of fossil Poaceae pollen, or from archaeology owing to the lack of data, it is not possible to judge whether present grasslands are representative of past grasslands and vice versa. It is necessary to gather data on a particular ecotope for significant periods of time before patterns of change and behaviour can be recognized. Different elements in the biosphere function at different rates spatially and temporally. To a certain extent it has been possible to gather data on the spatial and temporal patterning of other ecotopes, such as forests, within the limitations of palynology by developing past patterns through pollen analysis. It has not been possible, however, to do the same with grasses and grasslands as yet, except to observe their spatial and temporal pattern as a homogeneous block of vegetation, which, according to the complex systems paradigm, grasslands cannot have been. If the methodology for the molecular identification of grasses can be designed in such a way as to be a usable tool, then the spatial and temporal mapping of grass species could be carried out in a similar way to the mapping of tree species. Furthermore, it may be possible to chart the action of humans within that ecotope and to form hypotheses on the cultural decisions that humans in the past made about the choices of plant resource to be utilized. In the mean time it is essential that archaeological research in and on the edges of the steppe zone include archaeobotanists in their excavation teams and undertake systematic sampling and flotation regimens. It is a requirement for the understanding of the beginnings of cultivation and the development of agricultural practices to understand how and where humans fit into the ecotope in general and in particular how they function as part of the grassland ecotope which gave rise to the most important economic food plants currently in use. It is generally recognized that humans have a significant effect on

Figure 3.5. Human interaction with the environment is usually mapped in terms of changes in tree species but grasslands may provide more sensitive information. ing signature species or associations. This is particularly important in the steppe zone, where without the presence of the forests which occurred over a large part of Europe and which are currently used as an indicator of human activity, there is only the grouping of herbaceous plants, a greater part of which is taken up by a homogeneous block of grasses and cereals, with which to characterize the human use of the ecotope. The palaeoecology of grasslands, as described above, is poorly understood and yet they cover a significant area of the Eurasian continent. There is, at present, little information to allow the reconstruction of these grasslands or to model their responses to human influences. Where can future research take us? In the present day, eighty per cent of edible plant material used by humans is derived from only eleven species of which eight are cereals (Langer & Hill 1991). Grasslands are an important resource, they gave rise to the cereals we use today through the domestication of the most common plant species: the Poaceae. Thanks to recent publications (Zohary & Hopf 1988) the genetic history of the wheats in use today and their genetic links with wild grasses are better understood. Little is known, however, about the ecology and the ecological associations of these plant species in the past or the ecological associations of humans with these species in the past. That which is known is based in very broad terms on assumptions made from observations of grasslands currently in existence. As described earlier, there are problems with using uniformitarian principles and modern ana38

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Bar-Yosef, O. & A. Belfer-Cohen, 1992. From foraging to farming in the Mediterranean Levant, in Transitions to Agriculture in Prehistory, eds. A.B. Gebauer & T.D. Price. (Monographs in World Archaeology 4.) Madison (WI): Prehistoric Press, 21–48. Bar-Yosef, O. & M. Kislev, 1989. Early farming communities in the Jordan Valley, in Harris & Hillman (eds.), 632–42. Bidzilya, V.I. & E.V. Yakovenko, 1973. Ralo iz pozdeneyamnogo pogrebeniya kontsa III – nachala II tys.do n.e. Sovetskaya Arkheologiya 3, 146–52. Blumler, M.A., 1996. Ecology, evolutionary theory and agricultural origins, in Harris (ed.), 25–51. Botkin, D., 1990. Discordant Harmonies: a New Ecology for the Twenty-first Century. New York (NY): Oxford University Press. Bower, M.A., 1995. Marketing nostalgia: an exploration of heritage management and its relation to human consciousness, in Managing Archaeology, eds. M.A. Cooper, A. Firth, J. Carman & D. Wheatley. London: Routledge, 33–9. Bower, M.A., 1998. A Critical Path to the Characterisation of Agriculture through the Pollen of Cereals. Unpublished PhD Thesis, University of Cambridge. Braun-Blanquet, J., 1965. Plant Sociology: the Study of Plant Communities. 3rd edition, translated, revised and edited by S.D. Fuller & H.S. Conard. London: Hafner Publishing Co. Brown, T.A., 1999. How ancient DNA may help in understanding the origins and spread of agriculture. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London Series B 354 (1379), 89–98. Carpenter, S.R., 1998. Ecosystem ecology, in Dodson et al. (eds.), 123–62. Cauvin, J. & M.C. Cauvin, 1982. Origines de l’agriculture au Levant. Facteurs biologiques et socio-culturels, in The Hilly Flanks, eds. T. Cuyler Young, P. Smith & P. Mortensen. Chicago (IL): Chicago University Press. Coupland, R.T., 1992. Natural Grasslands: Introduction and Western Hemisphere. (Ecosystems of the World 8a.) Amsterdam: Elsevier. Cousins, S.H., 1993. Hierarchy in ecology: its relevance to landscape ecology and geographic information systems, in Haines-Young et al. (eds.), 75–86. Danilenko, V.N., 1974. Eneolit Ukrainy. Kiev: Naukova dumka. Davis, M.B., 1981. Quaternary history and the stability of forest communties, in Forest Succession, eds. D.C. West, H.H. Shugart & D.B. Botkin. New York (NY): Springer Verlag, 132–53. de Angelis, D.L. & J.C. Waterhouse, 1987. Equlibrium and non-equilibrium concepts in ecological models. Ecological Monographs 57, 1–21. Dodson, S.I., T.F.H. Allen, S.R. Carpenter, A.R. Ives, R.L. Jeanne, J.F. Kitchell, N.E. Langston & M.G. Turner (eds.), 1998. Ecology. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Ellen, R., 1994. Modes of subsistence: hunting and gathering to agriculture and pastoralism, in Companion

grasslands, but it would be valuable to know how and what alterations in the pattern of species and the ecological function of the biome occur in the presence of humans. In the absence of genetic or palynological data, traditional archaeobotanical methods can provide extremely informative data. Conclusions Until relatively recently the Western view of the archaeological world has been highly Eurocentric. However, as information technology expands all our horizons it brings archaeologists from many and varied cultures together and allows the sharing of information which was hitherto difficult, if not impossible to access. Thus our view of the world changes and it begins to be necessary to reassess some of the big archaeological questions that form the central focus of so many discussions, for example the rise of sedentism, the origins and spread of agriculture, the source of domesticated plants and animals. In particular, our archaeological understanding of southwest and central Asia, Eastern Europe, Russia and the Far East needs to be integrated so that chronologies can be brought into line and largescale models of social and ecological human behaviour can be developed. Understanding of the human use of the steppe zone is central to advancing the debate and would be useful, both for the elucidation of the subsistence patterns of past steppe peoples, and the broadening of our knowledge of general human–plant interactions in the past. Conventional archaeology and culture history have a contribution to make, but the contribution of archaeobotany, ancient DNA research and phylogenetics should not be ignored. Acknowledgements The author wishes to thank the McDonald Institute and NERC for supporting this research. Martin Jones, Chris Howe and Colin Renfrew are thanked for their continuing support. Mark Nesbitt, Chris Stevens, Dorian Fuller and Dan Leighton are thanked for their contributions to this paper. Transmite me sursum Caledonii. References Allaby, R.G., E.J. Hogben, C.J. Howe, M.K. Jones & T.A. Brown, 1998. Biogeographical distributions of glutenin allele lineages in cultivated wheats: evidence for two independent agricultural expansions. Science 279, 302–3.

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Encyclopedia of Anthropology, ed. T. Ingold. London: Routledge, 162–97. Flannery, K.V., 1968. Archaeological systems theory and early Meso-America, in Anthropological Archaeology in the Americas, ed. B.J. Meggers. Washington (DC): Anthropological Society of Washington, 67–87. Flannery, K.V., 1969. Origins and ecological effects of early domestication in Iran and the Near East, in Ucko & Dimbleby (eds.), 73–100. Ford, R.I., 1985. The processes of plant food production in prehistoric North America, in Prehistoric Food Production in North America, ed. R.I. Ford. (Anthropological Paper 75.) Ann Arbor (MI): University of Michigan, Museum of Anthropology, 1–18. Fuller, R.M., 1983. Aerial photographs as records of changing vegetation patterns, in Ecological Mapping from Ground, Air and Space, ed. R.M. Fuller. (ITE Symposium 10.) Cambridge: NERC, 57–68. Glen-Lewin, D.C., R.K. Peet & T.T. Velben, 1992. Prologue, in Plant Succession, eds. D.C. Glen-Lewin, R.K. Peet & T.T. Velben. Austin (TX): Texas University Press, 1–10. Haines-Young, R., D.R. Green & S. Cousins (eds.), 1993. Landscape Ecology and Geographical Information Systems. London: Taylor and Francis Publishing Company. Harlan, J.R., 1975. Crops and Man. Madison (WI): American Society of Agronomy. Harris, D.R., 1969. Agricultural systems, ecosystems and the origins of agriculture, in Ucko & Dimbleby (eds.), 3–17. Harris, D.R., 1989. An evolutionary continuum of people plant interaction, in Harris & Hillman (eds.), 11–24. Harris, D.R. (ed.), 1996. The Origins and Spread of Agriculture and Pastoralism in Eurasia. London: UCL Press. Harris, D.R. & G.C. Hillman (eds.), 1989. Foraging and Farming: the Evolution of Plant Exploitation. London: Unwin and Hyman. Hawkes, J.G., 1969. The ecological background of plant domestication, in Ucko & Dimbleby (eds.), 17–31. Henry, D.O., 1983. Adaptive evolution within the Epipaleolithic of the Near East. Advances in World Archaeology 2, 99–160. Heun, M., R. Schafer-Pregl, R. Klawan, R. Castagna, M. Accerbi, D. Borghi & F. Salamini, 1997. Site of einkorn domestication identified by DNA fingerprinting. Science 278, 1312–14. Ingold, T., 1993. The temporality of the landscape. World Archaeology 25, 152–74. Ingold, T., 1996. Growing plants and raising animals: an anthropological perspective on domestication, in Harris (ed.), 12–24. Janushevich, Z.V., 1984. The specific composition of wheat finds from agricultural centres in the USSR, in Plants and Ancient Man: Studies in Palaeoethnobotany, eds. W. van Zeist & W.A. Casparie. Rotterdam: AA Balkema, 267–70. Jochim, M.A., 1979. Breaking down the system: recent ecological approaches in Archaeology, in Advances

in Archaeological Method and Theory, ed. M.B. Schiffer. Orlando (FL):Academic Press, 77–117. Kaufmann, D. & A. Ronen, 1987. La sépulture Kébarienne Géométrique de Névé-David, Haifa, Israel. L’Anthropologie 91, 335–42. Kislenko, A. & N. Tatarintseva, 1999. The Eastern Ural steppe at the end of the Stone Age, in Levine et al. (eds.), 183–216. Knapp, R., 1979. Climate and soils of grassland areas in Europe, in Numata (ed.), 49–50. Korupstova, V.N. & S.N. Lyashko, 1990. Katakombnoe pogrebenie s pshenitsei v Krymu. Sovetskaya Arkheologiya 3, 166–75. Langer, R.H.M. & G.D. Hill, 1991. Agricultural Plants. 2nd edition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Lavers, C.P. & R. Haines-Young, 1993. Equilibrium landscapes and their aftermath: spacial heterogeneity and the role of new technology, in Haines-Young et al. (eds.), 57–75. Lebedeva, E.Y., 1996. O zemledelii v stepyakh i lesostepyakh Vostochnoi Evropy v epokhu bronzy. XIII Uralskoe Arkheologicheskoe Soveshchanie I, 53–5. Levine, M., 1999. The origins of horse husbandry on the Eurasian steppe, in Levine et al. 1999, 5–58. Levine, M., Y. Rassamakin, A. Kislenko & N. Tatarintseva, 1999. Late Prehistoric Exploitation of the Eurasian Steppe. (McDonald Institute Monographs.) Cambridge: McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research. McCorriston, J. & F. Hole, 1991. The ecology of seasonal stress and the origins of agriculture in the Near East. American Anthropologist 93, 46–69. McIntosh, R.P., 1985. The Background of Ecology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Mithen, S., 1990. Thoughtful Foragers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Moore, A.M.T., 1989. The transition from foraging to famring in Southwest Asia: present problems and future directions, in Harris & Hillman (eds.), 620– 31. Nesbitt, M., in press. Wheat evolution: integrating archaeological and biological evidence, in Wheat Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow, ed. P. Caligari. (The Percival Symposium.) London: Linnean Society. Nicolis, G. & I. Prigogine, 1977. Self-organization in Nonequilibrium Systems. New York (NY): Witey Interscience. Numata, M. (ed.), 1979. Ecology of Grasslands and Bamboolands in the World. Boston (MA) & The Hague: Dr W. Junk Publisher. Orlove, B.S., 1980. Ecological anthropology. Annual Review of Anthropology 9, 235–73. Parker, K.C., 1993. Climatic effects on regeneration trends for two columnar cacti in the northern Sonoran Desert. Annals of the Association of American Geographers 83, 452–74. Pashkevich, G.A., 1991. Paleobotanicheskie Nakhodki na Territorii Ukrainy (Neolit–Bronza). Kiev: Catalogue (preprint). Pashkevich, G.A., 1992. Do rekonstruktsii asortymentu

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kulturnykh roslyn epokhy neolitu–bronzy na terytorii Ukrainy, in Starodavne Vyrobnytstvo na Terytorii Ukrainy, eds. S.V. Pankov et al. Kiev: Naukova dumka, 179–94. Pashkevich, G.A., 1993. Osobennosti paleobotanicheskikh kompleksov eneolita–bronzy tertitorii Ukrainy, in The Fourth Millennium BC, ed. P. Georgieva. Sofia: New Bulgarian University, 99–108. Perez-Trejo, F., 1993. Landcape response units: processbased self-organising systems, in Haines-Young et al. (eds.), 87–98. Prigogine, I. & I. Stengers, 1987. Order Out of Chaos. New York (NY): Bantam Books. Rassamakin, Y.Y., 1994. The main directions of the development of early pastoral societies of the northern Pontic zone: 4500–2450, in Nomadism and Pastoralism in the Circle of Baltic-Pontic Early Agrarian Culture: 5000–1650 B C , ed. A. Koskó. Poznán: Adam Mickiewicz University, Eastern Institute, Institute of Prehistory, 29–70. Rassamakin, Y.Y., 1999. The Eneolithic of the Black Sea Steppe: dynamics of cultural and economic development 4500–2300 BC, in Levine et al. 1999, 59–182. Renfrew, C., 1998. Applications of DNA in archaeology: a review of the DNA studies of the Ancient Biomolecule Initiative. Ancient Biomolecules 2, 107–16. Rindos, D., 1984. Symbiosis, instability and the origins and spread of agriculture: a new model. Current Anthropology 21, 751–2. Sauer, C.O., 1952. Agricultural Origins and Dispersals. New York (NY): American Geographical Society. Schaffer, W.M., 1985. Order and chaos in ecological systems. Ecology 66, 93–106. Sinton, J., 1993. When Moscow looks like Chicago: an essay on uniformity and diversity in landscapes and communities. Environmental History Review 17, 23–41.

Sochava, V.B., 1979. Climate and soils of the grassland distribution area in the USSR, in Numata (ed.), 43– 8. Sprugel, D.G., 1991. Disturbance, equilibrium and environmental variablilty — what is natural vegetation in a changing environment? Biological Conservation 58, 1–18. Thomas, R.B., B. Winterhalder & S.D. McRae, 1979. An anthropological approach to human ecology and adaptive dynamics. Yearbook of Physical Anthropology 22, 1–46. Turner, M.G., 1998. Landscape ecology, in Dodson et al. (eds.), 77–122. Ucko, P. & G.W. Dimbleby (eds.), 1969. The Domestication and Exploitation of Plants and Animals. London: Gerald Duckworth and Company. Veblen, T.T., 1985. Stand dynamics in Chilean Nothofagus forests, in The Ecology of Natural Disturbance and Patch Dynamics, eds. S.T.A. Pickett & P.S. White. Orlando (FL): Academic Press, 31–51. Walter, H., 1973. Vegetation of the Earth and Ecological Systems of the Geo-biosphere. 2nd edition, translated by J. Wieser. New York (NY): Springer-Verlag. Watson, P.J., 1995. Explaining the transition to agriculture, in Last Hunters, First Farmers, eds. T.D. Price & B.A. Gebauer. Santa Fe (NM): SAR Press, 21–34. Worster, C., 1990. The ecology of order and chaos. Environmental History Review 14, 1–18. Zimmerer, K.S., 1994. Human ecology and the ‘new ecology’: the prospect and promise of integration. Annals of the Association of American Geographers 84, 108–25. Zohary, D. & M. Hopf, 1988. Domestication of Plants in the Old World: the Origin and Spread of Cultivated Plants in West Asia, Europe and the Nile Valley. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

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Part II Horse Exploitation on the Eurasian Steppe

Chapter 4

44

Organic Residue Analysis of Lipids in Potsherds

Chapter 4 Organic Residue Analysis of Lipids in Potsherds from the Early Neolithic Settlement of Botai, Kazakhstan Stephanie N. Dudd, Richard P. Evershed & Marsha Levine

Condamin et al. 1976; Passi et al. 1981; Rottländer 1990). The widespread occurrence of animal fat residues The most common class of analytes in pottery and their preservation in the archaeological record are the solvent extractable lipids, since their nonin association with pottery vessels is now well-espolar, hydrophobic nature means they are relatively tablished (Evershed et al. 1992; Heron & Evershed resistant to decay and dissolution over archaeologi1993). The entrapment of residues within the clay cal time compared with other biochemical compomatrix of vessels facilitates their preservation by pronents. Lipid residues have been used to derive viding protection from dissolution and chemical and information relating to the nature of commodities microbial decay. Although absorbed residues are the processed or stored in vessels during their use most common find, information has also been ob(Evershed et al. 1992; 1994; 1995a; Charters et al. 1993; 1995; Heron & Evershed 1993; Condamin et al. 1976). tained from the analysis of carbonized residues adDegraded animal fat residues are by far the hering to the inner or outer surfaces of sherds (e.g. most commonly identified natural products found in association with archaeological ceramics (Evershed et al. 2002 and refs. therein). Fresh animal fats consist predominantly of intact triacylglycerols; however, the Le na processing of animal fats at high Ukraine temperatures, e.g. in cooking or Russian Federation to modify their properties in a manufacturing process, and Ob diagenetic alterations during Kam a Ir t ysh burial, result in the hydrolysis of triacylglycerols to their component free fatty acids, mono- and Botai Is h i m diacylglycerols. The distribution Kazakhstan Sy of these components is very charr acteristic and degraded animal Mongolia fats are readily recognizable by high temperature-gas chromatogChina raphy (HT-GC). Remnant fats have been detected in between 0 2000 km 60 and 80 per cent of sherds from assemblages dating from the Figure 4.1. Location map showing the Eneolithic settlement of Botai, early Neolithic to the late Saxon/ Kokchetau Oblast in northern Kazakhstan. To bo l

ga

Do n

V ol

Dn ep r

y Yenise

Ob

Organic residues as a source of new information

ya ar D

Caspian Sea

ea

kS

U ra

l

ac Bl

45

Chapter 4

Dwelling Excavated area Eroded riverbank Modern woodland

N

Site 31

Iman

-Bur

0

luk

properties of fats, including distributions of C18:1 positional isomers. It has been demonstrated that distinctions can be drawn between degraded fat extracts from medieval lamps and dripping dishes on the basis of the positional isomers of the monounsaturated fatty acids (Evershed et al. 1997). Further work (Mottram 1995; Mottram et al. 1999) has shown that the natural variation in the 13C/12C isotope ratios of animal fat components can been utilized to differentiate between fats, allowing distinctions to be drawn between a marine or terrestrial source, and further, to identify fats of ruminant or non-ruminant origin. Recent studies have substantiated the use of these criteria in drawing clear distinctions between degraded animal fats and, furthermore, have succeeded in developing a robust technique for the unambiguous identification of ancient dairy fats (Dudd 1999; Dudd & Evershed 1998). Botai (North Kazakhstan)

60 m

Botai is an Eneolithic settlement located in Kokchetau Oblast in the forest-steppe region of northern Kazakhstan (Fig. 4.1). It was excavated by the North Kazakhstan Archaeological Expedition, under the overall direction of V.F. Zaibert (A.Kh. Margulana Institute of Archaeology, Petroplavlovsk). The site covers approximately 15 hectares, of which 10,000 square metres of land on the high, right bank of the ImanBurluk, a tributary of the river Ishim, had been excavated by 1992 (Fig. 4.2). Although some remains of Pleistocene mammals have been discovered eroding out of the river bank, the prehistoric human occupation of Botai apparently only extended from the Mesolithic to the Eneolithic. Substantial Neolithic

dak del

Figure 4.2. Site plan of Botai. early medieval period (Dudd & Evershed unpublished data) although preservation is variable and dependant upon both geographical location and age. Few detailed studies have been undertaken previously to classify ancient animal fats where the original lipid signature has been altered as a result of degradation, the exception being work by Morgan and co-workers who analyzed the fatty acid composition of fatty materials from archaeological contexts using GC (e.g. Morgan et al. 1973; 1983; 1984; Thornton et al. 1970; Rottländer & Schlichtherle 1979). More recent analyses have exploited other chemical 46

Organic Residue Analysis of Lipids in Potsherds

R S T U F Kh Ts Ch Sh E remains are probably present, but excavation has so far been largely Dwelling 30 confined to the Eneolithic occupaPit 18 Yu Ya Pit 14 tion, dated to around 3500 BC (Levine Dwelling 101 36 & Kislenko 1997). Dwelling 15 Dwelling 31 Pit 4 Botai comprises around 300 100 Pit 15 semi-subterranean, polygonal 2a Pit 19 ‘dwellings’ which show up on the 2b surface of the ground as rows of shalPit 20 Pit 21 98 low depressions. They are packed Pit 6 Pit Pit 5 Pit 22 23 closely together in a ‘honeycomb’ Pit 13 97 Pit 9 Pit 8 pattern, and are oriented in parallel Dwelling 18 Dwelling 17 96 rows on either side of ‘streets’, 4 to 8 Dwelling 14 metres wide (Fig. 4.3; Kislenko 1993). Pit 95 24 Over 140 of these structures, each Pit 7 ranging in area from 30 to 70 square Pit 17 94 Pit Pit Pit 16 Pit 12 metres, have been excavated so far. 26 25 Pit 29 Pit 11 Pit 1 Pit 2 It has been estimated that in the 93 Pit 32 course of over 15 years of excavaPit 27 Pit 10 92 tions at Botai, starting in 1980, more Pit 30 Pit 31 Dwelling Dwelling 32 than 300,000 artefacts and ten tonnes 17 Pit 33 91 Pit 28 of bones, 99 per cent of which bePit 3 Pit 35 longed to horse, had been uncov90 ered (V.F. Zaibert pers. comm.). More Pit 36 contours of foundation trenches & pits 89 Pit 34 than 40 first phalanges, mainly horse, hearths and calcination polished and covered with geomet88 stones ric designs, have been found in vari0 3m ous dwellings, as has a carved carbonaceous remains human figurine. Although no cemetery has been discovered at Botai, Figure 4.3. Plan of the polygonal ‘dwellings’ excavated at Botai. (From some human remains have been re- Levine et al. 1999, fig. 4.17.) covered from the settlement, including a sawn piece of occipital bone (Levine et al. 1999), tion XXXI (Fig. 4.2), that the vast majority, if not the a trepanned human skull covered with ochre found totality, of horses from that assemblage were from a in a pit between two houses, and a skeleton in a pit hunted population and were probably killed in herd surrounded by horse skulls (Rykushina & Zaibert drives (Fig. 4.4; Levine 1999). The bones were found 1984). in large, dense concentrations within the fill of ruSome archaeologists and archaeozoologists have ined dwellings and within pits both inside and out concluded, largely on the basis of osteometric analyof the dwellings. Limb bones and sections of verteses and the presence of artefacts interpreted as hobbral columns were found articulated, indicating that bles, that the horses from Botai must have been butchery was not very intensive and considerable domesticated (e.g. Kuzmina 1993; Makarova & waste was tolerated. Nurumov 1989; Zaibert 1993). Kuzmina (1996) sugFrom 1980 until 1993, around 12,300 ceramic gests that they were raised for meat alone; according potsherds were recovered from Botai. The ceramics, to Zaibert (1993), they were domesticated for riding examples of which are shown in Figure 4.5, were and meat production. Anthony & Brown’s position made from local clay. (1998; Anthony 1996), on the basis of their bit wear The sherds used for this study were located as study (of 36 lower second premolars) is that at least follows (see Fig. 4.6): some were domesticated for riding. Ermlova (1993), 1. Excavation XVIII, Sector 1s/16, depth 60–70 cm on the other hand, takes the position that the horses 2. Excavation I were wild. 3. Excavation II, Sector 2, depth 50–70 cm Levine concluded from a detailed analysis of 4. Excavation III, Sector 2, depth 50–70 cm the population structure of the horses from excava5. Excavation VII, Dwelling no. 21, floor

47

Chapter 4

6. Excavation XXXI, Dwelling no. 26, Sector S-35/a, depth 70–80 cm The specific aims of these analyses were to screen for the presence or absence of lipid residues in solvent extracts of both the ground potsherd itself (absorbed residues) and the visible surface deposits (carbonized residues), and to investigate the distributional and isotopic characteristics of lipid components present. From this data can be gleaned reliable evidence relating to the identity of the natural commodities originally processed in the vessels. It was anticipated that through these analyses we would be able to determine the function of the ceramics recovered from the settlement site of Botai and obtain evi-

dence to indicate the types of animals being exploited during this Eneolithic phase in North Kazakhstan. Analytical protocol Lipid analyses of potsherds have been performed using our established protocol, whereby approximately 2 g samples were taken and their surfaces cleaned using a modelling drill to remove any contaminants (e.g. soil or finger lipids owing to handling by excavators). The samples were then ground to a fine powder, accurately weighed and a known amount (20 µg) of internal standard (n-tetratriacontane) added. The lipids were extracted with a mixture of chloroform and methanol (2:1 v/v). Following separation from the ground potsherd, solvent was evaporated to obtain the total lipid extract (TLE). Aliquots were subsequently derivatized using N,O-bis(trimethylsilyl)trifluoroacetamide (BSTFA) for analysis by high temperature gas chromatography (HTGC) and HTGC/mass spectrometry (HTGC/MS). Carbonized surface residues were ground to a fine powder, weighed and analyzed as for the absorbed residues. Selected extracts were saponified and converted to their fatty acid methyl ester derivatives as follows: extracts were saponified using methanolic sodium hydroxide (1 ml; 5% v/v) at 70°C for 1 hour. Following acidification to pH 3, lipids were extracted into hexane and the solvent reduced under nitrogen. Fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) were prepared by reaction with BF 3-methanol (14% w/v; 100 µl; 70°C; 1 hour). The methyl esters were extracted with diethyl ether and the solvent removed under nitrogen. The FAME were redissolved into hexane for analysis by GC and GC-combustion-isotope ratio MS (GCC-IRMS).

Botai age structure 25 % unadjusted % adjusted

20

%

15 10 5 0

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

Age in years Figure 4.4. Graph showing the age stucture of the horses from Botai.

Results

Figure 4.5. Examples of typical ceramic vessel forms and decorations. 48

The samples studied are listed in Table 4.1 together with the quantitative and qualitative results of the lipid analyses. Lipid residues (>5 µg g–1) were detected in 4 out of 6 potsherds analyzed for absorbed residues and 2 out of 3 carbonized surface deposits, the preservation

Organic Residue Analysis of Lipids in Potsherds

of lipid in these latter residues Table 4.1. Summary of lipid content and components present in solvent-soluble residues from Botai most likely attributable to the potsherds. degree of carbonization dur- Sample Type Lipid Lipid components present ing vessel use. Lipid content content (µg g–1) ranges between 200

References Akhinzhanov et al. 1992 Akhinzhanov et al. 1992 Kozhamkulova 1969 Chalaja 1973 Chalaja 1973 Akhinzhanov et al. 1992 Akhinzhanov et al. 1992 Akhinzhanov et al. 1992 Akhinzhanov et al. 1992 Benecke & von den Driesch unpublished >300,000 Akhinzhanov et al. 1992; Ermolova 1993; I.E. Kuzmina 1993; Benecke & von den Driesch (unpublished) c. 71,000 Kalieva & Logvin 1997 c. 22,000 Kalieva & Logvin 1997 c. 5000 Kalieva & Logvin 1997 some bones Akhinzhanov et al. 1992 some bones Akhinzhanov et al. 1992 1512 Kosintsev & Varov 1993; (excav. 1988) Benecke & von den Driesch (unpublished) 330 Akhinzhanov et al. 1992 161 Akhinzhanov et al. 1992 some bones Akhinzhanov et al. 1992 10614 Makarova 1977; Akhinzhanov et al. 1992 5503 Akhinzhanov et al. 1992 3440 Makarova 1980; Akhinzhanov et al. 1992 2764 Makarova 1980; Akhinzhanov et al. 1992 5278 Makarova 1976; Akhinzhanov et al. 1992 3106 Akhinzhanov et al. 1992 1389 Makarova 1970; Akhinzhanov et al. 1992

Northern and Central Kazakhstan studied so far. As can be seen from this compilation there is no faunal data from the Mesolithic. For the Neolithic the state of research is not much better. This period is represented by a few assemblages, each comprising only a small number of bones. The absolute chronology of these materials is not quite clear (Zaibert 1992). Faunal assemblages from different sites of the subsequent Eneolithic have been studied, most of them belonging to the Botai and Tersek cultures (Zaibert 1993; Kalieva & Logvin 1997). From those sites that of Botai stands out with its very large collection of animal remains, mainly horse bones, exceeding 300,000 (see below). All the other sites have yielded much smaller materials (Table 6.1). For two Botaiculture sites, i.e. Botai itself and Krasnii Yar, radiocarbon dates are available (Levine & Kislenko 1997, 299; Table 6.2) placing the corresponding fauna into a period between 3600–3100 BC. Some of the avail-

toric faunal assemblages of North and Central Kazakhstan concerning the question of the development of horse exploitation in the Kazakh forest-steppe and steppe. Besides Botai several other faunal assemblages representing the long period from the Neolithic to the Late Bronze Age have been included in our study, thus enabling us to evaluate the human–horse relationship in this part of Eurasia from an evolutionary point of view. Before dealing with the relevant zoological data in greater detail we have to discuss briefly the database that is at our disposal from that area at present. Late prehistoric faunal assemblages from the Kazakh steppes and forest-steppes: the data base From the area under investigation only a limited number of faunal assemblages has been available until now. Table 6.1 presents a list of faunas from 70

Horse Exploitation in the Kazakh Steppes

able faunal assemblages represent the Table 6.2. New radiocarbon dates from Botai. Late Eneolithic/Early Bronze Age Number KIA8113 KIA8114 KIA8115 KIA8116 transition roughly dating to the third Context Site 31, Site 31, Site 33, Site 33, millennium BC (e.g. Kenotkel VIII, Quadrant SH 36 Quadrant U37 Quadrant R36 Quadrant R37 Sergeëvka, Balandino). The other fauMaterial Alces alces, Alces alces, Saiga tatarica, Canis familiaris, nas listed in Table 6.1 come from Midcalcaneus pelvis metatarsus cranium dle and Late Bronze Age sites of Date (BP) 4484±29 4566±30 4528±28 4552±28 Northern and Central Kazakhstan. 3347–3029 3485–3105 3360–3098 3366–3103 cal BC (two σ) They date predominantly to the second and the beginning of the first millennium BC. In contrast to most of the chronologiof the German Archaeological Institute and the Unically older assemblages they have quite large versity of North Kazakhstan. The faunal material amounts of bones. For the territory of Central made available to us during our stay comes from Kazakhstan there are some additional reports on three sites: Botai, Sergeëvka, Krasnii Yar. faunal remains from Bronze Age sites which have not been included here (e.g. Margulan et al. 1969; Botai (Oblast Kokchetav) Margulan 1979; Nurumov & Makarova 1988). Botai is located on the high, right bank of the ImanFrom this short description of the late prehisBurluk, a tributary of the river Ishim, about 1.5 km toric faunal record it becomes clear that we have to the southeast of the village Nikolskoe. The prehisonly scant information about the pattern of animal toric human occupation of Botai apparently extended exploitation by human populations of the Kazakh from the Mesolithic to the Eneolithic. Excavations steppes for the period prior to 3500 BC. Concerning have so far been largely confined to the Eneolithic the problem of horse domestication the bad state of occupation (Botai culture). The site covers approxiresearch for the Mesolithic and Neolithic makes the mately 15 hectares, of which around 10,000 square evaluation of horse bones assemblages from Eneometres comprising dozens of polygonal dwellings lithic and Bronze Age contexts very difficult for two have been excavated since 1980 (Zaibert 1993; Kislenko & Tatarintseva 1999). According to several reasons. First, we do not know how different horse radiocarbon dates (Levine & Kislenko 1997, table 1; hunting strategies in the steppe and forest-steppe Levine 1999b, table 2.15; Table 6.2) the Eneolithic environment of Northern and Central Kazakhstan settlement of Botai dates to the period between 3600 are reflected in the age distribution and sex composition of the resulting bone assemblage. Secondly, and 3000 BC. It has been estimated that the number of important biological characteristics of the local wild faunal remains coming from this site exceeds 300,000. horse populations such as variability in body size Several specialists have been working on the bone and shape are unknown. This means we have no collections from Botai resulting in a number of restarting point for the evaluation of morphological ports dealing with different aspects of this large fauna changes possibly related to the domestication proc(Makarova & Nurumov 1989; Akhinzhanov et al. ess. As horses exhibit great regional variability in 1992; Ermolova 1993; I.E. Kuzmina 1993; Olsen 1996; size it is problematical to use an osteometrically wellLevine 1999a,b). During our stay in Petropavlovsk documented Mesolithic horse assemblage from anwe have studied the animal remains from those three other part of the Eurasian steppe or forest-steppe sites that were excavated last, i.e. site 31 (1992), 32 zone — if available at all — as a representative of the (1994–95) and 33 (1995). local wild horse. Krasnii Yar (Oblast Kokchetav) Faunal materials from North Kazakhstan studied Krasnii Yar is a steppe settlement site, located 5 km by the authors from the river Chaglinka. About 240 square metres of this large site covering around 30 hectares have In spring 1997 we spent several weeks at Petropavbeen excavated. Chronologically it belongs to the lovsk examining the Eneolithic and Early Bronze Botai culture (Zaibert 1993). One bone sample has Age faunal assemblages from the territory of North been radiocarbon dated (Levine & Kislenko 1997, Kazakhstan at the invitation of V.F. Zaibert who, at table 1). It gave a similar date as the samples for Botai mentioned above. The authors have studied that time was Dean of the University of North the faunal remains from this site, which are stored in Kazakhstan. The research stay was part of a scienthe local museum of Petropavlovsk. tific program organized by the Eurasia-Department 71

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for the Neolithic exhibit a clear dominance of horses among the bone finds pointing to a significant role of this species as a source of food and raw materials. As a general pattern these collections also comprise a few remains of cattle and sheep/goat. Obviously, elements of animal husbandry became known and were adopted on the territory of North and Central Kazakhstan during the Atbasar Neolithic culture. Because of the lack of radiocarbon dates for this period the exact date of the first occurrence or introduction of cattle and sheep/goat is unknown. According to the archaeozoological evidence from neighbouring territories in the west, i.e. the South Urals and the North Caspian region, cattle and sheep husbandry became part of the local subsistence economy in the forest-steppe and steppe to the east of the Volga river at some time between 6000 and 4000 BC (Petrenko 1984; I.E. Kuzmina 1988; MatyuAnimal exploitation in the Kazakh forest-steppe shin 1996). Judging from the relative percentages, and steppe the contribution of these domesticates to the diet of the Neolithic human population inhabiting North Before considering the human–horse relationship in and Central Kazakhstan was minor. Apart from greater detail, it is useful to examine the general trend in the development of animal exploitation in horse, cattle, sheep/goat and dog, bones from variNorth and Central Kazakhstan from the Neolithic to ous wild mammal species like aurochs, kulan, elk the Bronze Age (Table 6.3 & Fig. 6.2). and hare have been identified in the osteological The few faunal assemblages currently available collections of Atbasar culture settlements. Their generally low numbers suggest only limited importance of Table 6.3. Composition of selected faunal assemblages from Northern and Central Kazakhstan. The figures are numbers of identified specimen (NISP). The frequency symbols represent: +++ these species as a food redominant, ++ frequent, + rare, o proved. For references see Table 6.1. source. For the subsequent EneoNr Site Cattle Sheep/goat Horse Wild mammals lithic some assemblages from 1 Telman 11 23 49 Botai and Tersek culture sites 2 Vinogradovka XIV +++ + 3 Karaganda XV (layer 3) o o o allow an evaluation of the pat4 Iman-Burluk I 4 10 1 tern of animal exploitation 5 Iman-Burluk II 8 3 194 1 during this period. Two groups 6 Penki II 6 209 of sites can be distinguished. 7 Shalkiya I o o o o 8 Livanovka 53 1 The first group comprises set9 Solenoe ozero I +++ + tlements located in the region 11 Botai (site 32, 33) 8625 35 of the upper Tobol and Ishim 12 Kozhai I 46,974 23,828 river, i.e. Solenoe Ozero I, 13 Kumkeshu I 8777 13,338 14 Kaindy III 197 4194 Livanovka, Krasnii Yar and 15 Roshchinskoe + + +++ + Botai. The faunal materials of 16 Evgenevka II o o these places almost exclu17 Sergeevka 26 48 1384 30 sively consist of horse remains 18 Balandino 58 125 101 40 19 Kenotkel VIII 11 113 37 with only a few bones coming 20 Vishnevka I o o o o from other species. For exam21 Atasu 3071 4979 2321 229 ple, among the faunal remains 22 Myrzhyk 1600 3562 126 160 from sites 31–3 at Botai stud23 Novonikolskoe I 1907 895 602 16 24 Petrovka II 1265 748 702 29 ied by us, c. 99 per cent of the 25 Sargary 1867 1924 1407 22 bones and teeth recovered be26 Konezavod III 1411 841 815 18 long to horses, thus confirm27 Chaglinka 586 497 286 20 ing earlier identifications of

Sergeëvka (Oblast Severo-Kazakhstan) The site is located on the right bank of the river Ishim near the village of Sergeëvka. N.S. Tatarintseva in 1986–88 excavated parts of the settlement (Kislenko & Tatarintseva 1990). One bone sample from Sergeëvka has been radiocarbon dated to the first half of the third millennium BC (Levine & Kislenko 1997, table 1). In terms of relative chronology it presents the Eneolithic–Early Bronze Age transition. The faunal remains encountered here have been studied partly by T.N. Nurumova (Akhinzhanov et al. 1992) and partly by P.A. Kosintsev and A.I. Varov (Kosintsev & Varov 1993). Parts of the faunal collection are presently stored in the local museum at Petropavlovsk. During our stay in Petropavlovsk, we also studied these bone collections.

72

Horse Exploitation in the Kazakh Steppes

faunal samples from other % parts of this large settlement (Makarova & Nurumov 1989; Akhinzhanov et al. 1992; 100 Ermolova 1993). The rest of the fauna is made up of the remains of dogs and several 75 wild species, the latter both including mammals and birds. Among the bone sam50 ples from sites 31–3 at Botai we were able to identify the following wild species: elk 25 (Alces alces), aurochs (Bos primigenius), saiga antelope (Saiga tatarica), brown bear 0 (Ursus arctos), wolverine 5 8 9 11 12 13 14 15 17 18 19 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 (Gulo gulo), corsac fox (Vulpes corsac), beaver (Castor fiber), Cattle Sheep/goat Wild mammals Horse hare (Lepus europaeus), marmot (Marmota bobak), whitefronted goose (Anser albifrons), Figure 6.2. Composition of selected faunal assemblages from North and Central bean goose (Anser fabalis), Kazakhstan (for references see Table 6.1 and 6.3). whooper swan (Cygnus cygnus), willow grouse (Lagopus lagopus), common crane In the transitional period from the Eneolithic to (Grus grus), Asiatic white crane (Grus leucogeranus), the Early Bronze Age animal exploitation on the jackdaw (Corvus monedula). Remains of cattle and territory of North Kazakhstan underwent slight sheep/goat are missing at Botai. This is also true for changes. According to the available faunal record the assemblages from Solenoe Ozero I and Livanovka, horses still played a significant role in the subsistwhile a few cattle bones could be identified by us ence economy but with cattle and sheep/goat among the animal remains from Krasnii Yar. Sieved occuring once again, and slowly, gaining increasing soil samples from the sites 32 and 33 have yielded importance as a food resource (Fig. 6.2). At the Early fish remains indicating that fishing was part of the Bronze Age settlement of Balandino dating to the economy at this settlement (Sandra Olsen pers. second half of the third millennium BC according to a comm.). Summarizing the faunal evidence it can be calibrated radiocarbon date (Levine & Kislenko 1997, concluded that the Botai and Tersek culture settletable 1) more than half of the faunal remains already ments in the region of the upper Tobol and Ishim come from cattle and sheep/goat. In the centuries of river were specialized almost exclusively in the exthe Middle and Late Bronze Age the significance of ploitation of horse as a source of food and raw matehorse as a dietary source further decreases as their rials. The second group of Eneolithic sites from North low percentages — generally below 30 per cent — in Kazakhstan encompasses Tersek culture settlements the faunal assemblages of these periods indicate. At located in the Turgai plain, i.e. Kozhai I, Kumkeshu I that time the subsistence economy was mainly based and Kaindy III. Unlike the sites of the first group, the on cattle and sheep husbandry. The exploitation of faunal assemblages of these places exhibt a high diwild mammals and birds only played a minor role in versity in economically important species with varythe Middle and Late Bronze Age settlements of North ing frequencies. Aside from horse, other species like and Central Kazakhstan. aurochs (Bos primigenius), saiga antelope (Saiga tatarica) and onager (Equus hemionus) played a sigHuman–horse relationships in North and Central nificant role in the local subsistence economy. There Kazakhstan: the archaeozoological evidence is also evidence for fowling and fishing (Kalieva & After briefly evaluating the general trend in the deLogvin 1997). Similar to the Eneolithic sites discussed velopment of late prehistoric animal exploitation on earlier cattle as well as sheep/goat are obviously the territory of North and Central Kazakhstan we completely absent at the Turgai settlements. 73

Chapter 6

as butchering, filleting and consumption of horse meat etc. had been disposited and 20 Shetland pony finally became accumulated. Site 32 From these data it can be assumed that as a basic pattern Site 33 complete horses were brought 16 to this part of the Botai settlement and butchered here. Among the material from site 33 we have encountered high 10 incidences of articulated limb bones and vertebrae with many bones of this section being undamaged. These seem to 5 reflect some wasteful underutilization of carcasses. Similar oberservations at Botai, i.e. large concentrations of pre0 dominantly undamaged horse Ve Sc Hu Pe Fe Cr Ma Co R/U Ti Mc Mt Ta Ph bones apparently discarded Figure 6.3. Skeletal element representation of the horse bone assemblages from two together, have been reported sites of Botai compared to that of a recent Shetland pony (on the basis of bone by Levine (1999b, 44 & fig. weights). Abbreviations: Ve Vertebrae, Sc Scapula, Hu Humerus, Pe Pelvis, Fe 2.26). The skeletal element Femur, Cr Cranium, Ma Mandibula, Co Costae, R/U Radius/Ulna, Ti Tibia, Mc frequencies published by Metacarpus, Mt Metatarsus, Ta Tarsalia, Ph Phalanges. Kosintsev & Varov (1993, table 2) for the horse remains from Sergeëvka including our own studies on a part will now discuss some archaeozoological data that of this collection point to the processing of complete will help us to characterize more closely the actual individuals/carcasses in this settlement. Because of pattern of human–horse relationships during the pethe small sample size the skeletal element represenriods considered here, starting with the Eneolithic tation of horse bones at Krasnii Yar is difficult to and the subsequent Early Bronze Age. The relevant evaluate. As all body parts and nearly all elements data mainly come from two Botai culture sites, i.e. are represented in this collection one can probably Botai and Krasnii Yar, and from the settlement of exclude any kind of selective pattern in dealing with Sergeëvka. the killed/slaughtered horses. Much can be learned about the pattern of horse The composition of a horse bone assemblage exploitation at the settlements mentioned from the with regard to its age structure and sex ratio can skeletal element representation of horse bones enreveal much information about the pattern of horse countered here. We have examined this character exploitation that has led to the formation of a speamong the large collections from sites 32 and 33 of cific assemblage. As has been shown in detail by Botai using element bone-weights for quantification. Levine (1983; 1990; 1999a,b) there exist a lot of popuFigure 6.3 illustrates the main results of this study lation-structure models for horses developed from comparing the skeletal element distribution of these ethological, ethnographic and historic sources to two sites with that of a complete horse skeleton, in which age and sex ratio data from a single settlethis case from a Shetland pony (data from Reichstein ment site can be compared, thereby facilitating inter1994, table 10). The observed distribution at site 33 pretation of archaeological horse assemblages in follows nearly exactly the distribution of a complete terms of human behaviour. skeleton, while the horse bone material from site 32 Data concerning the age structure of the Botai exhibits some deviations from the ‘normal distribuhorses have been obtained from postcranial elements tion’ in a complete skeleton. Altogether, the differas well as from upper and lower jaws or single teeth. ent parts and elements of the skeleton are represented Figure 6.4 presents the results for the horse bones in this sample as one would expect it to be at a place from site 32 and 33 based on epiphyseal fusion. As where all leftovers resulting from such activities such %

*

*

*

*

* *

*

*

*

*

* * * * *

74

Horse Exploitation in the Kazakh Steppes

can be seen on this graph % young individuals of various 100 ages are well represented in the sample studied. Nearly 30 per cent of the slaughtered 75 horses from this part of the Botai settlement were younger than 3–4 years. With regard to age estimation based on 50 cranial bones and single teeth various methods have been applied. Figure 6.5 shows the age structure of the Botai 25 horses found in the trenches 31–3 on the basis of the toothwear pattern on the incisors, 0 i.e. age-related changes in size and shape of the occlusal surface in horse incisors accordyounger older ing to Habermehl (1975, figs. 17–38). According to this tooth character about 35 per cent of Figure 6.4. Age structure of the Botai horses according to epiphyseal fusion of the horses were younger than postcranial elements on site 32 (left columns) and 33 (right columns). 4 years, matching well with % the data obtained on the basis 50 of epiphyseal fusion. The largest group is represented by Botai horses between four and eight Mirnoe years with six- and seven- 40 year-old horses making up the majority of this goup. Nearly a quarter of the horses represented in the sample were 30 older than eight years. Very old animals, i.e. horses with an individual age of more 20 than 15 or 16 years, form a small group comprising only c. 8 per cent of the total population. The age distribution in 10 Figure 6.5 is similar to that published by Levine (1999a, fig. 23; 1999b, fig. 2.27) for the 0 Botai horses from site 31 using tooth crown height measurements for age determina- Figure 6.5. Age structure of the Botai horses from the sites 31–3 according to tooth tion. The results obtained by wear on the incisors, compared to horses from the Mesolithic site Mirnoe (Benecke Kazakh archaeozoologists 1998). working on horse bone assemblages from other sites of Botai which were excaet al. 1992). From this it can be assumed that the popuvated in the 1980s also point to an age distribution in lation structure of the horses is more or less the same which young animals form a great part of the popuin different parts of this large settlement. lation (e.g. Makarova & Nurumov 1989; Akhinzhanov Among the Botai horse remains coming from 75

Chapter 6

The sex determination of the Botai horses carried out on jaw bones and pelves revealed quite similar results for the materials from all three sites. As illustrated in Figure 6.6 the ratio between mares and stallions is almost 1:1. On the Botai culture site of Krasnii Yar male horses are more frequent than female ones. But here the number of sexable bones is very small and comprises only 10 specimens. For this reason we must be cautious with the interpretation of this sample. Considering both the age distribution and the sex-ratio, the horses killed and slaughtered at Botai seem to have been derived from a herd in which all age groups occured and in which the sexes were equally represented among the adult animals, thus pointing to a non-selective kill-off-pattern of horses at this settlement. For Krasnii Yar and Sergeëvka a similar pattern seems to be valid. Finally, we will discuss some morphological characters of the late prehistoric horses from North and Central Kazakhstan. Earlier studies carried out by Kazakh and Russian specialists have accumulated a vast amount of metrical data that allow quite a precise reconstruction of such important morphological characters as body size and shape, especially for horses of the Eneolithic and Middle/Late Bronze Age (e.g. Makarova & Nurumov 1989; Akhinzhanov et al. 1992; I.E. Kuzmina 1993). With regard to Botai these authors agree in stating that the horses of this site exhibit high variability in size and shape. According to them the withers height of the Botai horses varies between 128–36 and 144–52 cm with an average of 140 cm. Concerning the shape of the metapodials they report that the Botai horse population comprises different groups from slender-legged to thick-legged horses. Our own metrical studies confirm these results on the phenotype of the Botai horses to a great extent. Osteometric analyses have been used repeatedly to judge the status of the Botai horses, i.e. wild or domestic, resulting in different conclusions by various authors. Makarova & Nurumov (1989), Akhinzhanov et al. (1992) as well as I.E. Kuzmina (1993) argue that the Botai horses represent a domestic population, while Ermolova (1993), on the other hand, takes the position that those horses were wild. For a closer evaluation of this important question we have carried out a metrical comparison between various horse groups from Central Europe, East Europe and Kazakhstan making use of the so-called ‘ogarithmic size indices’ (LSI) method. This is a simple scaling technique applied to make measurements from different elements comparable as one statistical sample (see Meadow 1999). Judging from the

% 100

75

50

25

0

Site 31

Site 32 female

Site 33

Krasnii Yar

male

Figure 6.6. Sex ratio of the Botai horses (sites 31–3) and the Krasnyi Yar horses identified on jaw bones and pelves. sites excavated recently we have encountered several foetal bones (c. 35–44 weeks old) as well as others from neonatal horses. The evidence of foetal and neonatal bones points to the fact that among the horses which were killed and slaughtered at Botai there were mares at the end of gestation and newly born foals, both probably killed in the months between February and May. Some evidence concerning the main period(s) of killing and slaughtering horses comes from cranial bones of juvenile horses that allow a more or less accurate evaluation of the individual age. Those finds demonstrate that at Botai horses were obviously killed throughout the year. A similar age distribution to that of Botai has been observed for the horses from the Early Bronze Age settlement site of Sergeëvka (Kosintsev & Varov 1993, table 6–7). Here, on the basis of cranium bones and teeth, 61 per cent of the horses were one to five years old, 31 per cent 5–15 years and 8 per cent older than 15 years. According to epiphyseal fusion on postcranial elements 39 per cent of the horses were younger than three to four years. Compared with Botai the frequency of young horses seems to be higher at Sergeëvka. Our own studies on a part of this assemblage confirm the observations made by Kosintsev and Varov. The small amount of age data we could collect from the small Krasnii Yar horse bone sample seems to coincide with the age structure obtained for Botai and Sergeëvka. 76

Horse Exploitation in the Kazakh Steppes

Eneolithic and one Early Bronze Age horse group mean values the horses from Botai, Krasnii Yar and from North Kazakhstan lies within the limits of variSergeëvka exhibit the largest average size (Fig. 6.7 & ability known from various wild horse populations Table 6.4). According to the rules of calculation of of Central and East Europe and is distinctly smaller LSI-values, i.e. excluding length measurements of than in domestic horses. For this reason we consider long bones, the term ‘size’ has to be interpreted here those horses to be wild ones. Another important as reflecting the body mass rather than the height of result of the metrical comparison in Figure 6.7 is the the animals. For the Botai horses the metrical data indicate the greatest breadth 0.13 of variation in size among the horse groups compared in Figure 6.7. This is due to the large sample size of nearly 2000 measurements for this group compared to fewer than 200 for each of the other groups. A statistical parameter much better reflecting the variability in an univariate distribution is the standard deviation. Comparing this, it turns out that the horses from Botai, Krasnii Yar and Sergeëvka exhibit the same extent of variation as most of 0.0 the other horses in this graph predominantly representing wild horses from Central and East Europe (Table 6.4). The 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 only exception in Figure 6.7 are the Bell-Beaker horses from Csepel-Háros (Hungary) which exhibit a much larger standard deviation. They are Figure 6.7. Size comparison between horses from Central Europe (1 Kniegrotte, 2 widely accepted as represent- Bärenkeller, 3 Central Germany), East Europe (4 Sakarovka, 5 Mirnoe, 6 Dereivka, ing domestic horses (Bökönyi 7 Csepel-Háros) and North Kazakhstan (8 Botai, 9 Krasnyi Yar, 10 Sergeevka) on 1978; Uerpmann 1990). the basis of LSI-distribution. The vertical lines show the position of minima and Summarizing this short maxima, the bars represent standard deviations, the horizontal lines mark the discussion it becomes clear mean, and the black part of the bars around the mean indicate the double standard that the variability of two error of the mean (see Table 6.4). Table 6.4. Statistical parameters of LSI-distributions in Figures 6.7 and 6.8. Abbreviations: s - standard deviation, Min. - Minimum, Max. Maximum, Med. - Median, 1. Qu. - 1. Quartil, 3. Qu. - 3. Quartil, N - Number. (Data from Uerpmann 1990, app. 3; Benecke 1999, table 1; Benecke & von den Driesch unpubl.) Groups

Period/culture

Mean

s

Min.

Max.

Med.

1. Qu.

3. Qu.

N

1. Kniegrotte 2. Bärenkeller 3. Germany 4. Sakarovka 5. Mirnoe 6. Dereivka 7. Csepel Háros 8. Botai 9. Krasnyi Yar 10. Sergeevka

Late Glacial Late Glacial Bandkeramik Körös Late Mesolithic Eneolithic Bell Beaker Eneolithic Eneolithic Early Bronze Age

0.0180 0.0163 0.0161 0.0312 0.0341 0.0469 0.0479 0.0532 0.0562 0.0539

0.0154 0.0181 0.0203 0.0202 0.0165 0.0200 0.0281 0.0189 0.0212 0.0198

–0.0218 –0.0179 –0.0250 –0.0110 –0.0092 0.0057 –0.0058 –0.0172 0.0146 0.0064

0.0610 0.0529 0.0488 0.0553 0.0751 0.0814 0.1115 0.1235 0.0999 0.1003

0.0184 0.0186 0.0159 0.0357 0.0363 0.0526 0.0432 0.0525 0.0567 0.0545

0.0076 0.0046 0.0088 0.0139 0.0224 0.0376 0.0255 0.0404 0.0413 0.0387

0.0278 0.0265 0.0276 0.0475 0.0452 0.0595 0.0643 0.0659 0.0716 0.0640

178 35 13 13 113 50 61 1961 57 49

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deposits of animal bones dating to the Holocene, known from several localities, confirm that horses really were a major species of the wild mammal fauna in North and Central Kazakhstan. In these assemblages wild horses clearly predominate among the remains of large mammals (Kozhamkulova 1969). Hence it can be assumed that horses have long been the most abundant large wild mammal species of the steppe and forest-steppe zone to the east of the Urals. For human populations living as hunters in this unique environment horses must necessarily have become the main part of their prey. In the Neolithic, and even the Eneolithic, exploitation of terrestrial animal resources was nearly exclusively directed towards the horse as is evidenced by the faunal record from North and Central Kazakhstan. From this point of view, very high frequencies of horse bones on settlement sites like Botai dating to a period, during which keeping of cattle and sheep had already been widely established in the neighbouring Volga region, seem to indicate rather a continued exploitation of wild horses than the controlled keeping of domestic horses. But there are several other, more convincing findings which indicate that the horse bone assemblages uncovered on Eneolithic settlement sites in North Kazakhstan have their origin probably exclusively in hunting activities. One of those findings relates to the population structure of the horses. As has been pointed out above, the horses killed and slaughtered at Botai were derived from a herd in which mares and stallions were equally represented among the sub-adult and adult animals. When compared with various population structure models developed by Levine (1983; 1990; 1999a,b), the age distribution for Botai most closely resembles that of the so-called life assemblage or catastrophe model. That is, all age classes are represented approximately as they would have been in the living wild population comprising both types of social units, family groups as well as bachelor groups. Kill-off patterns resulting from horse keeping aimed at meat production (Carnivorous Husbandry Model) or at milk and the use of horses for riding etc. (Attritional Assemblage Model) are clearly distinct from the age structure observed at Botai and other sites of the Eneolithic and Early Bronze Age (Krasnii Yar, Sergeëvka). Figure 6.5 shows a comparison of age distributions in horses between Botai and Mirnoe. Mirnoe is a Late Mesolithic site in the steppe zone of southwest Ukraine near Odessa. Its fauna was originally studied and published by Bibikova (1982). Some years ago one of the authors (N. Benecke) had the oppor-

fact that among the three horse groups from North Kazakhstan dating to the second half of the fourth and to the first half of the third millennium BC there are no great differences in size and variability. Discussion The faunal record available from North and Central Kazakhstan implies that the human populations inhabiting this territory relied heavily upon the horse as a source for food and raw materials throughout all late prehistoric periods. This is particularly true for the Neolithic and the Eneolithic when the dependence on horses reached an extent in this area for which parallels are difficult to find in Eurasia during the Holocene, even in the neighbouring regions of the steppe and forest-steppe zone. High percentages of horse bones from settlement sites of those periods have been repeatedly regarded, along with other findings, as evidence for a domestic status of the horse, as for example in the case of some Eneolithic sites in the Ukraine like Dereivka on the Dnepr river and Khutor Repin on the Don river (Bibikova 1967; 1969; Tsalkin 1970). Although an increase in the quantity of horse bones might well indicate a change in the relationship between people and horses, domestication is not the only explanation. For example, a change in hunting techniques or climatic changes could also account for an increased number of horse remains at archaeological sites. In view of the tons of horse bones which have been excavated at Botai, several scholars from Kazakhstan suppose that the nearly complete reliance upon a single species over a long period of time — as seems to be documented in the archaeological record of this site — is difficult to explain without assuming a direct control of the herds. Therefore they argue that Botai and other Eneolithic sites of North Kazakhstan represent settlements of early horse keepers (Nurumov & Makarova 1988; Makarova & Nurumov 1989; Akhinzhanov et al. 1992; Zaibert 1993). The region under investigation is part of the Eurasian forest-steppe and steppe zone, today comprising huge areas of natural grassland. As pollen analyses show similar conditions, i.e. an open landscape with vegetation rich in herbs, prevailed across North and Central Kazakhstan throughout the Holocene (Kremenetski et al. 1997; Kremenetski this volume), thus providing feeding grounds to large herds of herbivores. Therefore it can be assumed that horse, a species specialized in feeding on grasses, must have found favourable living conditions in that region during all late prehistoric periods. Natural 78

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tunity to restudy this important collection. It is the only large assemblage of Mid-Holocene wild horses from a Pre-Neolithic context in the Eurasian steppes available so far. Stalking of adult horses has been suggested as the main hunting technique reflected in the Mirnoe material (Benecke 1998). In contrast to that the Botai sample rather represents a non-selective killing technique. Age distributions in horses very similar to that from Botai have been observed repeatedly at Upper Palaeolithic sites in West Europe, so for example at Solutré (Levine 1983, fig. 4.20.). The horse bone deposits of Solutré were probably composed of the butchering refuse from a hunters’ herd drive (Levine 1979). The exploitation of wild horses by herd driving seems to be the best explanation for what is documented in the archaeological record of Botai. This interpretation is supported by other characteristics of this assemblage. Horse drives usually result in the simultaneous deaths of large numbers of individuals. The subsequent slaughter leads to a large number of carcasses which, because of the huge amount of flesh suddenly available, were not fully utilized. Such a situation seems to be documented in the horse bone material from site 33 of Botai: here, high incidences of articulated limb bones and vertebrae with many bones of this section being undamaged have been observed apparently indicating some wasteful under-utilization of carcasses. Another probable result of herd drives is the killing of animals which would have been rather more protected if they had belonged to a herd of domestic horses. These are mares at the end of gestation and newly born foals. Remains of such animals have been encountered several times among the horse remains from Botai also pointing to a non-selective kill-pattern at this site. At Botai horse drives seem to have been taken place in the near vicinity of the settlement. This is suggested by the results of the skeletal element representation for the sites 32 and 33 of Botai, which indicate that complete horses were processed here. Brown & Anthony (1998) have carried out bitwear studies on horse teeth from Botai concluding that some of the horses were bitted and ridden. Comparing the amount of bevel they have measured on the mesial corner of several lower second premolars (P2) from Botai with results obtained by them through riding experiments (using organic bits) Brown & Anthony argue that some horses at Botai must have been ridden for hundreds of hours. According to our experience in working with faunal remains uneven wear on the mesial edge of lower second premolars (P2) from horses can also result from abnormal oc-

clusion with the upper second premolar. Therefore, a certain amount of bevel an those teeth might be produced naturally by malocclusion and must not necessarily result from bit wear. According to Brown & Anthony 5 out of 19 lower P2 studied from Botai, i.e. 26 per cent of their sample, exhibit bevel measurements (3.0 mm and more) which these authors believe to result solely from the use of bits in horseback riding. If this were to be true it would imply that a large part of the Botai horses represent animals which had been ridden, some of them even for long periods of time. This should have been reflected by the occasional occurence of specific pathologies at elements of the postcranial skeleton of those horses as they are known for example from Iron Age and medieval riding horses in Central Europe (e.g. Bökönyi 1974; Müller 1985; Benecke 1994) or in Siberia (Levine 1999b). In the course of our studies of the horse bone assemblages from Botai and other sites (Krasnii Yar, Sergeëvka) we have found only a very few bones with any signs of abnormality. All of them are very slight and not connected, in any way, with deformations typical of horses which have been ridden. Summarizing this short discussion it can be said that the palaeopathological evidence so far available from Eneolithic and Early Bronze Age horses in North Kazakhstan does not support the assumption of horseback riding during these periods. Further supporting evidence for the assumption that the horses documented in the assemblages from Botai, Krasnii Yar and Sergeëvka have been derived from a wild population rather than from herds of domestic horses comes from metrical studies. As has been shown above, the variability of those horses does not exceed the variability known in Late Glacial, Mesolithic and Neolithic wild horses from Central and East Europe (Fig. 6.7). With regard to Botai, Ermolova (1993) states that the horses found on this settlement site exhibit a morphological diversity which is still within the limits of a wild population. In contrast to our and Ermolova’s view other specialists like Akhinzhanov, Kuzmina, Makarova and Nurumov take the position that the morphological characters visible in the Botai horses are in accordance with a domestic population (Nurumov & Makarova 1988; Makarova & Nurumov 1989; Akhinzhanov et al. 1992; I.E. Kuzmina 1993). They argue that several morphological characteristics of the Botai horses, i.e. indices of measurements from metapodia and phalanges, are nearly identical with those found in chronologically older Neolithic and Eneolithic horses in Moldova and the Ukraine (Floreshti, Ozernoe I, Dereivka, etc.) which are re79

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still exhibit an overall variability which is characteristic of wild horse populations. Morphological changes, which can be linked with domestication, only become visible in Middle and Late Bronze Age horses (Fig. 6.8). Compared to the Eneolithic and Early Bronze Age horses they exhibit a reduced mean, a clearly larger standard deviation and extended variability towards smaller individuals completely unknown among chronologically-older horse populations in North and Central Kazakhstan. A decrease in average size accompanied by an increase in heterogeneity is strongly associated with early domestication, as has been demonstrated repeatedly and sucessfully in species like sheep, goat, pig, cattle and horse (for examples see Uerpmann 1979; 1990; Benecke 1994). That the Middle and Late Bronze Age horses show morphological characters which are typical for domestic populations could have been expected because the second millennium BC is the period during which the practice of horse husbandry on the territory of North and Central Kazakhstan is beyond any doubt. The beginning of this millennium sees the advent of horse-drawn chariots in the Kazakh steppes (Gening et al. 1992; E.E. Kuzmina 1994; Anthony & Vinogradov 1995) clearly indicating the controlled keeping and breeding of horses in this period. According to our metrical studies the horses from Sergeëvka represent the chronologically youngest horse group in North Kazakhstan which obviously must still be classified as wild. The site itself dates to about 2800–2600 BC (Levine & Kislenko 1997, table 1). Taking into account that horses are used as draught animals in this region by about 2000 BC it can be supposed that horse husbandry was established in the Kazakh steppes somewhere between 2600 and 2000 BC. During this period the subsistence economy in North and Central Kazakhstan underwent great changes with cattle and sheep becoming the most important species, evidenced for the first time in the small faunal assemblages of the Early Bronze Age site of Balandino (Fig. 6.2). The emergence of horse husbandry seems to have been part of this transformation process. To gain a better understanding of all these changes taking place in the middle and the second half of the third millennium BC further archaeological research in this area should concentrate on Early Bronze Age sites.

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Figure 6.8. Size comparison between Eneolithic–Early Bronze Age horses (8 Botai, 9 Krasnyi Yar, 10 Sergeevka) and Middle–Late Bronze Age horses (11 Atasu, 12 Novonikolskoe I, 13 Petrovka II) from North Kazakhstan on the basis of LSI-distribution. For technical explanation, see Figure 6.7 and Table 6.4. The LSI-distributions of the Middle–Late Bronze Age horses have been calculated on data published by Akhinzhanov et al. (1992) and using measurements taken on these samples by N. Benecke. garded by Bibikova (1967; 1969) and Tsalkin (1970) as representing domestic horses. On the other hand, these authors state that the metrical data clearly show morphological and genetic continuity between the Eneolithic horses (Botai, Solenoe Ozero I) and the Middle/Late Bronze Age horse of North and Central Kazakhstan. Based on those observations, they conclude that domestic horses had been present in Kazakhstan from at least the Eneolithic onwards, indicating a early period of horse domestication in this region similar to that in East Europe. We do not agree with this argument. According to our approach in judging metrical data the horses of the Eneolithic (Botai, Krasnii Yar) and of the Eneolithic–Early Bronze Age transition (Sergeëvka)

Conclusions Summarizing the data presented in this paper and discussed previously the following conclusions can be drawn: 80

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Benecke, N., 1998. Die Wildpferde aus der mesolithischen Station Mirnoe in der Südwest-Ukraine, in Man and the Animal World: Studies in Archaeozoology, Archaeology, Anthropology and Palaeolinguistics in memoriam Sándor Bökönyi, eds. P. Anreiter, L. Bartosiewicz, E. Jerem & W. Meid. (Archaeolingua 8.) Budapest: Akaprint, 87–107. Benecke, N., 1999. Pferdeknochenfunde aus Siedlungen der Bernburger Kultur — ein Beitrag zur Diskussion um die Anfänge der Pferdehaltung in Mitteleuropa, in Beiträge zur Archäozoologie und Prähistorischen Anthropologie II, eds. M. Kokabi & E. May. Konstanz: Gesellschaft für Archäozoologie und Prähistorische Anthropologie e. V., 107–20. Bibikova, V.I., 1967. K izucheniyu drevneishikh domashnikh loshadei Vostochnoi Evropy. Byulettin Moskovskogo Obshchestva Ispytatelei Prirody, Otdelenie Biologii 72(3), 106–18. Bibikova, V.I., 1969. Do istorii domestikatsii konya na pivdennomu skhodi Evropy. Arkheologiya 22, 55–66. Bibikova, V.I., 1982. Teriofauna poseleniya Mirnoe, in Mirnoe: Problema Mezolita Stepei Severnogo Prichernomorya, ed. V.N. Stanko. Kiev: Naukova Dumka, 139–64. Bökönyi, S., 1974. History of Domestic Mammals in Central and Eastern Europe. Budapest: Akademiai Kiado. Bökönyi, S., 1978. The earliest waves of domestic horses in East Europe. Journal of Indo-European Studies 6(1–2), 17–73. Brown, D.R. & D.W. Anthony, 1998. Bit wear, horseback riding, and the Botai site in Kazakstan. Journal of Archaeological Science 25, 331–47. Chalaja, L.A., 1973. Pozdneneoliticheskii inventar i khozyaistvo stoyanki Iman-Burluk, in Arkheologicheskie issledovaniya v Kazakhstane. Alma-Ata: Nauka, 188–203. Ermolova, N.M., 1993. Ostatki mlekopitayushchikh poseleniya Botai (Po raskopkam 1982 goda), in Zaibert et al. (eds.), 87–9. Gening, V.F., G.B. Zdanovich & V.V. Gening, 1992. Sintashta. Chelyabinsk: Juzhno-Uralskoe knizhnoe izdatelstvo. Habermehl, K.-H., 1975. Die Altersbestimmung bei Hausund Labortieren. Berlin & Hamburg: Verlag Paul Parey. Kalieva, S.S. & V.N. Logvin, 1997. Skotovody Turgaya v tretem tysyachletii do nashei ery. Kustanai: Nauka. Kislenko, A.M. & N.S. Tatarintseva, 1990. Kulturnokhozyaistvennye kompleksy paleometalla v Ishimskoi stepi, in Arkheologiya Volga-Uralskikh stepei. Chelyabinsk: Chelyabinskii Gosudarstvennyi Universitet, 81–99. Kislenko, A.M. & N.S. Tatarintseva, 1999. The eastern Ural steppe at the end of the Stone Age, in Levine et al. 1999, 183–216. Kosintsev, P.A. & A.I. Varov, 1993. Kostnye ostatki iz poseleniya predandronovskogo vremeni Sergeëvka, in Zaibert et al. (eds.), 153–65. Kozhamkulova, B.S., 1969. Antropogenovaya Iskopaemaya Teriofauna Kazakhstana. Alma-Ata: Nauka.

1. Throughout the Neolithic, Eneolithic and Early Bronze Age horses played an important role as a source of food and raw materials for the human populations inhabiting the forest-steppe and steppe zone of North and Central Kazakhstan. 2. Settlements of the Botai culture seem to have been specialized in exploiting horses on a year-round basis indicating high dependence on this animal species. 3. For three Botai and post-Botai culture sites (Botai, Krasnii Yar, Sergeëvka) the available data suggest a non-selective kill-pattern of horses probably resulting from herd drives on wild horses. 4. The possibility that individual horses were tamed in order to use them for riding to be better equipped to manage successfully wild horse herds remains an open question. The available palaeopathological evidence does not seem to support this possibility. 5. Morphological changes which can clearly be linked with domestication (size reduction, increased variability) are only visible in Middle and Late Bronze Age horse populations. 6. After 2500 BC the subsistence economy in North and Central Kazakhstan underwent great changes, i.e. from an economy based almost entirely on horse exploitation in earlier times to one that was mainly founded on cattle and sheep husbandry. 7. The emergence of horse husbandry in that area was probably part of this transformation process. By about 2000 BC the practice of keeping and breeding horses was already widely established in the steppe and forest-steppe zone to the east of the Urals. Acknowledgements We thank Viktor F. Zaibert (Petropavlovsk) for his help and hospitality during our stay in Petropavlovsk in 1997. References Akhinzhanov, S.M., L.A. Makarova & T.N. Nurumov, 1992. K Istorii Skotovodstva i Okhoty v Kazakhstane. AlmaAta: Gylym. Anthony, D.W., 1998. The opening of the Eurasian steppe at 2000 BC, in The Bronze and Early Iron Age Peoples of Eastern Central Asia, ed. V.H. Mair. Washington (DC): Institute of the Study of Man, 94–113. Anthony, D.W. & N.B. Vinogradov, 1995. The birth of the chariot. Archaeology 48(2), 36–41. Benecke, N., 1994. Der Mensch und seine Haustiere. Stuttgart: Theiss.

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Kremenetski, C.V., P.E. Tarasov & A.E. Cherkinsky, 1997. Postglacial development of Kazakhstan pine forests. Géographie physique et Quaternaire 51(3), 391–404. Kuzmina, E.E., 1994. Otkuda Prishli Indoarii? Moscow: Rossiiskaya Akademiya Nauk. Kuzmina, E.E., 1996. Ekologiya stepei Evrazii i problema proiskhozhdeniya nomadizma. Vestnik Drevnei Istorii 1996, 73–85. Kuzmina, I.E., 1988. Mlekopitayushchie Severnogo Prikaspiya v golotsene, in Arkheologicheskie kultury Severnogo Prikaspiya. Kuibyshev: Kuibyshevskii Gosudarstvennyi Pedagogicheskii Institut, 173–88. Kuzmina, I.E., 1993. Loshadi Botaya, in Zaibert et al. (eds.), 178–88. Levine, M., 1979. Archaeozoological Analysis of some Upper Pleistocene Horse Bone Assemblages in Western Europe. Unpublished PhD dissertation, University of Cambridge. Levine, M., 1983. Mortality models and the interpretation of horse population structure, in Hunter-Gatherer Economy in Prehistory, ed. G.N. Bailey. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 23–46. Levine, M., 1990. Dereivka and the problem of horse domestication. Antiquity 64, 727–40. Levine, M., 1999a. Botai and the origins of horse domestication. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 18(1), 29–78. Levine, M., 1999b. The origins of horse husbandry on the Eurasian steppe, in Levine et al. 1999, 5–58. Levine, M. & A.M. Kislenko, 1997. New Eneolithic and Early Bronze Age radiocarbon dates for North Kazakhstan and South Siberia. Cambridge Archaeological Journal 7(2), 297–300. Levine, M., Y. Rassamakin, A. Kislenko & N. Tatarintseva, 1999. Late Prehistoric Exploitation of the Eurasian Steppe. (McDonald Institute Monographs.) Cambridge: McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research. Makarova, L.A., 1970. Predvaritelnoe soobshchenie o zhivotnykh epokhi bronzy poseleniya Chaglinka, in Po Sledam Drevnikh Kultur Kazakhstana. Alma-Ata: Nauka, 269–76. Makarova, L.A., 1976. Kharakteristika kostnogo materiala iz poseleniya Sargary, in Proshloe Kazakhstana po Arkheologicheskim Istochnikam. Alma-Ata: Nauka, 211–26. Makarova, L.A., 1977. Zhivotnye Atasu i drugich poselenii Tsentralnogo Kazakhstana, in Arkheologicheskie Issledovaniya v Otrare. Alma-Ata: Nauka, 124–31. Makarova, L.A., 1980. Kosti zhivotnykh iz dvukh poselenii epokhi bronzy v Severnom Kazakhstane, in Arkheologicheskie Issledovaniya Drevnego i Srednevekovogo Kazakhstana. Alma-Ata: Nauka, 141–51. Makarova, L.A. & T.N. Nurumov, 1989. K probleme konevodstva v neolit–eneolit Kazakhstana, in Vzaimodeistvie Kochevykh Kultur i Drevnikh Tsivilizatsii. Alma-Ata: Nauka, 122–31.

Margulan, A.K., 1979. Begazy-Dandybaevskaya Kultura Tsentralnogo Kazakhstana. Alma-Ata: Nauka. Margulan, A.K., K.A. Akishev, M.K. Kadyrbaev & A.M. Orazbaev, 1969. Drevnyaya Kultura Tsentralnogo Kazakhstana. Alma-Ata: Nauka. Matyushin, G.N., 1996. Neolit Yuzhnogo Urala. Moscow: Rossiiskaya Akademiya Nauk. Meadow, R.H., 1999. The use of size index scaling techniques for research on archaeozoological collections from the Middle East, in Historia Animalium ex Ossibus. Beiträge zur Paläoanatomie, Archäologie, Ägyptologie, Ethnologie und Geschichte der Tiermedizin. Festschrift für Angela von den Driesch, eds. C. Becker, H. Manhart, J. Peters & J. Schibler. (Internationale Archäologie, Studia honoraria 8.) Rahden/Westf.: Verlag Maria Leidorf GmbH, 285–300. Müller, H.-H., 1985. Frühgeschichtliche Pferdeskelettfunde im Gebiet der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik. (Weimarer Monographien zur Ur- und Frühgeschichte 15; Beiträge zur Archäozoologie IV.) Weimar: Museum für Ur- und Frühgeschichte Thüringens. Nurumov, T.N. & L.A. Makarova, 1988. Domashnie i dikie zhivotnye epokhi neolita i bronzy Tsentralnogo i Severnogo Kazakhstana, in Problemy Paleoekonomiki Kazakhstana po Arkheologicheskim Dannym. Alma-Ata: Nauka, 7–36. Olsen, S.L., 1996. Prehistoric adaptation to the Kazak steppes, in The Colloquia of the XIII International Congress of Prehistoric and Protohistoric Sciences, vol. 16: The Prehistory of Asia and Oceania, eds. G. Afanasev, S. Cleuziou, J. Lukacs & M. Tosi. Forlì: A.B.A.C.O. Edizioni, 49–60. Petrenko, A.G., 1984. Drevnee i Srednevekovoe Zhivotnovodstvo Srednego Povolzhya i Preduralya. Moscow: Nauka. Reichstein, H., 1994. Die Säugetiere und Vögel aus der frühgeschichtlichen Wurt Elisenhof. (Studien zur Küstenarchäologie Schleswig-Holsteins Serie A, Elisenhof 6.) Frankfurt/Main: Peter Lang. Tsalkin, V.I., 1970. Drevneishie Domashnie Zhivotnye Vostochnoi Evropy. Moscow: Nauka. Uerpmann, H.-P., 1979. Probleme der Neolithisierung des Mittelmeerraums. (Beihefte zum Tübinger Atlas des Vorderen Orients, Reihe B (Geisteswissenschaften) 28.) Wiesbaden: Dr Ludwig Reichert. Uerpmann, H.-P., 1990. Die Domestikation des Pferdes im Chalkolithikum West- und Mitteleuropas. Madrider Mitteilungen 31, 110–53. Zaibert, V.F., 1992. Atbasarskaya Kultura. Ekaterinburg: Rossiiskaya Akademiya Nauk, Uralskoe Otdelenie. Zaibert, V.F., 1993. Eneolit Uralo-Irtyshskogo Mezhdurechya. Petropavlovsk: Nauka. Zaibert, V.F., H.A. Aleksashenko & O.V. Myaksheva (eds.), 1993. Problemy Rekonstruktsii Khozyaistva i Tekhnologii po Dannym Arkheologii. Petropavlovsk: Akademiya Nauk Kazakhstana.

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Chapter 7 The Exploitation of Horses at Botai, Kazakhstan Sandra L. Olsen The site of Botai is a Copper Age, or Eneolithic,

domestication. This is true regardless of whether there is a consensus about the status of the Botai horses. A large settlement that depends almost exclusively on horses for food and to a great extent for by-products over the long term has established not only a viable, but also an extremely successful means of procuring its chief resource. This involves a high level of comprehension of equid behaviour and a strategy that does not over-exploit the existing herds. It also implies coping mechanisms for periods of environmental stress due to drought or severe winters. Evidence is building to support the hypothesis that the Botai were equestrian horse-hunters who maintained at least some herds for riding (Olsen 1996). Equestrian hunting could have served as one of the primary motivations for domesticating this

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settlement located in north-central Kazakhstan that dates to between 3600–3100 BC (Levine & Kislenko 1997). Much debate has occurred about its role in early horse domestication (Brown & Anthony 1998; Levine 1999a,b; Olsen 1996), but regardless of the status of these equids, the Botai society was more equo-centric than perhaps any other in known prehistory. The site is remarkable for the fact that 99 per cent of the identifiable faunal material is from horse. The extent and specific nature of the utilization of horses at Botai are examined in detail in this paper. Botai’s location in the wild horse’s native range, its dates of occupation, settlement size, focus on horses, and vast faunal assemblage, give the site an invaluable role in understanding the process of horse

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screens. The research has included analysis of 853 bone artefacts from Botai, as well as examination of large samples of faunal material from Botai and Krasnii Yar in order to better understand the butchering practices and taphonomic processes that have impacted the faunal assemblage. The significance of faunal analysis at Botai Many attempts to identify early horse domestication have had to rely on collections in Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan, and elsewhere that are small, biased in favour of skulls and whole Figure 7.2. Midden excavated at the site of Botai containing large quantities of bones, and come primarily horse remains. from burial or ceremonial contexts rather than middens in settlements (Mallory species. If so, the larger assemblage of slaughtered 1981). Botai is a large settlement containing extenwild individuals might swamp the numbers of dosive faunal material in houses, middens (Fig. 7.2), mestic horses, which, once trained, would be kept and pits. Because the soil is alkaline, osseous matefor many years. Much work remains to be done at rial is abundant and well-preserved. It has been estiBotai and its neighbouring sites, especially regardmated that the number of bones exceeds 300,000, ing quantitative analysis, but significant advances although no total count has been taken recently. toward understanding the culture have been made When sites west of the Urals are noted as having in the past few years. significant increases in the frequencies of horses durThe Botai culture is represented by three known ing the late fourth to early third millennium BC, the sites, Botai, Krasnii Yar and Vasilkovka. The sites proportions are generally expanding from a few per are distributed in the Ishim–Irtysh interfluve in the cent to perhaps 20 per cent (Glass 1989). Dereivka, forest-steppe ecozone (Fig. 7.1). The eponymous site Ukraine, is considered excessive at 61 per cent horse of Botai is located on a tributary of the Ishim river remains (Bibikova 1986; Telegin 1986). known as the Iman-Burluk and its coordinates are Botai stands out from other sites on the steppe 53°12'N and 67°40'E. With its 158 identified pit-houses with its nearly homogeneous collection of horse (Kislenko & Tatarintseva 1999) spread over 9 hecbones. It is clear that the Botai people were heavily tares, it is one of the largest prehistoric settlements dependent on horses for their major, almost excluin northern Kazakhstan. Over 80 dwellings have been sive, source of food. There is no evidence of domesexcavated or tested since 1980 by the University of tic plants and it is doubtful that wild berries, North Kazakhstan (Zaibert 1993). With over 50 per mushrooms, onions, thyme, and the few other edible cent of the site having been excavated or sampled, wild plants and fungi could have contributed to any Botai has produced the most extensive collections large extent to the diet. It likewise does not appear for this culture. Two pit-houses each at Krasnii Yar that dogs, the second-most common species of aniand Vasilkovka were excavated in the 1980s (Kislenko mal, were eaten (Olsen 2000a), and other animal & Tatarintseva 1999; Zaibert 1993). Their assemblages species were extremely rare at the site (Olsen 1996). compare very closely with those of Botai. The few large bovid bones recovered at Botai could Our teams have excavated one pit-house at Botai represent bison or aurochs. A minimum number of and one at Krasnii Yar with high-resolution techindividuals (MNI) of one large bovid indicates how niques, including sieving all soil through mesh 84

Exploitation of Horses at Botai

rare their bones are, so these animals did not contribute to the diet in any significant manner. Large bovids are more common at Krasnii Yar and two horn cores indicate that aurochs was present. Relevant to the question of where horse domestication began is the fact that horses were a very important part of the diet in northern Kazakhstan in earlier times. Four Neolithic houses excavated at Botai show that the reliance on horses had an early origin and continued for many hundreds of years through the Copper Age. The Neolithic structures have unfortunately not been dated at this point in time, but can be identified as such by their characteristic lithic assemblage. Other Neolithic settlements in the region have also yielded small quantities of horse (probably wild) remains, as well (Kislenko & Tatarintseva 1999). Our excavations at the Neolithic camp of Zhusan, 600 m northeast of Krasnii Yar, produced numerous horse teeth and bone fragments.

Figure 7.3. Wound in horse rib showing a) entry and b) opposite side with deformation and fracture of the bone. for a variety of reasons. These factors include inbreeding, rudimentary veterinary care that increases survival after healing, protection from predators during healing, work-related stress, poor sanitation, close contact with diseased herds, poor nutrition, and extended life spans (Baker & Brothwell 1980; Bökönyi 1984). Riding and haulage can be factors in causing such diseases as arthritis of the spine, pectoral and pelvic joints, or feet (Bökönyi 1984, 114), as well as more specific ailments like subluxation (partial dislocation) of the sacroiliac joint (Riegel & Hakola 1996). Levine (1999b) has remarked on the need to study pathologies associated with riding and haulage in order to shed light on these aspects of equine exploitation in the steppe. Few anomalies or pathologies based on disease or fractures have been observed in the Botai collection. The dentitions are also generally in very good condition. Because most of the animals were killed before age eight, there was generally little time for individuals to develop arthritis and other work-related afflictions. Whereas diseases and healed fractures are more common among domestic animals, some injuries signal how wild animals were hunted. Among the collection of animal bones from Botai were four horse bones (Fig. 7.3) and one bone of a large bovid (Bos / Bison) that exhibited wounds. Based on the round to oval outlines of the openings, these appear to have been made by bone harpoons, rather than stone arrowheads, which leave a narrower, lenticular aperture in the bone. Recording such wounds will help to provide indications for the use of particular kinds of weapons, as well as demonstrating that at least some percentage of the horses were hunted. In contrast, it is fairly common to find crania of stallions in head-and-hoof burials in Bronze Age and later kurgans in the Eurasian steppes that show that horses were killed by pole-axing. This slaughter tech-

Methodology Recently, researchers have performed experimental studies (Outram & Rowley-Conwy 1997) and gathered ethnographic information (Levine 1998; 1999a,b; Olsen 1996; Shnirelman et al. 1996) in order to define and clarify the utility of equine products, including meat, marrow, bone grease, and milk. The research described here builds on previous studies by applying their results to the large faunal assemblage of Botai. It also expands the range of data collected for interpreting horse exploitation to include: 1. the distribution and nature of wounds, cut-marks, and chopping-marks on horse bones, 2. experimental butchery with replica stone tools resembling those from Botai, 3. analysis of the bone artefact assemblage and identification of its requisite raw material, and 4. collection of data relating to ritual uses of horses at the site. The results of this study demonstrate the broad utilization of the horse carcass regarding meat, marrow, bone grease, tendons, hides, and bone at Botai, but proof that brains, milk, mane and tail hair, or hooves were used by the inhabitants still eludes us. The ritual deposits of horse remains in pits allude to the sacred roles of this species in the lives of the inhabitants. Documentation of wounds in horse bones Archaeological examples of pathologies and anomalies are generally greater for domesticated species 85

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primary kinds of evidence: cut-marks, chopping-marks, and bone artefacts. It is clear that the primary role of the horse in the Botai culture was for food, but other uses existed as well. In addition to the meat and marrow, the hides, tendons, and bones were important products for the local population. Although it is likely that other by-products, including the Figure 7.4. Horse cranium with circular depressed fracture in maxilla, possibly brain, hair, hoofs, and milk, from pole-axing. were being utilized, these await future studies and refinement of existing analytical techniques to connique leaves behind a large, round depressed fracfirm. ture generally located on the frontal. Although poleBinford (1978), Metcalfe & Jones (1988) and axing need not be restricted to domestic animals, it others have attempted to rank the different elements is probably more commonly conducted on livestock in ungulates according to their meat and marrow than wild animals. Presumably, shooting a wild horse utility. Outram & Rowley-Conwy (1997) have done with a bow and arrow, harpoon, or a spear would be this for horses specifically. These studies are quite less risky and time-consuming to hunters than lassouseful for showing which bones yield the most meat ing and pole-axing it. The latter method would enand marrow, however, they do not entirely resolve tail at least three persons to dispatch one horse. the question of which elements of heavy animals Pole-axing was done by first tying two ropes like the horse would be likely to remain behind at a around the neck of a horse. The two leads were then kill site. According to the Schlep Effect (Perkins & held taut by persons standing on opposite sides of Daly 1968), if the Botai were only hunting wild horses the horse. This prevented the horse from moving so on foot, every effort would be made to eliminate that a third person could approach the horse from excess weight before the horse products were transthe front and strike a fatal blow between the eyes ported over long distances to the village. If, howwith a heavy weapon. A cranium stored with the ever, pack horses were available or some horses were Botai faunal material exhibits a large, round dekilled at the village, then there would be less selecpressed fracture on the maxilla (Fig. 7.4) similar to tion against certain heavy elements with low utility. those seen in frontals of pole-axed stallions buried in How utility is defined is part of the problem, howBronze Age kurgans. The cranium most likely comes ever, since field dressing can remove the necessity to from Botai, but because it lacks any specimen number transport bones that support large muscle masses. or provenience, it cannot be definitely associated In butchering a horse with stone tools, Bruce with the site. Could this have been an example in Bradley and I successfully removed the skin, organs, which the horse managed to turn its head at the last most meat, and major tendons without disarticulatminute and was struck in the wrong place? The blow ing the skeleton at all. In general, Bradley and I might still have rendered the horse unconscious and found it relatively easy to pull major muscle masses had the desired effect in the end. The finding of off the bones simply by severing the muscles at their pole-axed horse crania and pathologies derived from points of attachment to the bone. It is therefore techriding or haulage in the future could supplement nically unnecessary to bring most bones back home other evidence in determining the status of this speunless the marrow is to be extracted at a later time or cies at Botai sites. the bones are to serve as raw material for artefact manufacture. Based on these observations, the quanEconomic exploitation of horse carcasses tity of meat attached to certain bones may not alone indicate whether they would have been schlepped This research focuses on reconstructing the extent long distances to the home base. For example, and nature of exploitation of horses at Botai as rewhereas the vertebral column and innominates supflected in the archaeological record. It relies on three 86

Exploitation of Horses at Botai

port the bulk of the meat (Outram & Rowley-Conwy 1997) and vast lumbodorsal and gluteal fascia (valuable for making sinew), they do not contain much marrow and did not provide significant raw material for bone artefacts at Botai. Filleting in the field could quickly eliminate the need to carry these large, weighty bones long distances from the kill site if the animals were hunted on foot. This probably explains why whole vertebral columns were found at the French Upper Palaeolithic horse kill site of Solutré (Olsen 1989a). Despite this fact, recent excavations of two middens at Botai show that articulated series of cervical, thoracic, and lumbar vertebrae were frequently found in situ (Fig. 7.5). These vertebral units may indicate that kills were sometimes made in the village proper and its adjacent periphery or that pack animals were available to hunters. Ribs are the exception to the rule that major masses of meat can be quickly removed by filleting in the field. According to Outram & Rowley-Conwy (1997), a high percentage of the meat on a horse is distributed over its rib cage. This is derived in large part from the short, tightly adhering intercostal muscles, which cannot be quickly extracted in the field. It is more practical to bring the ribs back, cook them, and let individual consumers remove the meat from the bones, much as restaurants do today. Our butchering experiment revealed that if the costal cartilage attaching the ribs to the sternum is severed, the left or right half of the rib cage can be swung back dorsolaterally until the ribs snap at their necks. They can then be detached from the vertebral column, leaving the rib heads still attached to the thoracic vertebrae. That this was done at times at Botai is clear from the abundance of rib heads snapped off their bodies. Some of the heads were found still articulated with their thoracic vertebrae. In this case, it was done to reduce the size of meat-bearing units, but not to leave the vertebral column behind in the field. Information on the meat and marrow distribution and yield for a particular species has general application and is quite valuable as a starting point. However, because differences in exploitation of products clearly occur among different cultures and for each prey species, every study is somewhat different. Examination of individual bone specimens in the prehistoric assemblage for evidence of butchery adds significantly to the interpretation of horse carcass exploitation. In this way, it is possible, at least in part, to learn how a people actually carried out the processes of obtaining their resources. Bone artefacts should also be analyzed to determine which elements were needed for raw mate-

Figure 7.5. Articulated thoracic vertebrae in situ in midden at Botai. rial in their manufacture. Assessing the relative demand for certain elements in the local bone industry is critical to evaluating the utility of the various body parts. This is rarely given adequate attention, however, when zooarchaeologists are calculating element frequencies and devising utility indices. Finally, ritual sacrifices and votive offerings of animals may lead to differential curation of certain body parts. This is particularly obvious when the head-and-hoof offerings become prevalent across the Eurasian steppe beginning in the Bronze Age. Very little is known about ritual behaviour prior to the Bronze Age, however. Some work has begun on this topic at Botai recently (Olsen 2000a,b) and will be briefly summarized here. Butchery The Botai study (Olsen 1996) was able to show the presence of various butchering practices. Analysis of the faunal data sheds light on the types of equine products used, intensity of carcass utilization, and specific techniques for processing particular cuts of meat. The methodology for interpreting how the Botai horses were butchered include: 1. examination of the bones for evidence of cutting and chopping; 2. manufacture of polyvinylsiloxane moulds and epoxy resin casts of a sample of cut-marks to identify types of butchering tools used with a scanning electron microscope; and 3. replication of the process by butchering an entire 87

Chapter 7

D D S

D

Locations of Cutmarks on Botai Horse

F F F

S

F, T

F, T F

F

F F

D

D

F

F

F F

F F, D F, D F F

Cutmark key S = skinning D = disarticulation F = filleting T = tendon removal

D

D

S, T S, T S, T

S, T S, T dak del

Figure 7.6. Locations of cut-marks on Botai horse. Fore and hind metapodials and phalanges are combined here. there is displaced débris pushed up on one side of the chopping-marks. Results of these analyses indicate that stone blades and bifaces were used to butcher horses to a moderate, but not intensive degree. Figure 7.6 shows the distribution of cut-marks on a horse skeleton. To summarize the findings from the cut-marks, they generally represent the processes of skinning (S), tendon or fascia removal to make sinew thread (T), filleting, or removal of soft tissue from bones (F), and disarticulation (D). A few other minor marks are interpreted differently on individual bones. The functions of specific cut-marks were identified based on their locations on the skeleton, a review of horse anatomy (references include: Riegel & Hakola 1996; Kainer & McCracken 1994), and experimental butchery. Where more than one letter is associated with cuts in a given area on Figure 7.6, marks in that area could be interpreted in more than one way. No one specimen exhibited all the cuts

horse with stone tools. Cut-marks on skeletal elements can reveal such practices as skinning, tendon removal for sinew production, filleting (deboning), division of the carcass into portions by disarticulation at the joints, and removal of the tongue (Olsen 1987; 1989a; 1994; 1996). Cutmarks are those traces left behind when a sharpedged tool slices along the bone surface. Those made by stone tools can be identified by a narrow V-shaped cross-section and fine striae on the walls of the mark running parallel to the long axis of the cut (Olsen 1989a,b; Olsen & Shipman 1988). Chopping apparently served two functions: dividing the carcass into usable portions for cooking or redistribution and obtaining marrow and bone grease. Chopping-marks can be distinguished from cut-marks by the broader and often deeper V-shaped impression and the presence of transverse striae running down into the mark, perpendicular to the long axis (Olsen 1988b; Olsen & Shipman 1988). Often 88

Exploitation of Horses at Botai

D

Locations of Chopping-marks on Botai Horse C D

D

M

D M

M D D

M

D M

M, D

M Chopping-mark key D = disarticulation C = cartilage removal M = marrow extraction G = grease

M

D

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G M

G

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dak del

Figure 7.7. Locations of chopping-marks on Botai horse. Fore and hind metapodials and phalanges are combined here. Bradley and I found it difficult to replicate the unusual chopping methods needed to create fractures like those observed on some of the Botai bones. We attempted to imitate the blows of the prehistoric butchers on a fresh horse carcass, first with a groundstone axe and then with a hardened steel axe. Whatever technique was employed by the Botai people, they were successful in chopping very cleanly through such dense elements as carpals, astragali and other tarsals, often with a single stroke and without leaving any tool marks on the outer surface of the bone. Even the southern part of the West Siberian Plain, where Botai is located, is renowned for the severity and length of its winters (Shnirelman et al. 1996). Human populations living in this region yearround require a high consumption of fat to insure sufficient caloric intake. Horsemeat is low in saturated and high in polyunsaturated fats (Rossier & Berger 1988), making it healthier than beef, mutton,

indicated and many bones were free of any traces of marks. In general, the bones were well-preserved and suffered from few destructive taphonomic processes that would obliterate cut-marks. Each unique cut-mark position that was observed was recorded once, but most recurred on a number of specimens. The horse remains from Botai are most notable for the degree to which they are chopped. Figure 7.7 identifies the observed locations of chopping-marks on the Botai horse remains and indicates the most likely purposes for their presence. In most cases, the butcher was probably attempting to divide the carcass into smaller portions (D) or to split open marrow-bearing bones (M). Chopping-marks along the vertebral border of the scapula apparently were made when removing the cartilage (C). In other cases, where dense carpals and tarsals were severed in two or three planes, it is more likely that they were trying to comminute the bones enough to derive every last bit of bone grease from them (G). 89

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Major Marrow-yielding Bones

Relative yield key maximum medium light

dak del

Figure 7.8. Major marrow-yielding bones. (After Outram & Rowley-Conwy 1997.) of individual elements within the equine skeleton in terms of their fat yield. The ranking of elements by marrow yield varies from individual to individual in horses, but the femur consistently produces the largest quantity. After that, the mandible, humerus, or tibia may appear in any order, followed by the radius, and lastly by the metapodials and first phalanges. Figure 7.8 illustrates the most productive marrow bones in the horse skeleton, based on the findings of Outram & Rowley-Conwy (1997). These elements would have high priority when selecting which bones to bring back to the village from a hunt. At Botai, there is a large number of unusual breaks through dense bones like carpals and tarsals, where no marrow exists (Olsen 1996). These breaks may represent an attempt to extract minute amounts of bone grease during periods of dietary stress. The breaks are characterized by smooth fracture surfaces through very dense bone, but more importantly, the outer surface of the bone lacks any depressed frac-

or pork. Much of the fat is contained in the meat, brain, and fatty deposits on the neck and sternum (Levine 1998). The Kazakhs today evaluate the quality of a horse carcass by measuring the thickness of the fat on the sternum against the width of a man’s hand. Even though the quantity of marrow in the bones of horses is less than other animals of comparable size like cattle or elk (Outram & Rowley-Conwy 1997), a year-round diet of horsemeat would be expected to depend heavily on marrow and bone grease. The faunal assemblage from Botai contains large numbers of bones with spiral fractures that appear to have been made prior to denaturing of the collagen and humanly-induced chopping-marks that exposed the marrow. Blumenschine & Madrigal (1993) studied the relative quantities of marrow found in each element in zebras and Outram & RowleyConwy (1997) have done the same for horses. This information can be used to establish the relative value 90

Exploitation of Horses at Botai

b a Figure 7.10. a) Incised proximal phalanx; b) bone harpoon. Figure 7.9. Sectioned bones with no indication of impact or chopping-marks.

rated fats (Outram & Rowley-Conwy 1997). Longterm storage might be possible, however, if bones were frozen immediately and kept frozen. Killing animals in late autumn or early winter, when their tissues contain the maximum amount of fat, and storing their body parts in a frozen state is one way to insure an adequate supply of fat for the human population through the early spring. The Kazakhs of this region have an annual slaughter of horses in December so that their carcasses can be frozen in wooden boxes outside their homes or in special storage houses until April (Levine 1998; Shnirelman et al. 1996). Outram’s successful replication of fractures on frozen bones suggests that the Botai people were harvesting marrow and bone grease from carcasses that kept for months in a frozen condition. Further experiments may help to establish winter occupation of the village.

tures or V-shaped tool marks typical of chopping (Fig. 7.9). Such smooth-surfaced breaks proved to be difficult for Bradley and myself to replicate on either fresh or recently frozen horse limbs that were skinned but retained muscles, tendons, and ligaments. Outram (2001; 2002) has conducted extensive experiments shattering horse bones in various conditions, including fresh, desiccated, boiled, frozen for a short period and deep frozen for several months. Details of the fracture surfaces of horse bones from Botai are being compared to Outram’s experimental horse-bone collection to facilitate identification of the condition of the bone at the time of breakage. His observations on the prehistoric bone breaks and continued experimentation should help to explain the nature and purpose of the breaks. These unusual breaks most closely resemble those made when bones that have been frozen for months were struck. One possible interpretation is that long-term freezing has the effect of freeze-drying the bone, creating a unique condition not typically seen in faunal assemblages. Because horse marrow is mainly polyunsaturated, it tends to turn rancid more quickly than satu-

Bone artefacts and their raw material Bone artefacts were plentiful and varied (Danilenko 1985) and some types yield much information about the relationships between humans and horses (Olsen 1996). Most of the 853 bone objects were made from 91

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Artefact Raw Materials

7 (4) 270 (135)

158 (5) 10 (5)

6 (3)

1 (1)

1 (1) 64 (8) 108 (27)

2 (1)

44 (11)

dak del

Figure 7.11. Artefact raw materials at Botai. Fore and hind metapodials and phalanges are combined here. needed to supply the raw material is very low (5) because there are 34–6 ribs per individual. In contrast, the number of horses needed to produce the quantity of horse mandible thong-smoothers recorded is quite high because there are only two mandibles per individual. The importance of calculating MNIs for the phalanges is also evident. Although it is possible to distinguish the fore and hind phalanges in most cases, it is not strictly relevant to the availability of raw material because the Botai used both. For this reason, the fore and hind phalanges have been combined numerically. The manufacturing processes and possible functions of tools and ornaments were reconstructed by identifying the species and elements used as raw material and by examining the unfinished pieces, debitage, finished, rejuvenated and recycled artefacts (following Olsen 1984). Surface traces of manufacture and use were examined with an optical microscope and a SEM (Olsen 1988a,b & c). Classifi-

horse bones. To fully understand the relative demand on different elements for artefact raw material, it was necessary to calculate the frequency of representation of each element in the worked bone assemblage. Figure 7.11 thus illustrates the relative values of the various elements for bone artefact manufacture. The darker-shaded bones were the most frequently utilized. The lighter-shaded bones were only occasionally selected. Those not shaded are not represented in the bone-artefact assemblage. The number off to the side of each shaded bone indicates how many artefacts (often of more than one type) were made from that particular element. In parentheses after the number of artefacts is the minimum number of individuals (MNI) represented for that element. This indicates how many horses would have to be slaughtered to get the number of artefacts made from that bone. The MNI puts the demand on raw material in proper perspective. Although the number of rib tools is quite high (158), the number of horses 92

Exploitation of Horses at Botai

Figure 7.13. Thong-smoother made on a horse mandible. Arrow shows where use polish was located. Along with spearpoints, arrowheads, and possible bola spheres, harpoons provide evidence for the methods available to hunt wild horses at Botai. The diagnostic wounds in their bones link the harpoons directly to the wild horses. Thong-smoothers made on horse mandibles (Fig. 7.13) are some of the most common objects from the site of Botai and make up 32 per cent of the whole bone artefact assemblage (Olsen 2001). At least 135 horses were required to produce these tools, significantly more than any other bone product in the assemblage. They can be recognized by a deep notch that bears a high gloss with microscopic striae sweeping over its edge. These traces indicate that a narrow piece of soft material passed back and forth over the rim of the notch repeatedly (Fig. 7.14:a & b). The microwear thus reduces the possible range of function for this tool considerably. Accounts of how and why thong-smoothers were used can be found in reports about Arctic peoples (Jenness 1937) and Plains Indians (Wilson 1978). The reason they are needed is quite simple. When a straight strip is cut from a hide, its length is restricted by the length or girth of the animal’s body, but when a rawhide is cut into a spiral, it can be unwound to make a very long, but coiled thong. Pulling the wet rawhide thong over a notch or the rim of a perforation in a bone tool helps relax the skin and straighten the thong. It also stretches the thong to its maximum so that it will not continue to expand when in use. Thong-smoothers are rare to non-existent in most archaeological sites. At Botai, they outnumber

Figure 7.12. Harpoons with tip damage and shaft fractures. cation of the edge or tip morphology (with the aid of metric analysis) facilitated interpretation of the range of functions for particular tool types. Details for most of the bone artefacts will be published separately, but two types have bearing on the question of whether horses were hunted and/or domesticated at Botai. Those most relevant to horse hunting are the harpoons; those that suggest control of horses are the thong-smoothers. A total of 13 finished (Fig. 7.10b) and 4 unfinished harpoons were recovered from excavations at Botai. As with Magdalenian harpoons of Western Europe, Botai weapons were probably used primarily to dispatch large land mammals, rather than fish (Olsen 1996). This could theoretically be accomplished by driving a band of wild horses into deep water while they were drinking or forging a stream. The Botai harpoons show impact damage at their tips (Arndt & Newcomer 1986) and usually have dramatic mid-shaft breaks where the rope would attach and cause strain on the weapon (Fig. 7.12). 93

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A third type of bone artefact is discussed because it is so distinctive and probably carried some ritual significance. These are elaborately incised proximal (Fig. 7.10a) and intermediate phalanges. Fifty-three of these have been recovered at the site of Botai and many additional ones were found at Krasnii Yar. Forty-six of those from Botai are identified as horse. The remaining ones are from kulan, saiga antelope, and possibly gazelle. The decorated phalanges are thought to be headless female figurines, with the articular condyles representing breasts. Some do have designs that resemble the front of a cloak or dress with a V-shaped opening, a belt, and occasionally fringe on a skirt. The recurrent sidenotching may represent clothing seams. A very similar decorated horse phalanx that Gimbutas (1991) illustrated from the site of Cuina Turcului, in the Iron Gate region of southwest Romania shows clearly that it was a female effigy because the nipples are depicted. The decorative motifs and their placement on the Botai phalanges closely resemble the one found at Cuina Turcului, but the two cultures are separated by a long distance and the Romanian one is supposed to date to 8000 BC. There are problems with the dates in that area, however, and it may be considerably younger. Decorated horse phalanges have also been reported from Bell Beaker sites in Spain (Maier 1961; Piggott 1983). They are perhaps the strongest cultural marker for the Botai, and show a connection with the Tersek, a contemporaneous Copper Age culture in the Turgay region to the west (Kalieva et al. 1989). As the most ornate objects preserved from the Botai culture, it is unclear whether the decorated horse phalanges served ceremonial functions or were merely children’s dolls. Their contexts and associations with features or other artefacts have not thus far aided in deciphering their specific function. Although the decorated horse phalanges have not been found in definite ritual contexts, 12 were recovered from a single house. At Krasnii Yar, a cache of 28 undecorated horse phalanges was found in House 3 and a cluster of 6 was found in another probable house through which we excavated a test trench. A cache of three first phalanges of horse from Botai had flakes driven off intentionally all the way around the base. This defiling practice is shared with that on a stone effigy found as an undatable surface find in the region. The stone effigy had a man’s face on one side and a phallus on the reverse. It also had long flakes driven off around the base. It is possible that this was an attempt to ceremonially ‘kill’ the effigy to free its spirit or to desecrate it in some way.

a

b

Figure 7.14. Scanning electron photographs of thongsmoother: a) shows smooth, polished surface; b) shows close up with fine striations sweeping over the edge. all other types of artefact, except stone scrapers. This indicates a very high level of production of thongs compared to most pre-industrial societies. For an equestrian culture, thongs would have been not only useful, but necessary (Ewers 1955; Wilson 1978). Rawhide thongs are still important constituents of the equipment of the Kazakh horsemen who ride through Botai today. Thongs can be made into lassos, nooses, pole snares, whips, riding crops, bridles, reins, hobbles, as well as other tackle. Of course, harpoons are attached to their wooden shafts by means of ropes or thongs, as well, but the number of thong-smoothers is more than 20 times the number of harpoons. Mandibles in the Bronze Age were made into hide beamers, each of which had a long curved blade edge. Any part of the blade could have been employed for thong-smoothing, in place of a narrow notch. 94

Exploitation of Horses at Botai

More attention needs to be paid to this type of intentional destruction of human effigies in the future. A total of ten of the Botai phalanges showed some form of deliberate damage.

bone to bring back to the village. In terms of the demand for this element as raw material for artefact manufacture, it was far ahead of all others. The number of horses needed to produce the thongsmoothers collected from Botai was calculated as an astounding 135 individuals. The MNI for all unmodified mandibles excavated at Botai by 1996 was only 71, suggesting that about 2/3 of all mandibles were made into tools. As a result of the intensive use of mandibles for thong-smoothers, the number of intact lower tooth rows has been greatly reduced. This severely hampers aging by dentition. The Botai lower cheek teeth, especially the second and third molars, exhibit serious damage from hammering. This occurred when they were struck on the occlusal surface to loosen them so they could be pried out of the mandibles in preparation for making tools. The teeth were struck with a soft hammer (probably those made from horse metapodials), driving long spalls off the occlusal surface (Olsen 2001). Actual cut-marks sometimes appear on the buccal surfaces of the cheek teeth, apparently from attempts to skin the horse with sharp tools that cut through the cheek and mar the teeth in the process. The way in which mandibles occur in ritual pit deposits suggests that they, like crania, could be substituted for whole horses in religious sacrifices.

Summary of economic exploitation by element To simplify the summary of exploitation of the various body parts on the horse, each element is addressed according to how the cut-marks and chopping-marks were interpreted, its relative meat and marrow yield, and its role as raw material for bone artefacts. This should help to place an overall value on each element. Cranium Cuts on the anterior maxilla probably represent skinning. Those in the vicinity of the eye could either have been made during skinning or if the eye was to be removed. Eyes might have been eaten, as sheep’s eyes are considered delicacies by the Kazakhs in the region today. Alternatively, the eyes could have been removed when the skull was being cleaned for ceremonial use. Cuts on the occipital at the nuchal crest and around the condyles were made when the head was removed from the body. The cranium is a very awkward and heavy element to carry a long distance from a kill site back to the village. This is therefore one element that probably would have been abandoned rather than schlepping it back overland by pedestrian hunters prior to the development of riding. The brain is high in fat content, making it valuable for consumption and for hide-working, but it could have been extracted in the field for immediate use. The majority of the crania in the Botai collection are fragmentary, but it is difficult to determine if they were smashed by the inhabitants to retrieve the brain or whether postdepositional processes crushed them. Most of the complete crania have been removed from the collection for study by other researchers and were not available for this research. The cranium carried great symbolic importance, so for the sake of certain rituals, small numbers were reserved for placement in human burials and other ritual pits.

Hyoid Hyoids are generally poorly preserved because of their delicate structure, but cuts on a few specimens almost certainly represent consumption of the tongue. It is not likely that the Botai people would have neglected this large piece of meat. For many cultures, the tongue is considered one of the most desirable pieces of meat. A few hyoids were made into tools, but it is not clear what functions they served. Perhaps the thin, smooth tools were used to burnish leather or process plant fibers. Vertebrae The vertebral column of the horse carries the bulk of the meat, particularly in the neck and hip region. Sagittal cuts along the neural processes and dorsal surfaces of the thoracic and lumbar vertebrae are interpreted as a combination of filleting to remove the large Latissimus dorsi and neighbouring muscles and removal of the vast lumbodorsal and gluteal fascia, which are the best source for sinew thread. Experimental butchery demonstrated that it is not necessary to disarticulate the column or to carry the vertebrae back home in order to harvest the meat.

Mandible The mandible was almost certainly the most useful element in the horse skeleton for the inhabitants of Botai. The robust masseter muscle of the horse is well worth the effort required to remove it from the surface of the ascending ramus. The mandible has a relatively high marrow content, making it a good 95

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Filleting in the field could save considerably on the weight to be carried. Many examples of articulated partial columns in various middens indicate, however, that they were not always abandoned in the field. This implies that carrying weight was not a significant factor and that either the horses were killed nearby, or units, such as the neck, thorax, and loins, were carried by horse or other means from distant hunting forays. Vertebrae were not employed for making bone artefacts, but at least five columns were placed in the only human burial pit known from the site.

with a stone tool. Chopping-marks mid-shaft indicate where the bone was opened to extract the marrow, which was relatively great in volume. Radius The radius supports little muscle, but does yield a significant amount of marrow. One radius was modified to make a beamer for working hides. Carpals Some carpals were chopped very deliberately into small pieces, presumably to extract the minuscule amount of bone grease contained inside. This is curious, because it would seem easier to obtain bone grease from other elements that were often ignored. It suggests that during brief times of stress all possible sources of grease were tapped, but at other times, exploitation of horse carcasses was not as intensive. Carpals act as ‘riders’ (Binford 1978; 1981) that may be brought into a site with other bones that were to be opened for marrow, i.e. the radius and metacarpal.

Ribs Ribs would have had a high priority for transport back to the home base for two reasons. The first is that the intercostal muscles are best removed by individuals during actual consumption of cooked meat. Many of the ribs exhibit fine cut-marks indicating the removal of the intercostal muscles. Another reason is that ribs were the second-most useful elements for making tools. They were especially important for making pottery smoothers (to fuse the coils together and smooth the inner and outer surfaces) and notched stamps for making comb-impressions in the surfaces of pottery. Ribs were removed from the vertebral column by pulling half of the rib cage back and snapping them off at the heads. The fact that ribs were raw material for a variety of tools contributes to the practicality of hauling them back to the village, but their abundance (34–6 per individual) means that one horse could supply large quantities of rib artefacts.

Metacarpal and metatarsal The metapodials of the third digit, or cannon bones, yield no meat, but carry the tendons of the flexors and extensors and a small amount of marrow. Skinning marks often appear in the form of fine annular cuts around the metapodial shaft in the distal third of the bone. The dense tendons of the horse foot should technically be considered consumable, since cattle tendons are regularly served in restaurants in China today. More typically, however, the tendons were probably used to make sinew thread, a product that would have been very important for a variety of prehistoric industries. Because of several significant qualities found in horse metapodials, they make excellent bone tools. The compact bone of horse metapodials can be as much as 14 mm thick mid-shaft, thicker than any other part of the horse skeleton. In addition, as weight-bearing elements, metapodials are extremely dense. There are no other equid bones that are so straight, and their cylindrical shape proved convenient for certain types of objects. The most common tools made from metapodials include harpoons, soft hammers, chisels, cylinder handles, and rocker-stamps for decorating pottery. Because of its density and thickness, metapodial cortical bone had to be first grooved transversely before it was struck to open its marrow cavity and convert it into splinters for artefact fabrication. Large splinters were then knapped into artefact preforms that had to be ground smooth. The small vestigial metapodial splints (dig-

Scapula The scapula does not support a large muscle mass (Outram & Rowley-Conwy 1997), but the muscles that are there are attached securely on both broad surfaces of the blade. This requires filleting done by scraping over much of the scapula. For this reason, scapulae show regular long striations on their blade surfaces. The scapula was valuable as raw material for making bone artefacts, especially the small flat paddles for smoothing pottery. Some of these had a portion of the edge notched to act as a pottery stamp for comb-impressing. These tools may also have been wrapped with twine to make the cord impressions commonly found on Botai pottery. One scapula blade was carved to resemble a fish. Humerus The humerus supports muscle masses, which were removed at their origins and insertions by cutting 96

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its two and four) were sometimes made into awls by sharpening the naturally-pointed distal end.

row present. Six artefacts were made from ilia. Most appear to be pottery-smoothing paddles. One was coated with a layer of resin or adhesive and then incised with fine cross-hatching over one whole surface. Unmodified pelves recur in ritual deposits and were second only to horse crania in the great sacrificial horse deposit in the human burial pit.

Proximal and intermediate phalanges (fore and hind) The proximal and intermediate phalanges, like the metapodials, harbour no meat, but instead are covered with skin, tendons and ligaments. They sometimes exhibit fine cuts reflecting the skinning process or the harvesting of tendons to make sinew thread. Some marrow can be extracted from both of these elements and the number that were shattered indicates that they were not overlooked. The proximal phalanges were frequently made into the most elaborately decorated artefacts at Botai (Fig. 7.10a). Only two examples of decorated intermediate phalanges have been found.

Femur The femur yields the highest quantity of marrow of any bone in the horse (Outram & Rowley-Conwy 1997). For this reason, whole femora are extremely rare and diaphyses are often chopped completely through. The femur also supports major muscle groups, like the femoral biceps and quadriceps, hamstrings, adductor, and gluteals, so it possesses numerous locations for cut-marks.

Ungual phalanges (fore and hind) The ungual, or third phalanx underlies the hoof. During the butchering experiment, it was learned that hoofs can be removed relatively easily by cutting around the coronet above the hoof and that no cut-marks need to be made on the ungual phalanx in the process. For this reason, it is not easy to determine whether this resource was being utilized at Botai. Hoofs of ungulates can be used for small containers, rattles, or pendants and they can be softened and worked like horn. Boiling for long periods eventually breaks them down into a gelatin that can be consumed or used as an adhesive. Only one ungual phalanx showed cut-marks. These were on the volar surface (or sole) and formed a V. Our butchering experiment showed that this was made during the removal of the digital cushion, which is partly composed of adipose tissue. This probably indicates a situation in which maximum efforts were made to obtain fat. Similar cuts have been observed on the volar surfaces of ungual phalanges at La Madeleine (Garrod 1925) and the Grotte des Eyzies (Olsen 1987), in France, and at Gough’s Cave, England (Parkin et al. 1986). All of these Upper Palaeolithic sites were occupied during the Pleistocene, when fat would have been a highly desirable substance.

Tibia The tibia is a relatively important marrow bone, so, like the femur, it was usually chopped and fragmentary. There is less meat on the tibia, but many of the larger muscles of the femur insert on the proximal end, and the smaller flexors and extensors cover much of the diaphysis. Tarsals The tarsals may act as ‘riders’, to be carried along with the marrow-yielding tibia and metatarsal. Many of the chops through the tarsals were made in the sagittal or dorsal plane after the limb was already disarticulated. Extensive chopping through these elements in several planes indicates that they were probably comminuted to produce bone grease, although the yield could not be great. One astragalus was notched and covered in red ochre, suggesting that it was a game piece, a tally, or a ceremonial object. The calcaneus has a tiny amount of marrow that might be extracted, if needed. Most of the cuts on the tuber calcis would represent severing of the tendon for the gastrocnemius muscle (Achilles tendon). Conclusions for economic exploitation

Innominates The innominates display considerable amounts of cut-marks and are frequently chopped at various angles. The cut-marks represent filleting to remove the large quantity of meat located in the rump and dismembering of the hind leg at the hip. The most common chopping-marks severed the ilium through its narrow body, exposing the small amount of mar-

The two elements that show the most extensive array of filleting cuts are the scapula and innominate. This is predictable given the fact that most of their broad surfaces have muscle fibers attached to them (Riegel & Hakola 1996) and that the innominates support a large volume of muscles (Outram & Rowley-Conwy 1997, tables 1 & 2). According to Outram & Rowley-Conwy (1997), the largest vol97

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umes of meat on a horse carcass are concentrated, in order of greatest to least, in the thorax, pelvis, neck, and thigh. The forelimb bears little meat, particularly from the radius down. The tibia also carries little meat and both fore and hind feet are basically without any muscle tissue. This information conforms with Bradley’s and my findings when we weighed the muscle masses removed from the horse that we butchered. Based on the results of this study, it is difficult to choose which elements would be considered low utility. When the carcass is utilized to its maximum potential, the whole skeleton is affected in one way or another. However, if choices had to be made regarding lightening the load for pedestrian hunters, the cranium and vertebrae would be most likely to be left at the kill site. This trend was visible at the Upper Palaeolithic kill site of Solutré (Olsen 1989a). This is not because those body parts were unimportant, but because the brain and meat could be harvested in the field rather quickly and the heavy, useless bones could then be left behind. That crania and articulated vertebrae were common at Botai implies that some horses were killed in or near the site or that transport was not a problem (e.g. that packhorses were available). Either of these scenarios involves the domestication of at least small numbers of horses. Analysis of artefacts manufactured from horse bones demonstrates the importance of their consideration in determining the utility indices of various elements. Calculating minimum numbers of individuals for worked mandibles, in particular, illustrates how omission of osseous artefacts could have serious ramifications for any conclusions drawn from faunal material.

placed in special pits. Performance of ritual sacrifice placed a demand on their key resource by killing a portion of the horse population and then taking certain parts of the carcasses out of the hands of the people. Our studies reveal that repeated examples of articulated cervicals found in pits at Krasnii Yar bore no cut-marks. This suggests that they represent offerings of large cuts of neck meat. It is often thought that Bronze Age and later head-and-hoof burials represented skins that retained the skull and foot elements, but this does not always appear to have been the case. Often, the positioning of the feet implies more that they were cut off and placed beneath or beside the head. Much of the skin may therefore have been saved. As part of a burial ritual, traditional Kazakhs in Mongolia sometimes stack a skinned horse cranium on top of its four feet on a rock (Benkö 1998, 127–9). Ritual behaviour involving horses at Botai is reflected in two chief ways: through horse sacrifices in a human burial, and by the inclusion of horse crania, mandibles, pelves, and other body parts in ceremonial contexts. The sacred places that are preserved in the archaeological record at Botai are primarily pits. These can be classified into three categories: A. intramural pits, i.e. those dug into floors of houses; B. extramural pits, i.e. those dug down from the ground surface outside houses; and C. foundation pits, i.e. those dug through the subterranean earthen walls of houses at floor level. These straddle both the interior and exterior of the house. At Botai, inhumations of two adult males, an adult female, and an 8- to 10-year-old child were laid in a large intramural pit side by side. The southwest wall of the house served as one side of the pit, while an arc formed by the remains of 14 horses formed the north and east sides of the pit (Rikushina & Zaibert 1984; Olsen 2000b). The horse sacrifices consisted of skulls (n = 14), pelves (at least nine), articulated vertebral columns (at least five), some ribs, and very few limb elements of horses. Finding so many horses sacrificed in a human funerary ritual is relevant to the question of whether domesticated horses were available to the Botai people. A ceremony involving the sacrifice of 14 wild animals simultaneously would not be impossible, but seems fairly unlikely. The general pattern for animal sacrifice in the Eurasian steppes has been to use domestic species (Jones-Bley 1997; Mallory 1981; 1996). This may be added to other circumstantial evidence to support the hypothesis that some of the horses at Botai were domesti-

The ritual roles of horses Given the Botai culture’s dependence on horses, it would be expected that this species should have been treated in a special manner and would have probably been involved in a wide range of rituals. This has certainly been true in recent times for the Kazakhs, who regard horses as important (Shnirelman et al. 1996), but who are not nearly as equocentric as the Botai. Rituals seem at first glance to be unrelated to the more mundane practices of slaughtering and butchering horses for food and by-products, but ceremonies can also lead to differential uses of body parts. At both Botai and Krasnii Yar, it is clear that some horses were ritually sacrificed and that certain body parts were then preferentially 98

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cated. Based on their secular usefulness in terms of both food and transportation, it is reasonable to assume that horses may have been included in the burial to serve the humans in their spiritual afterlife. The absence of legs may mean that the offering was related more to consumption than transport. It may also be related to the high priority given to marrow and bone grease in the Botai diet. Because horsemeat is so lean, they may have felt it was necessary to smash all of the fat-yielding bones. The meat may have Figure 7.15. Dog burial in extramural pit outside House 139 with cache of horse actually held second place bones on the west side. over the fat, so the flesh of the neck, back, and hip might be offered, whereas the marrow bones were Botai resembles other contemporary and later harvested. sites in the steppe (Telegin 1986, 31–3) as well as The emphasis on the horse’s axial skeleton over Bronze and Iron Age sites across Europe (Grant 1984, limbs is in contrast to later Bronze and Iron Age 222; Merrifield 1987; Green 1992) in exhibiting a close head-and-hoof deposits, but other sacrificial pit deassociation between the horse and dog. This spirposits at Botai also reflect this preference. The pelvis itual association may be analogous to their secular supports the largest muscle masses on the horse, relationship during life. There is no clear evidence suggesting that perhaps some of the offerings may that dogs were consumed at Botai, although they have been in the form of food. were decapitated and dismembered for ceremonial In 1988, horse bones were found with an adult reasons (Olsen 2000a,b). The horse/dog linkage could human skull and a few cervical vertebrae in an elonmean a number of things. In some dog burials, a few gated extramural pit or trench between two houses. horse bones occur in a pile, suggesting that they may (Rikushina & Zaibert 1984; Olsen 2000b). The skull have represented food for the dog’s afterlife. Most was covered in red clay, part of which had crumbled often, however, a horse cranium or mandible is assoand separated from the bone. This may have been a ciated with a whole dog or a dog skull in a pit clay mask like those found in the Bronze Age Catacontaining other important artefacts. Horses and dogs comb culture in the Caucasus (Mallory & Adams were probably the only domestic animals, so it is 1997) and the later Tagar and Tashtyk cultures of the natural that they would have been linked to one Minusinsk region (Jettmar 1967). The braincase was another. Dogs may have been used in conjunction packed with yellow clay and the top of the cranium with riding horses during hunts or they could have was drilled with two small perforations. Fine cutbeen used to herd horses, as they are today in rural marks on the cranium indicate that the skull was Kazakhstan. Either would establish a connection becarefully skinned before the mask was applied (Olsen tween the two species. 2000b). The scattering of horse bones in the trench An irregularly-shaped pit to the west of House included teeth, ribs, a femur, and a phalanx. Among 139 at Botai contained the nearly complete skeleton the associated artefacts in the pit were a horse man(Fig. 7.15) of an adult male dog and a small pile of dible thong-smoother, a notched horse rib pottery horse bones, including a mandible, pelvis, and sevstamp, an abrader, a scraper, a large flat stone (near eral ribs. The horse bones were piled in a concentrathe chin), and a long blade (adjacent to the back of tion against the east wall. The dog’s skeleton was the skull). vaguely in anatomical position, but somewhat 99

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flint were present, as well. In addition to examples described above, a dog cranium was found resting on that of a horse in a midden near the river bank (Fig. 7.16). Given the density and dominance of horse bones over all other cultural material at Botai, it is predictable that dog remains should occasionally occur in close proximity to some horse elements, but the fact that these associations are most often with horse crania and mandibles appears to be significant. Clearly, the skulls of animals, as well as humans, had a great deal of significance. Perhaps the skull could substitute for the whole body if the Botai believed that the spirit resided in the head. As well as crania and mandibles, pelves and vertebral columns of horses were frequently included in ritual offerings.

Figure 7.16. Dog skull resting on horse skull in midden. twisted, and articulated bones had drifted apart. The taphonomic nature of the skeleton suggests that it may have lain in a pool of water that macerated the flesh before being covered with soil. These conditions could explain why the elements were not tightly articulated at the joints, had shifted, and spread apart without completely losing their orientation in the body. Green (1992, 111–12) has pointed out the recurrent placement of dogs in aquatic contexts in British Bronze Age, Celtic and Roman sites, including ponds, ditches, marshes, and wells. This she attributes to the chthonic (referring to underworld deities) roles that dogs played and equates such underwater deposits with underground placement in pits and shafts. An oval foundation pit in the southwest wall of House 33 at Botai contained six horse skulls, a nearly complete skeleton of a dog, and several artefacts. The precise placement of the six horse skulls relative to the dog burial is not described in the field notes, unfortunately. Another pit on the west margin of House 33 produced horse and dog remains on a possible altar. The pit was rectangular with its long axis running north/south. The northeast corner of it protruded just inside the house, but most of the pit was located outside the west wall. In the southern part of the pit on a stone slab with round stones placed around it were two anterior portions of horse mandibles and the skull of a dog. Also on the flat stone were two arrowheads, one of which was stuck into a piece of ochre. Several other unidentified bones and a few pieces of

Conclusions This research examines in detail the exploitation of horses at the Copper Age site of Botai, north-central Kazakhstan. Analysis of the cut-marks and chopping-marks on horse bones reveals the methods employed to process horse carcasses. The groundwork laid by previous researchers regarding equid marrow (Blumenschine & Madrigal 1993; Outram & Rowley-Conwy 1997) has made it possible to evaluate different elements in terms of their yield and then relate this information to the occurrence of chopping-marks and fragmented bones. Examination of the bone artefacts helps determine the relative value of the different elements as raw material and the kind of demand there was for mandibles and ribs, in particular. The harpoons, coupled with the presence of wounds in horse bones, help to substantiate the hypothesis that the Botai people were hunting indigenous wild horses. The large number of thongsmoothers points to the existence of an industry quite necessary in the capture, taming, controlling and riding of horses. A preliminary examination of ritual deposits illustrates the sacred importance of horses in the Botai culture and assigns relatively higher ceremonial value to certain elements in the skeleton. Evidence for horse domestication at Botai is 100

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circumstantial, but nonetheless compelling. The mortality pattern for the Botai horses, as Levine (1999a) has shown, does not clearly denote a purely domestic herd. Unfortunately, at the earliest stage of domestication the remains of hunted wild horses would almost certainly dilute the probably much smaller domestic herds in the mortality patterns derived from the total composite assemblage. Brown & Anthony (1998) claim to have found bit wear on lower premolars, but the microwear on the occlusal surfaces of those teeth does not appear affected and the only two examples of obvious sloping might be a natural phenomenon. The earliest bridles are most likely to have been simple expedient bridles made by looping and twisting a leather thong around the bar, or diastema, of the mandible, much like North American Indians did with their war bridle or racing bridle (Wilson 1978). Wear from this type of bridle would be minimal at best and I have observed many examples of beveling similar to that at Botai on Pleistocene lower second premolars from North America that predate the arrival of humans by at least 14,000 years. Several lines of evidence support the argument that some horses were domesticated at Botai. One is that this large settlement was dependent throughout its occupation on an extremely specialized economy centred almost exclusively around horses. If that resource failed because of a serious ice storm in winter or a prolonged drought, the society as a whole would either be forced to shift its subsistence, leave the area, or face extinction. Domestication would make the focus on one species more reliable in that it places some of the control over population size in the hands of the people. More importantly, equestrian hunting would increase the number of wild horses that could be killed and the amount of meat and other products that could be brought back to the village. The fact that skulls and vertebral columns were relatively common at Botai suggests that the people were not struggling with carrying each carcass long distances overland on foot. Some of the horses were probably slaughtered in the site or were field dressed and hauled back to the village on packhorses. Another supportive line of evidence is that horses were heavily involved in rituals, both in ceremonial pits and in human burials (Olsen 2000b). In later Eurasian steppe sites, domesticated animals are generally the subjects of such behaviour, rather than wild species. Lastly, the most common artefacts in the site were thong-smoothers made on horse mandibles (Olsen 2001). Thongs can serve many purposes, but thongsmoothers are not common artefacts in most prehis-

toric sites. Thongs are very important for horsemen, since they can be made into bridles, whips, riding crops, pole-snares, lariats, hobbles, and other useful tackle. The combination of evidence, rather than any single piece, makes a fairly strong argument for incipient horse domestication at Botai. If the domestication process was in its earliest stage and much of the equine material was still derived from wild horses, then it is not surprising that the evidence will not be clear-cut and overwhelmingly convincing. At present, there is no single litmus test for identifying an early domestic horse. It is important, therefore, that holistic studies compile as much information from as many relevant sources as possible. More work clearly needs to be done in the Eurasian steppe to expand the samples and collect more quantitative data. Acknowledgements First, for her constant encouragement and openness in sharing her wealth of knowledge, I wish to express my enormous gratitude to Mary Littauer. I would also like to extend my gratitude to Alexander Kislenko and the administration, laboratory assistants, and students of the University of North Kazakhstan for all of their cooperation and assistance through the years. Without their help, this research would not have been possible. I also want to thank Director Oleg Martinuk, former Curator Natasha Tatarintseva, and the History Museum of North Kazakhstan for providing me with access to the bone artefact collections housed there. Their help and incredible hospitality are much appreciated. The Botai and Krasnii Yar field research and laboratory analysis have been funded through the generosity of the National Geographic Society, the National Science Foundation (grant no. BCS-9816476), and the Carnegie Museum of Natural History Graham Netting Research Fund. Valuable translation services were provided by Natasha Brooks. Bruce Bradley produced the replica Botai stone tools and performed the butchering experiment in conjunction with the author and continues to be a vital part of this research. Martin Estrada, former instructor at Sul Ross State University, Alpine Texas, generously provided the horse carcass, the facility, student assistants, and much useful advise during the horsebutchering experiment. Laboratory assistants who recorded large volumes of data both in Kazakhstan and Pittsburgh and who helped prepare the graphic art include: Leslie McQuade, Jacqueline Payette, Barbara Pitman, Lindsay Shuck, and Anissa Tanweer. 101

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Jones-Bley, K., 1997. Defining Indo-European burial, in Varia on the Indo-European Past: Papers in Memory of Marija Gimbutas, eds. M. Robbins Dexter & E.C. Polomé. (Journal of Indo-European Studies Monograph 19.) Washington (DC): Journal of Indo-European Studies, 194–221. Kainer, R.A. & T.O. McCracken, 1994. The Coloring Atlas of Horse Anatomy. Loveland (CO): Alpine Publications. Kalieva, C.C., L.L. Gaiduchenko & V.N. Logvin, 1989. To the question of seasonal occupation at the settlement of Kozhai I, in Current Methodological Problems of Western Siberian Archaeology. Novosibirsk: Reported theses of the Regional Science Conference, Academy of Science, 129–32. [In Russian.] Kislenko, A.M., 1993. Experimental reconstruction of Copper Age houses, in Problems of Economic and Technological Reconstruction from Archaeological Data. Petropavlovsk: National Academy of Science of Kazakhstan and Margulana Institute of Archaeology, 117–36. [In Russian.] Kislenko, A.M. & N.C. Tatarintseva, 1990. Early metal cultural-economic complexes in the Ishim steppes, in Archaeology of the Volga-Ural Steppes. (Inter-Institutes of Higher Learning Anthology, Scientific Problems.) Chelyabinsk: Chelyabinsk State University, 81–99. [In Russian.] Kislenko, A.M. & N.C. Tatarintseva, 1999. The eastern Ural steppe at the end of the Stone Age, in Levine et al. 1999, 183–216. Levine, M., 1998. Eating horses: the evolutionary significance of hippophagy. Antiquity 72, 90–100. Levine, M., 1999a. Botai and the origins of horse domestication. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 18(1), 29–78. Levine, M., 1999b. The origins of horse husbandry on the Eurasian steppe, in Levine et al. 1999, 5–58. Levine, M. & A.M. Kislenko, 1997. New Copper Age and early Bronze Age radiocarbon dates for north Kazakhstan and south Siberia. Cambridge Archaeological Journal 7(2), 297–300. Levine, M., Y. Rassamakin, A. Kislenko & N. Tatarintseva, 1999. Late Prehistoric Exploitation of the Eurasian Steppe. (McDonald Institute Monographs.) Cambridge: McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research. Maier, R.A., 1961. Neolithische Tierknochen-Idole un Tierknochen-Anhänger Europas. Bericht der RömischGermanischen Kommission 42, 171–305. Mallory, J.P., 1981. The ritual treatment of the horse in the early Kurgan tradition. Journal of Indo-European Studies 9(3/4), 205–26. Mallory, J.P., 1996. In Search of the Indo-Europeans: Language, Archaeology, and Myth. London: Thames & Hudson. Mallory, J.P. & D.Q. Adams, 1997. Encyclopedia of IndoEuropean Cultures. London: Fitzroy Dearborn. Merrifield, R., 1987. The Archaeology of Ritual and Magic. New York (NY): New Amsterdam Books. Metcalfe, D. & K.T. Jones, 1988. A reconsideration of animal body-part utility indices. American Antiquity 53,

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486–504. Olsen, S.L., 1984. Analytical Approaches to the Manufacture and Use of Bone Artefacts in Prehistory. Unpublished PhD Thesis, Institute of Archaeology, University of London. Olsen, S.L., 1987. Magdalenian reindeer exploitation at the Grotte des Eyzies, Southwest France. Archaeozoologia 1, 171–82. Olsen, S.L., 1988a. Introduction: applications of scanning electron microscopy to archaeology, in Olsen (ed.) 1988d, 3–7. Olsen, S.L., 1988b. The identification of stone and metal tool marks on bone artefacts, in Olsen (ed.) 1988d, 337–60. Olsen, S.L., 1988c. Applications of scanning electron microscopy in archaeology, in Advances in Electronics and Electron Physics, vol. 71. New York (NY): Academic Press, 357–80. Olsen, S.L. (ed.), 1988d. Scanning Electron Microscopy in Archaeology. (British Archaeological Reports, International Series 452.) Oxford: BAR. Olsen, S.L., 1989a. Solutré: a theoretical approach to the reconstruction of Upper Paleolithic hunting strategies. Journal of Human Evolution 18, 295–327. Olsen, S.L., 1989b. On distinguishing natural from cultural damage on archaeological antler. Journal of Archaeological Science 16, 125–35. Olsen, S.L., 1994. Exploitation of mammals at the early Bronze Age site of West Row Fen (Mildenhall 165), Suffolk, England. Annals of Carnegie Museum 63, 115– 53. Olsen, S.L., 1996. Prehistoric adaptation to the Kazak steppes, in The Colloquia of the XIII International Congress of Prehistoric and Protohistoric Sciences, vol. 16: The Prehistory of Asia and Oceania, eds. G. Afanasev, S. Cleuziou, J. Lukacs & M. Tosi. Forlì: A.B.A.C.O. Edizioni, 49–60. Olsen, S.L., 2000a. The sacred and secular roles of dogs at Botai, north Kazakhstan, in Dogs Through Time: an Archaeological Perspective, ed. S. Crockford. (British Archaeological Report International Series 889.) Oxford: BAR, 71–92. Olsen, S.L., 2000b. Expressions of ritual behavior at Botai, Kazakhstan, in Proceedings of the Eleventh Annual UCLA Indo-European Conference, eds. K. Jones-Bley, M.E. Huld & A.D. Volpe. (Journal of Indo-European Studies Monograph Series 35.) Washington (DC): Institute for the Study of Man, 183–207. Olsen, S.L., 2001. The importance of thong-smoothers at Botai, Kazakhstan, in Crafting Bone: Skeletal Technologies through Time and Space, eds. A.M. Choyke & L. Bartosiewicz. (British Archaeological Report International Series 937.) Oxford: BAR, 197–206. Olsen, S.L. & P. Shipman, 1988. Surface modification on

bone: trampling vs. butchery. Journal of Archaeological Science 15(5), 535–53. Outram, A.K., 2001. A new approach to identifying bone marrow and grease exploitation: why the ‘indeterminate’ fragments should not be ignored. Journal of Archaeological Science 28, 401–10. Outram, A.K., 2002. Bone fracture and within bone nutrients: an experimentally based method for investigating levels of marrow extraction, in Consuming Passions and Patterns of Consumption, eds. P. Miracle & N. Milner. (McDonald Institute Monographs.) Cambridge: McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, 51–63. Outram, A.K. & P. Rowley-Conwy, 1997. Logging a dead horse: meat, marrow and the economic anatomy of Equus. University of Durham and University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne Archaeological Reports 1996(20), 1–4. Parkin, R., P. Rowley-Conwy & D. Serjeantson, 1986. Late Palaeolithic utilisation of red deer and horse at Gough’s Cave, Somerset. Proceedings of the University of Bristol Spelaeological Society 17, 311–30. Perkins, D. & P. Daly, 1968. The potential of faunal analysis: an investigation of the faunal remains from Suberde, Turkey. Scientific American 219, 96–106. Piggott, S., 1983. The Earliest Wheeled Transport. Ithaca (NY): Cornell University Press. Riegel, R.J. & S.E. Hakola, 1996. Illustrated Atlas of Clinical Equine Anatomy and Common Disorders of the Horse, vol. 1. Marysville (OH): Equistar Publications. Rikushina, G.B. & V.F. Zaibert, 1984. Preliminary report about human skeletal remains at the settlement of Botai, in The Bronze Age of the Uralo–Irtysh Region. Chelyabinsk: Inter-Institutes of Higher Learning Anthology, Bashkir State University, 121–34. [In Russian.] Rossier, E. & C. Berger, 1988. La viande de cheval: des qualités indiscutables et pourtant méconnues. Cahiers de Nutrition et de Diétologie 23(1), 35–40. Shnirelman, V.A., S.L. Olsen & P. Rice, 1996. Hooves across the steppes: the Kazak life-style, in Horses Through Time, ed. S.L. Olsen. Boulder (CO): Roberts Rinehart, 129–54. Telegin, D.Y., 1986. Dereivka: a Settlement and Cemetery of Copper Age Horse Keepers on the Middle Dnieper. (British Archaeological Reports International Series 287.) Oxford: BAR. Wilson, G.L., 1978. The Horse and Dog in Hidatsa Culture. (Reprints in Anthropology 10.0 Lincoln (NE): J. and L. Reprint Co. [Reprinted from Anthropological Papers of the American Museum of Natural History 15(2), 1924.] Zaibert, V.F., 1993. The Copper Age of the Ural–Irtysh Region. Almaty: Institute of Archaeology, Academy of Science of the Kazakhstan. [In Russian.]

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Geomorphological and Micromorphological Investigations at Botai

Chapter 8 Geomorphological and Micromorphological Investigations of Palaeosols, Valley Sediments and a Sunken-floored Dwelling at Botai, Kazakhstan Charly French & Maria Kousoulakou A

s part of the archaeological research project conducted at the Eneolithic settlement site of Botai, Kazakhstan, a geomorphological assessment survey was conducted of the site and its immediate environs. From this two off-site buried soil sequences were examined micromorphologically in order to yield environmental information on soil history and erosion processes. In addition, micromorphological analysis was conducted on the infilling sequence of one sunken-floored dwelling in excavation site 32. The scope of the analysis was to reveal the formation processes involved both during and after the use of

Ob

To bo l

ga

Do n

V ol

Dn ep r

y Yenise

the structure. Not only the nature of collapse of the dwelling was identified but also the character of reuse of the abandoned building. The evidence provided was correlated with that of the palaeosols and inferences were made regarding past land-use and vegetational environments at Botai. During the archaeological expedition to the Kokchetau region of northeastern Kazakhstan (Fig. 8.1) in the summer of 1995, led by Marsha Levine and sponsored by the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, a field appraisal of the geomorphological and micromorphological potential of the archaeological site of Botai and its immediate environs was conducted by the first author (French 1995). This included geomorphological survey of the immediate vicinity of the site, description and Le photographic recording of exna Ukraine posed sections around the site, Russian Federation and examination of the open sections in the area of a sunkenOb floored dwelling in excavation site Kam a Ir t ysh Dereivka 32, being excavated at the time under the direction of Alexander Kislenko. A series of profiles were Botai Is h i block-sampled for micromorphom Kazakhstan logical analysis from within the Sy r Ukok Plateau settlement and its vicinity. A summary account of the results of their Mongolia analysis and their implications China constitutes the present paper. Botai (Fig. 8.2) is an Eneo0 2000 km lithic settlement site covering approximately 15 hectares close to Figure 8.1. Location map of Botai in Kazakhstan. the north bank of the Iman-Burluk ya ar D

Caspian Sea

ea

U ra

l

kS ac

Bl

105

Chapter 8

The general environmental setting

Dwelling Excavated area Eroded riverbank Modern woodland

N

gully 2

Iman

-Bur

0

luk

60 m

dak del

Figure 8.2. General plan of the Eneolithic settlement at Botai. (After A. Kislenko.) River. The prehistoric human occupation of Botai apparently extended from the Mesolithic to the Neolithic period, but it is the Eneolithic occupation dated to c. 3500 BC that we are concerned with here. The site comprises about three hundred paired polygonal structures with their floors situated about 1 m below ground level (Figs. 8.2 & 8.3). These are referred to as sunkenfloored dwellings, each ranging in area from 30 m2 to 70 m2. The dwellings are seen on the surface of the ground as shallow depressions, and their regular, tightly-packed distribution resembles a honeycomb pattern. In groups, they are oriented in parallel rows on either side of ‘streets’ 4 to 8 metres wide.

The dry mid-latitude climate of the area, typical of large areas in Central Asia, is characterized by low annual precipitation and a strongly developed temperature cycle with a large annual range. Such mid-latitude regions support a steppe biome, characterized by sparse vegetation, consisting mainly of short perennial grasses growing in small clumps or bunches with occasional stands of birch and pine woodland. In general, plant ground cover is poor, and much bare soil is exposed. This type of climate has produced soils that are classified as chernozems (or black soil of the steppes) (Gerasimova et al. 1996, 136). This soil type is characterized by a thick, organic-rich A horizon and a weathered or cambic B (Bw) horizon, which retains large supplies of nutrients, including dominantly calcium, magnesium, potassium and sodium, making it moderately to strongly alkaline in reaction, and is often developed on loessic subsoils (Limbrey 1975, 196–8; Strahler & Strahler 1997). The geomorphological setting

Botai lies in the river valley of the Iman-Burluk, a tributary of the River Ishim (Figs. 8.1 & 8.2). The presentday river is situated immediately to the south of the site. Its northern bank is a precipitous and actively eroding cliff face, whereas its south bank is marked by gentler topography with a series of former terraces and meanders visible which indicate past channel avulsion. Relatively recent erosion has considerably cut into the slope on the northern side of the present river. The landscape today has a gently sloping aspect dissected by two small valleys (French 1995). The smoothed slopes disguise a series of now infilled, 106

Geomorphological and Micromorphological Investigations at Botai

small, north–south aligned, valley systems. The infills of these former valleys are exposed in the presentday river cliff section, and these are seen to occur approximately every 200 m, ranging from 75–100 m in width, and at least 3–5 m in depth. These systems would have given the area a much more gentlyfolded aspect in the past. Currently, an erosional phase is under way, manifested by active downcutting and enlargement by new gully systems. For example, one is located about 400 m to the east of the main excavation area (gully 1), and the second (gully 2) is situated on the southern edge of the site at the river’s edge. A third minor gully (3) is about 150 m to the west of the excavation area. These side gully systems contain a consistent sedimentary sequence. Three main sedimentary units are distinguished, from oldest to most recent, as follows: unit 1: multi-bedded coarse sands and fine gravels; unit 2: pale orangey brown silt with fine gravel horizons; unit 3: homogeneous, dark grey organic silt loam. The composition of unit 1 is suggestive of the erosion and redeposition of former river terrace deposits, with unit 2 indicative of wind and water deposition, such as would have occurred under cold periglacial conditions and before soil-forming processes began. Their accumulation may possibly be of late glacial/ very early Holocene date, c. 12,000–10,000 years ago. As for the tertiary infills of the former valleys (or unit 3), these probably began to aggrade at some point after the occupation of Botai, as the site is also overlain by unit 3-type material. The sediment is composed of organic dark silt loam material. The nature of this deposit poses several questions relating to its provenance and mode of deposition. If it is colluvial material, it remains to be determined how it was initially formed and what generated its subsequent movement and redeposition as unit 3. Moreover, the texture of the deposit strongly resembles the secondary and tertiary infills of the sunken-floored dwellings. The complementary micromorphological analyses should be able to shed some specific light on these problems and questions.

Table 8.1. Summary of the field descriptions of the sampled profiles. Depth (cm) Profile 1: 0–10

10–85

85–93

93–117

117+

Profile 2: 0–10

10–30

30–35

35–50

50+

Description black to very dark grey silt/fine sandy loam exhibiting a sub-angular blocky structure with modern rooting; modern topsoil; black to very dark grey silt/fine sandy loam exhibiting a sub-angular blocky ped structure; stabilized colluvial aggradation; pale yellowish-brown silt loam exhibiting a pellety and porous structure; former organic A horizon of palaeosol; pale greyish to orangey brown silty clay loam with a columnar ped structure; B horizon of palaeosol; pale yellowish-white calcareous silt; top of loessic subsoil.

black to dark grey silt/fine sandy loam with a subangular blocky ped structure; modern topsoil; pale brown silt/fine sandy loam with a moderately well-developed sub-angular blocky ped structure; stabilized colluvial material; brown silty clay loam with fine sub-angular blocky ped structure; former A horizon of palaeosol; reddish brown sandy/silt loam with fine to medium irregular blocky ped structure; B horizon of palaeosol; orange silt in undulating profile often with gravel ‘stringers’ at its upper surface; top of loessic subsoil.

Sunken-floored dwelling in excavation site 32: Profile 3 yellowish-brown silty clay make-up of outer wall on the west side of the structure (samples 3/1 and 3/2); Profile 4 possible zone of wall and ?turf collapse in the internal, eastern edge of structure (samples 4/1, 4/2 and 4/3); Profile 5 possible occupation surface with lens of organic/carbonized material in the centre of the structure (sample 5/1); Profile 6 two main (secondary and tertiary) fills of the sunken-floored dwelling (samples 6/1, 6/2 and 6/3).

93 cm of colluvial material of unit 3. Samples were taken from the colluvial/palaeosol contact and the palaeosol (at 83–96 cm and 100–116 cm). Profile 2, located midway between gullies 1 and 2 on the present river’s edge, may represent the earliest soil formation evident in the vicinity of the site as it infills subsoil hollows apparently produced by periglacial activity; with ice wedges also present. Here, the palaeosol is overlain by about 25–35 cm of colluvially derived topsoil. Samples were taken from the base of the colluvium and the palaeosol (at 11– 23 cm and 25–38 cm).

The sampling programme A series of samples were taken for micromorphological analysis (after Murphy 1986; Courty et al. 1989) from three different localities (Table 8.1), with the descriptions based on Bullock et al. (1985) and Fitzpatrick (1993) (Table 8.2). Profile 1 was taken from the west side of gully 3. The c. 35-cm-thick palaeosol is overlain by about 107

weakly-developed columnar blocky peds; clay loam

frequent complete infillings of planar voids and fine intercalations of impure clay

50% pellety structure; 50% poorly- to welldeveloped, irregular blocky to columnar ped structure; clay loam

abundant non-laminated impure clay & amorphous iron in upper half; more abundant micrite in lower half

Profile 4

Profile 5

heterogeneous; at base: a dense, uniform fabric (E) or very fine sandy clay loam; overlain by fabric C, sandy clay loam with remnant ped structure; upper part fabric (A) or dark brown, very organic, sandy loam fabric with a vughy to pellety microstructure

common neoformed micrite; rare, fine bone fragments

abundant non-laminated dusty clay in the groundmass; many micritic crystals

abundant organic punctuations & plant tissue fragments dominated by organic matter and fine to very fine quartz and non-laminated dusty clay

lower 54 mm: dense, very fine sandy loam

micritic; with bone fragments & phosphatisation; distinct boundary

upper middle 20 mm: 80% very organic, very fine sandy loam with horizontal aspect to vegetal voids

intermixed with 20% irregular aggregates of fabric A material; diffuse boundary over 1 mm

limit of excavation fill boundary

Sunken-floored dwelling: Profile 3 micritic, organic, silty clay loam dominated by horizontal sub-rectangular peds, defined mainly by planar voids

base similar to base of profile 5 organic-rich transition zone upper very fine sandy loam

many fragments of bone and general phosphatization; rare coprolite fragments; abundant micrite and common impure, often micro-laminated clay

W

Profile 6

Profile 3

upper 20 mm: dense, organic, very fine sand with horizontal orientation of voids

108

Figure 8.3. Cross-section of excavation site 32 through the sunken-floored dwelling showing the location of the micromorphology samples. (After A. Kislenko.)

C

Profile 4

dark brown, fine amorphous organic component; rare weathered bone fragments

Profile 5 carbonized lens primary fill boundary/constructional materials

vughy and pellety microstructure; silty/ sandy clay loam

fill i

B

fill iii - yellow brown silty clay fill ii - ‘lower colluvium’ (dark grey organic silt) fill i - ‘upper colluvium’ (dung/organic silt)

abundant micro-laminated pure to impure clay; minor organic component

fill ii

Profile 2

heterogeneous, sandy/ silty clay loam with vughy to very fine crack microstructure

Profile 6

Buried soils: Profile 1 A

Major features

fill iii

Fabric Structure & texture

topsoil

Profile/ sample

Scale 1:30

Table 8.2. The summary description of the buried soil profiles and excavation 32 sequence.

E

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Geomorphological and Micromorphological Investigations at Botai

The analysis of the off-site palaeosol profiles was intended to provide information on past soil types present and possibly give indications of past land-use. In addition, a series of spot samples was taken from the floor and main infilling deposits of the sunken-floored dwelling in excavation 32, as evident in the south face of the main east–west section through the structure (Fig. 8.3). Micromorphological analysis of the sampled contexts was intended to provide evidence of the composition and derivation of the infilling materials, to identify the processes responsible for the infilling of the sunken-floored dwellings, the nature of the occupation surface and the potential post-collapse use of the structure. One should, however, be aware of the preliminary character of this research, which only examined a limited number of contexts from a single structure out of a total of more than three hundred. Despite the apparent uniformity of dwelling type, further sampling from various contexts from within and beyond the confines of the structures and the settlement itself is needed, ideally combined with other analytical techniques, in order to enhance the current archaeological interpretation.

Figure 8.4. Excremental/pellety fabric indicative of turf (plane-polarized light: frame width = 4.5 mm).

The micromorphological analysis The detailed micromorphological descriptions are held in ar- Figure 8.5. B horizon fabric containing abundant illuvial clay and silty clay chive form in the McBurney indicative of brown earth soil development and colluvial additions (crossGeoarchaeology Laboratory, De- polarized light; frame width = 4.5 mm). partment of Archaeology, University of Cambridge, by the first author. Only a posed of an upper turf horizon (Fig. 8.4) over a weathdescriptive summary is given in Table 8.2. ered B horizon developed on an iron-rich, loessic silt subsoil. The B horizon contained common Interpretation and discussion of the results textural pedofeatures of micro-laminated and nonlaminated impure (or dusty) and pure clay (Fig. 8.5). The palaeosols The laminar aspect of some of the clay indicates that Profile 1: Essentially, the thin palaeosol was comthere were successive episodes of disturbance, move109

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ment of fine soil in water and deposition down profile. In many respects this soil is much more typical of a rather poorly-developed brown earth that would be commonly observed in northwestern Europe in river valley, floodplain edge locations (Bullock & Murphy 1979; Fedoroff 1968; French 1990), rather than being a characteristic chernozem of the steppe. This soil was overlain by heterogeneous, reworked soil material. It must have derived from upslope, where the soil surface had already been disturbed, perhaps truncated and the subsoil exposed. The agents that had caused the initial erosion could not be specifically recognized, but it is suggested that on a sloping ground sparsely covered by vegetation, as is the case today in the area, soil could have easily been mobilized by rainsplash action and/ or saturation through snow melt with consequent surface truncation induced by overland flow and gravity. However, charcoal fragments indicative of settlement and/or limited-scale burning incorporated in the deposit might suggest some the human involvement in the disturbance. Unfortunately it is impossible to be certain whether colluviation was intermittent or continuous and over what period of time. Inferences on environmental conditions can also be made on the basis of other features. Postdepositional bioturbation by soil fauna and roots, decaying remains of which are preserved in voids, was evident throughout the profile. Abundant vermiforms co-existed with typical enchytraeid worm granular excrements, possibly indicating slight changes in the pH of the past micro-environment from calcareous to slightly acidic. In addition, the downward movement of calcium-rich solutions and capillary action account for the abundance of micrite in the groundmass throughout the profile. This calcium carbonate derives from the calcareous substrata of the region, and is typical of the soils developed in the region (Gerasimova et al. 1996). This oscillation in water content is related to the rate of evaporation, further implying the alternation of wet and dry periods which is expected for the dry mid-latitude climate of the region with abrupt temperature changes. The rapid evaporation of soil moisture was also attested by the shrink-swell action observed in these clay-rich sediments, which was seen as the orientation of clay domains in striae and around pores and mineral grains in the groundmass, as well as the deformation of void walls which had acquired polyconcave shapes. Furthermore, an aerated environment had caused oxidation of the iron compounds present in the soil, imparting a reddish aspect to the groundmass.

Profile 2: This palaeosol profile was quite similar to the lower half of the palaeosol in profile 1, or a thin, bioturbated clay loam. The main differences were the absence of an upper humic horizon and the greater amount of micrite in the lower half of the profile. The upper half of the profile was characterized by large amounts of intercalated dusty clay, which is probably associated with subsequent colluviation and soil erosion caused by the repeated exposure of bare soil to rainsplash erosion, which induced intercalation of fine material (clay, silt and fine organic matter) into the soil. This soil has therefore undergone considerable disturbance and erosion during the process of burial. There were just a few features in this soil indicative of its former soil type that were observed at the base of the profile. These were thin, non-laminated pure clay coatings integral within the groundmass, and indicate some past clay illuviation under stable, well-drained conditions. This initial micromorphological glimpse of the palaeosols present at Botai has yielded information which contributes to our knowledge of the environmental context of the site. The sediments on whose upper surface the buried soils had developed probably originated in late glacial, cold climate conditions dominated by wind and water erosion. Thin brown-earth-type soils exhibiting some structural development and clay illuviation under stable conditions had begun to develop in the earlier part of the Holocene. But, these soils probably did not remain particularly stable for long, and soon became subject to erosion, the gradual intercalation of fine soil and even some truncation probably associated with vegetational disturbance, the saturation with water of bare soils and overland flow. There may have been some human involvement in the disruption of this environment, especially associated with the development of the site of Botai itself in the fourth millennium BC, but the nature and degree of human intervention is yet to be ascertained. From the combined micromorphological and geomorphological field survey evidence, it is possible to suggest the following model of landscape development at Botai. First an Early Holocene brownearth-type soil had begun to form. This soil exhibited some development with a blocky to columnar structure and clay illuviation, but its rather poor development suggests that it did not support a wellestablished woodland vegetation. This landscape became subject to disturbance, devegetation and soil erosion associated with rainsplash and overland flow which led to the partial infilling of small tributary 110

Geomorphological and Micromorphological Investigations at Botai

valley systems with relatively small amounts of colluvial soil, effectively smoothing the contour of the slope at Botai. There may well have been a human input into triggering these processes through agricultural/pastoral/settlement activities, but these are not directly recognizable in the soil record. It is suggested that these events had begun to occur during and after the mid-fourth millennium BC Eneolithic settlement at Botai. This phase was followed by renewed erosion and soil movement which is still continuing today as a slow process along with river channel downcutting and avulsion. Figure 8.6. Micritic, very fine sandy clay loam fabric exhibiting fine planar This scenario is contrary to voids in horizontal orientation which may indicate wetting/drying and the ‘accepted’ view of a domicompaction (crossed-polarized light; frame width = 4.5 mm). nant coniferous woodland environment in existence during the fourth-millennium BC occupation of Botai. It is Infillings of the sunken floored dwelling much more probable that a combined open woodProfile 3: The profile was taken from the in situ west land and grassland environment existed at this time wall of the sunken-floored dwelling in excavation 32 on the basis of the soil evidence. Indeed, current (Fig. 8.3). It was anticipated that micromorphologithinking on the vegetational development of the cal analysis might reveal the origin of the material southeastern Europe and western Russia would echo and how the wall was built, and comparisons would this type of conclusion (Peterson 1983; Willis et al. be made to the micromorphological features related 1998; Gardner 1999). These authors have suggested to processes associated with construction material and a forest-steppe plant community in the late glacial practices from equivalent contexts in the Near East that is composed of open coniferous forest with (Matthews 1995; Matthews et al. 1997). Such features patches of steppe-like grass and herb communities would relate particularly to the effects on the microthat rapidly became transformed into a more closed structure and porosity through preparation methods deciduous forest. This environment persisted for of the material and building practices. some three millennia with discrete human activity Comparison to the natural soil deposits examcausing subtle vegetation composition changes such ined from the vicinity of the site has shown that the as the reduction in oak and hazel until about the constructional material used in Botai was similar to fourth millennium BC, which then began to witthe very fine sandy/silty clay loam that composes ness the greater opening up of this wooded envithe palaeosols and subsoils in the adjacent gully sysronment and the increase in beech, hornbeam, tems and at the eroding river’s edge. herbs and grasses, along with minerogenic input The micromorphological characteristics of the into basins. Perhaps at Botai the earlier Holocene samples find many equivalents observed in previwas characterized by a mixture of open coniferous ous research on similar constructional materials woodland and steppe grass and herb communities, (Matthews 1992). Despite much bioturbation which which with the occupation of the site led to an inhas strongly affected the microstructure and poroscreasingly open and slightly unstable steppe enviity of the deposits, the dense massiveness of the ronment which persists until the present day. material is readily recognizable, as is the horizontal Obviously without new palynological research at definition of its structure (Fig. 8.6). These two atBotai and its immediate vicinity, these suggestions tributes are related to construction practices, namely cannot be tested further. wetting/drying and compaction. The arrangement 111

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of the clay in the groundmass suggests preparation of the material. More specifically, clay domains in thin section exhibit weak basic orientation, with only occasional formation of striae, as opposed to the other deposits examined from within the structure. This possibly indicates pugging, a preparatory process of blending and compacting the material in order to exclude any excessive air and render it more cohesive and durable (Courty et al. 1989, 119, 241). Also, the homogeneity of the fabric induced by this method has been observed elsewhere (Matthews 1995; Matthews et al. 1997) and is seen also in Botai. It is probable that plant material was intentionally added as a binding agent. Characteristic micromorphological features related to such practice are elongated fine voids of vegetal origin indicating the in situ decay of plant matter, and the high organic content itself. In Matthews’ (1995, 67) study of Abu-Salabikh, Iraq, it is claimed that about 20 per cent vegetal material component would be needed in order to provide essential tensile strength and flexibility to constructional materials. This level of organic component is found in the Botai samples where there is a 20–40 per cent organic matter present, although much degraded. In terms of structure, a well- to moderately welldefined horizontal arrangement of planar voids and resulting small, sub-rectangular blocky peds is mainly due to the expansion (water absorption) and contraction (evaporation) properties of the clay in this material. Repeated wetting and subsequent drying phases are thought to have produced the regular crack pattern. This could be tentatively translated into intentional wetting of each layer of soil in order to provide better cohesion for each consecutive soil lump, in the process of building. To take the interpretation a little further, it could be argued that the concentration of a set of horizontal planar voids in the lowermost part of sample 3/1 may represent the junction between two consecutive constructional units. Finally, the abundance of micritic calcite in these samples could be interpreted either as inherent in the subsoil source material, reprecipitated after the water applied to the material for the construction had dried out, or as having been added intentionally as a hardener for the silty clay due to its natural cementing properties. The former suggestion is most probable, but its natural cementing qualities may well have been known.

rial (similar to the fabric in profile 3), whereas the dark brown upper horizon may represent turf with much biological reworking. The micromorphological analysis of these samples confirmed these suggestions. This turf horizon has seen some disturbance as is indicated by the minor inclusion of irregular aggregates of a fabric similar to the wall material in sample profile 3. The transition from this turf to the underlying material was marked by a distinctive irregular boundary which may have been caused by the collapse of material onto an already disturbed lower deposit. This lower deposit was very similar to the fabric observed in sample profile 3, but is characterized by much less horizontal organization of the fabric. This suggests it is also wall material, but no longer in situ. Profile 5: There were three zones evident in this profile. The lower and upper zones exhibited structural features characteristic of compacted, trampled surfaces, indicative of human or animal presence on the site (after Ge et al. 1993). Inbetween was a zone of organic debris accumulation, much reworked by the soil fauna, with minor amounts of weathered bone fragments and traces of phosphatization (Fig. 8.7). This sequence suggests two clean and one ‘dirty’ period of occupation and use, although the exact nature of activities was not detected. Nonetheless, the middle zone of organic deposition suggests a change of use, and perhaps even a period of use for either the storage of organic material and/or stabling with bedding, or perhaps even a period if disuse and the accumulation of midden-type debris. Profile 6: Overlying the floor levels examined in profile 5, there was a sequence consisting of two main horizons of infilling of the sunken-floored dwelling — a yellowish/reddish brown, very fine sandy/silty clay loam (sample 6/2), which was in turn overlain by a dark grey, very organic, very fine sandy loam (sample 6/1 at the base and sample 6/3 at the top). The lower infilling sediment was probably also collapsed wall material (similar to sample profile 4, fabric B) from the decay and collapse of the out of use structure. It also contained introduced fine organic matter, minute bone fragments and the occasional fragment of coprolite. The overlying dark grey horizon is unlike any other deposit or soil examined at this site. In fact it bears a striking similarity to modern horse dung recovered from a waste dump outside a nearby modern horse corral. Like the horse dung, it is characterized by abundant very fine

Profile 4: Field examination suggested that the deposits in profile 4 represented collapsed wall mate112

Geomorphological and Micromorphological Investigations at Botai

quartz, abundant fragments of plant tissue and much phosphatization, plus numerous eroded fragments of bone suggesting the additional inclusion of midden-type debris. This must have been the result of redeposition of material from stabling layers (Courty et al. 1991), mixed with settlement debris or perhaps debris from areas where butchering had been practised (M. Levine pers. comm.). It is suggested that this collapsing, out-of-use structure was being used as an open-air midden. Several observed features corroborate this interpretation, for example the abundance of comminuted, rounded and heavilydeteriorated bone fragments Figure 8.7. Degraded plant and bone remains, partially replaced by amorphous suggestive of weathered and iron in an excremental, weakly phosphatized fabric which is suggestive of an trampled bone derived from a accumulation of reworked turf, dung/stabling and midden occupation material surface elsewhere, well rounded (plane-polarized light; frame width = 2 mm). coprolitic fragments coated with fine material also suggestive of secondary deposisearch tool to supplement the systematic excavation tion, and the abundant organic and organic-derived of the site. Sampling focused on limited, yet impormineral material which consisted of amorphous, detant archaeological and environmental contexts, with cayed vegetable matter and common tissue remains, the purpose of elucidating primarily those processes within which phytoliths were recognizable. These responsible for the formation of the site. The techlatter features are evident in the modern spot samnique has provided insightful interpretations on procple of horse dung taken from a present-day corral. esses and actions that might have otherwise remained Moreover, the plant-tissue fragments present did not undetected. exhibit any layering which would be in favour of A model of earlier Holocene soil development their interpretation as primarily deposited dung, as occurring in a mixed open woodland and steppeis known to occur in byres (Davidson et al. 1992, 62). like environment has been proposed, later followed The organic and mineral matter in thin section also by erosion and colluvial processes probably from appeared intimately mixed, an attribute known to the Eneolithic period. Woodland here may never have characterize middens (Courty et al. 1989, 118). been as well developed as one might imagine with a Thus this profile evidence has provided secnorthwestern European perspective, and once it beondary evidence of pastoralism through the identificame open steppe grassland it ostensibly remained so. cation of midden material derived from redeposited The structure that was examined revealed claystabling layers. Ideally, further evidence should be rich wall and floor deposits, both in situ and as colsought to test this micromorphological interpretalapsed material, as well as midden waste within the tion through a systematic environmental survey of abandoned structure. Animal dung, and in particuthe archaeological site and its environs, conducting lar horse dung, was apparently being managed and for instance phosphate and magnetic susceptibility stored in at least one abandoned structure, indicasurveys, as well as palynological studies. tive of the strong importance of the horse in the fourth millennium BC at Botai. Conclusions Acknowledgements In the context of archaeological research at Botai, micromorphological analysis was employed as a reThe authors gratitude should be extended to the 113

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Fitzpatrick, E.A., 1993. Soil Microscopy and Micromorphology. Chichester: John Wiley and Sons. French, C.A.I., 1990. Neolithic soils, middens and alluvium in the lower Welland valley. Oxford Journal of Archaeology 9(3), 305–11. French, C.A.I., 1995. Botai, Kazakhstan: Assessment of the Geomorphological Context and of the Deposits within the Sunken-floored Dwellings. Unpublished report. Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge. Gardner, A., 1999. The Impact of Neolithic Agriculture on the Environments of South-east Europe. Unpublished PhD thesis. Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge. Ge, T., M.-A. Courty, W. Matthews & J. Wattez, 1993. Sedimentary formation processes of occupation surfaces, in Formation Processes in Archaeological Context, eds. P. Goldberg, D.T. Nash & M.O. Petraglia. (Monographs in World Archaeology 17.) Madison (WI): Prehistory Press, 149–63. Gerasimova, M.I., S.V. Gubin & S.A. Shoba, 1996. Soils of Russia and Adjacent Countries: Geography and Micromorphology. Moscow: Wageningen. Limbrey, S., 1975. Soil Science and Archaeology. London: Academic Press. Matthews, W., 1992. The Micromorphology of Occupational Sequences and the Use of Space in a Sumerian City. Unpublished PhD Dissertation. Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge. Matthews, W., 1995. Micromorphological characterisation and interpretation of occupation deposits and microstratigraphic sequences at Abu Salabikh, Southern Iraq in Barham & Macphail (eds.), 1–34. Matthews, W., C.A.I. French, T. Lawrence, D.F. Cutler & M.K. Jones, 1997. Microstratigraphic traces of site formation processes and human activities. World Archaeology 29(2), 281–308. Murphy, C.P., 1986. Thin Section Preparation of Soils and Sediments. Berkhamsted: A B Academic. Peterson, G.M., 1983. Recent pollen spectra and zonal vegetation in the western USSR. Quaternary Science Reviews 2, 281–321. Strahler, A.N. & A. Strahler, 1997. Physical Geography: Science and Systems of the Human Environment. Chichester: John Wiley and Sons. Willis, K., M. Braun, P. Sumegi & A. Toth, 1998. Prehistoric land degradation in Hungary: who, how and why? Antiquity 72, 101–13.

following people: The Board of State Scholarships Foundation of the Republic of Greece for the studentship for postgraduate studies in Environmental Archaeology awarded to the second author, Marsha Levine for the invitation to participate in the expedition to Kazakhstan, procuring funding and the provision of valuable unpublished information on the archaeology of Kazakhstan, the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research for providing excellent funding for the fieldwork, Alexander Kislenko, the excavator of Botai, for his advice and humour in the field, Assistant L. Karali-Giannakopoulou, University of Athens, and Martin Jones, University of Cambridge for support and advice. The field expedition team members — Marsha Levine, Victor Buchli, Keith Bennett and Lucy Walker — all proved to be invaluable company. Thin-section manufacture was carried out by Charles French, Julie Miller and Karen Milek of the Geoarchaeology Laboratory, Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge. References Barham, A. & R.I. Macphail (eds.), 1995. Archaeological Sediments and Soils: Analysis, Interpretation and Management. London: Institute of Archaeology, University College. Bullock, P. & C.P. Murphy, 1979. The evolution of a palaeoargillic brown earth (Paleudalf) from Oxfordshire, England. Geoderma 22, 225–52. Bullock, P., N. Fedoroff, A. Jongerious, G. Stoops & T. Tursina, 1985. Handbook for Soil Thin Section Description. Wolverhampton: Waine Research Publications. Courty, M.-A., P. Goldberg & R.I. Macphail, 1989. Soils and Micromorphology in Archaeology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Courty, M.-A., R.I. Macphail & J. Wattez, 1991. Soil micromorphological indicators of pastoralism with special reference to Arene Candide, Finale Ligure, Italy. Studi Liguri A. LVII (1–4), 127–50. Davidson, D.A., S.P. Carter & T.A. Quine, 1992. An evaluation of micromophology as an aid to archaeological interpretation. Geoarchaeology 7, 55–65. Fedoroff, N., 1968. Génèse et morphologie des sols a horizon b textural en France atlantique. Science du Sol 1, 29–65.

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Chapter 9 A Note on the Early Evidence for Horse and the Riding of Equids in Western Asia Joan Oates Ancient evidence for the various equids employed in

ern Syria: see most recently Ismail et al. 1996). On mid-third-millennium monuments, for example the so-called Standard of Ur (Strommenger 1964, pls. 72, XI), ‘battle wagons’ are pulled by harnessed equids, probably donkeys, while the texts tell us that at this time the BAR.AN (kúnga) hybrid was the appropriate animal for drawing the ‘chariots’ of kings and

western Asia comes primarily from the identification of faunal remains and from the cuneiform texts. Pictorial representations, which occur largely in the form of clay figurines and plaques and the impressions of cylinder seals, can be very misleading since we have no means of assessing the intention of the artist or craftsman. Nor are the osteological data straightforward. There is, nonetheless, convincing evidence in Mesopotamia and Syria for the presence of domestic horse at the latest by the last century of the third millennium BC. The riding of equids is attested even earlier. It is the purpose of this paper to provide a brief summary of current evidence. (Much of the background can be found in more detail in: Littauer & Crouwel 1979; Meadow & Uerpmann 1986; Moorey 1970; 1986.) The earliest and always the most common domestic equid in this area was, of course, the donkey (Equus asinus), used for riding, for traction and as a pack animal. E. asinus seems first to have been domesticated in North Africa and possibly in southwestern areas of the Middle East (Uerpmann 1987; Groves 1986); indeed wild donkeys are now reported at Ain Ghazal in Jordan in the eighth/seventh millennium (von den Driesch pers. comm.). Certainly the domestic donkey was present in the Levant in the fourth millennium BC, where clay figurines said to come from Chalcolithic levels depict donkeys with large baskets or ‘panniers’ (Epstein 1985). The cuneiform sign for ‘donkey’ is present already in the late fourth-millennium BC tablets from Warka, and there is osteological evidence of domestic donkey in excavated levels of the same date not only at Warka but also at Uruk colonies on the upper Euphrates, attestation perhaps of the role played by this new pack animal in the establishment of the ‘colony sites’ (Boessneck et al. 1984; J. Weber pers. comm.). Donkeys used for ploughing, traction and the carrying of loads are widely attested in third-millennium texts from Sumer and elsewhere (including Ebla and Beydar in north-

Figure 9.1. Seal impression rolled on a large jar shoulder, depicting a four-wheeled vehicle drawn by four equids, probably the kúnga hybrid on the evidence of the representation itself and the presence of the frontal fringe which seems specific to the hybrid among the third-millennium baked clay figurines from Tell Brak. Late ‘Early Dynastic III’ (c. 2400 BC), from the 2002 season at Tell Brak. (Drawing by H. McDonald.) 115

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Figure 9.2. Seal impressions from Tell Brak (ancient Nagar) and nearby Tell Beydar (Nabada) showing ritual scenes with equid-drawn wagons, occasionally involving some level of ‘conflict’, whether real or ritual. (Seals 1–4, Tell Brak, c. 2250 BC; 5–11, Tell Beydar, c. 2400–2250 BC, after Oates et al. 2001, fig. 313.) 116

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along the major routes is well-attested before the introduction of the horse. The riding of donkeys and perhaps also the hybrid is discussed further below.

gods (Heimpel 1994). This hybrid was almost certainly an onager x donkey cross, though the onager itself was untameable and never domesticated. A recent article (Nagel et al. 1999) examines in detail the classical references to ‘onagers’ in what is now Anatolia, but note that the taxonomic meaning of the name in Classical times may have differed from modern usage. The donkey x onager hybrid is attested in the cuneiform texts from around the middle of the third millennium (Postgate 1986, 201) but is difficult to differentiate among the equid remains. It was both faster and more attractive than the donkey, and remained the preferred animal of traction until the introduction of the horse late in the third millennium. Texts from Ebla, south of Aleppo, dating to c. 2300 BC, tell us that the city of Nagar, almost certainly the ancient site of Tell Brak in northeastern Syria, was especially noted for the breeding of the kúnga hybrid and that this animal cost as much as 40 times the price of a donkey (Archi 1998; Oates 2001). By the mid-third millennium there is also evidence for ‘way stations’ or ‘caravanserais’ which provided various services, initially for the benefit of royal messengers, including provisions, vehicles, repairs and the necessary equids themselves (Heimpel 1994; Sallaberger 1998). At Tell Brak we have excavated a large building near the north gate of the city which we believe was just such a ‘way station’, perhaps also associated with the breeding of the hybrids which cuneiform documents tell us were delivered there (c. 2300 BC: Oates et al. 2001, plan fig. 42). Donkey skeletons recovered here show signs of loadbearing and both crib-biting and bit-wear on their teeth (Clutton-Brock, below). At the same time the newly discovered third-millennium tablets from Tell Beydar, some 40 km from Brak-Nagar and in ancient times a dependency of Nagar, tell us that the ruler of Nagar travelled in state to Beydar in order to attend the local assembly and various festivals, and that his ‘chariots’ were pulled by teams of four equids which were fed and looked after at the Beydar ‘way station’. Unfortunately the type of equid is not specified but it would be surprising if, in such ‘status’ contexts, these were not the hybrids for which Nagar was famous. It is also tempting to see in the sealings recovered from both sites some depiction of these activities (Figs. 9.1 & 9.2). The ‘way station’ at Beydar was manned not only by those who fed and looked after the animals but also by an unusual number of cartwrights, who presumably both made and repaired the vehicles (Ismail et al. 1996; Sallaberger 1996a,b; 1998). Thus the widespread use of harnessed teams of equids and the presence of ‘way stations’

Evidence for the horse (Equus caballus) The origins of the domesticated horse in western Asia remain unclear. Certainly the wild horse, Equus ferus, was native to the Levant where it survived until the end of the Pleistocene, having been identified at a number of sites including the Mount Carmel cave sites and Yabrud. Both horses and hemiones are present at contemporary sites in the Zagros (e.g. Palegawra, Warwasi: Uerpmann 1987, 17), but Equus ferus has not been reported there at sites of Neolithic date. A remnant population of Late Pleistocene horses, however, would seem to have survived in Anatolia at least until the fourth millennium (see, for example, the wild horses of fourth-millennium date at Nors¸untepe and Neolithic horse in the Altinova plain: Boessneck & von den Driesch 1976). Domestic horse bones are reported from the late third millennium in the Khabur area of northeastern Syria (Tell Leilan: Zeder 1995, and most recently from BrakNagar1) and dating to c. 2000 BC at Godin Tepe in the Zagros (Gilbert 1991). Early Bronze Age horse is also reported at Arad in southern Palestine (Davis 1976; see also Grigson 1993). In the cuneiform texts the word for horse first appears in the Ur III period, conventionally dated to the last century of the third millennium BC: in Sumerian ans&e.zi.zi (later ans&e.kur.ra, the ‘ass of the mountains’), derived from Akkadian sı‹sû (sı‹sa#’u), itself probably an Indo-European loanword. That this must refer to domestic horses is clear from the contexts. At this time such animals are always listed in small numbers, under the care of specific persons (Civil 1966, 122). Administrative texts of Ur III date from the state livestock repository at Drehem in southern Iraq (Oates 1986, 44) record small numbers of both horse and the BAR.AN hybrid; indeed several such texts of the time of the Ur III king SÙu-Sin (2037–2029 BC) record the bizarre practice of feeding these expensive animals, both horses and BAR.AN hybrids, probably alive, to lions kept in captivity, presumably for the entertainment of the royal house and their guests at Ur (Owen 1979, 63); more common animals were not employed in such spectacles. There are at this time rare references to ‘mounted messengers’; unfortunately the type of mount is not specified (Goetze 1953, 117), but the donkey’s lack of speed suggests the likelihood of horse. Horses are mentioned in a few literary pas117

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sages related to the Ur III king SÙulgi (2094–2047 BC), which are of contemporary or only slightly later composition. A self-laudatory hymn dedicated to this south Mesopotamian king suggests the use of horses for caravans, that is, as pack animals. (SÙulgi speaks): SÙulgi voluptuously chosen by (the goddess) Inanna am I, A mule set for the road am I, A horse of the highway that swishes (his) tail am I, (ans&e.zi.zi/ans&e.kur.ra har.ra.an.na) ( course am I A stallion of SÙakkan2 eager for the (Kramer 1969, 585; Klein 1981, 189).

Clay figurines depicting equids are found in large

Figure 9.3. Early Akkadian seal impression depicting an equid with rider. The pose of the rider, with knees bent for control and one hand holding the equid’s tail, the other a stick or possibly a spear, resembles that of the horse-rider of Figure 9.7. Date c. twenty-third century BC. (Photograph courtesy of the Ashmolean Museum.)

Figure 9.5. Sealing on tablets of SÙu-Sin (2037–2039 BC) from Ur, showing a rider astride (?) an equid that appears to have the mane and tail of a horse. (After Owen 1991, fig. 11.)

Figure 9.4. Modern impression of serpentine cylinder seal showing a ‘contest scene’ which includes the rider of an equid, apparently trampling a ‘victim’; one leg of the rider is drawn up in order better to control the animal (Akkadianstyle, twenty-third century BC, Louvre AO 22325). 118

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numbers in archaeological levels dat- a b ing to the second half of the third millennium. Among these it is extremely difficult to differentiate horse from the representations of donkeys and the hybrids; a beautifully modelled head from Tell Mozan, a site at the foot of the Tur Abdin in northeastern Syria not far from Brak-Nagar (Buccellati & Kelly-Buccellati 1988, pl. 1), is undoubtedly the most caballine of those published up to now (see also Oates 2001). Seal impressions are equally difficult to interpret, but as early as the mid-third millennium they suggest the use of equid-drawn Figure 9.6. a) Donkey and rider figurine, Tell Selenkahiye (Syria), end of wagons for ‘military’ purposes, as on third millennium. The rider has been broken off but the remains clearly the ‘Ur Standard’ (cf. Fig. 9.2, and see indicate the ‘side saddle’ position (after Liebowitz 1988, fig. 30:3). A esp. the famous stele of Eannatum: number of figurines of this type were identified at the site. b) Detail of seal Strommenger 1964, pl. 66). Seal im- impression from Kültepe Karum II (c. 1950–1850 BC), showing a figure pressions of the late Early Dynastic seated on an elaborate side saddle with foot rest, riding an equid which is and Akkadian periods, that is very almost certainly a donkey. (After Littauer & Crouwel 1979, fig. 38.) approximately the twenty-fourth and twenty-third centuries BC, illustrate the riding of equids for hunting and possibly also in ‘conflict’, but there is no direct evidence to suggest that any of these are horses (see, inter alia, Fig. 9.3 and Collon 1987, no. 685). Perhaps the best depiction of a rider astride is on a seal from the Louvre dated to the Akkadian period (Fig. 9.4); here the shape of the tail clearly indicates that the equid portrayed is not a horse. The rider holds both a stick and a (?) whip and, as in Figure 9.3, uses the pressure of his bent knees for control. An Ur III tablet of the time of SÙu-Sin (2037–2029 BC) bears the impression of a cylinder seal on which is depicted a man apparently riding astride an equid interpreted as a horse owing to its flat mane and apparently full tail (Fig. 9.5, and Owen 1991). A conFigure 9.7. Early second-millennium clay plaque temporary group of equid-with-rider terracotta figshowing a horse, identified by his mane and tail, and urines from Selenkahiye in northern Syria (Liebowitz possibly naked rider. The rider controls the animal by the 1988) depicts donkeys ridden ‘side-saddle’, without pressure of his knees and thighs, and in one hand holds the saddle of course (Fig. 9.6a), in the manner still reins attached to a nose-ring and perhaps the girth, in common in the Near East at the present day. On one the other a stick and perhaps the base of the horse’s tail. figurine on which the rider is better preserved (After Littauer & Crouwel 1979, fig. 37; see also Moorey (Liebowitz 1988, p. 18 & pl. 30:2), the left arm ex1970, pl. 13a.) tends forward and the right arm back, resembling the pose on the SÙu-Sin and earlier seal impressions. but close examination of the photograph suggests at This evidence perhaps strengthens the case for sugleast the possibility that this rider too is ‘side-saddle’ gesting that an equid ridden astride is more likely to (a line apparent on the photograph seems to indicate represent the hybrid or, at this time, conceivably that both legs are positioned on the same side of the even a horse, rather than a donkey. I have not actuanimal, but the photograph is possibly misleading). ally seen the seal impression published by Owen, The actual pose of the riders on the earlier seal im119

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The horse, after he had thrown off his rider (said). If my burden is always to be this, I shall become weak. (Gordon 1958, 19)

pressions resembles that on some of the early second-millennium equid-riding plaques published by Moorey (1970, and see Fig. 9.7), where one hand of the rider appears to rest on the rump of the animal (perhaps even to hold the tail) and the other holds a stick and/or rein through a ring on the equid’s nose (compare in particular Moorey 1970, fig. 12b, which must illustrate the hybrid since the onager itself is not tameable). Here the leg position differs from that on the Ur III seal shown in Figure 9.5. It remains the case that none of the third-millennium equid-with-rider depictions can be unequivocally identified as illustrating a horse. On the other hand, although the hybrid was certainly tameable, there is as yet no cuneiform evidence to suggest that it was ever ridden. It is also possible that these third-millennium equid-riders in some way participated in military duties. This depends, however, on the interpretation of seal impressions on which equids are shown trampling ‘victims’ (Fig. 9.4), a motif common on many of the wagon scenes and conceivably largely of ritual significance (cf. Fig. 9.2). It is also clear from the early second-millennium illustrations that, despite the extensive thirdmillennium evidence for the harnessing of equids to wagons and the osteological evidence for bit wear at Brak (Clutton-Brock, below), ridden horses and perhaps also the driven hybrids continue to be controlled only by reins through a nose ring, a technique originally associated with the use of oxen as draught animals and hardly suited to the more sensitive nose of a horse (see Figs. 9.1:6 & 9.6). (In the third-millennium ‘rest houses’ there was even an official known as the ‘nose-rope holder’: Heimpel 1994, 10.) Not only was the harnessing for riding minimal, but the riders themselves are shown only lightly if at all clothed, perhaps for greater speed. They are often depicted seated well back on the loins of the horse, again as one would ride a donkey. By the eighteenth century BC textual evidence assures us that Equus caballus was no longer uncommon; indeed the riding of horses and their use as traction for spoke-wheeled vehicles and as pack animals is widely attested. The evidence comes largely from contemporary cuneiform tablets in northern Iraq and Syria, in particular Mari, Tell al Rimah and Chagar Bazar. One of the earliest references to horse-riding comes from an Old Babylonian fable, preserved on a tablet of which the date is approximately contemporary with the tablets from Mari, referred to below. Since the ‘fable’ was at that time already part of a standard collection, it almost certainly had an earlier origin:

In the Kültepe texts there are rare references to couriers carrying post or diplomatic messages (Garelli 1963, 303), references which have encouraged the assumption that these special messengers moved rapidly by horse (see also the Goetze reference, above), but there is no direct evidence for the use of horses with the exception of a single reference to the transport of tin by horse (ina si-sa-im: Contenau 1919, 28:13), which refers almost certainly to a pack horse. Nor do the standard rations allocated to messengers make allowance for a ridden animal (Moorey 1970, 48). The equids depicted on the contemporary seal impressions from Kültepe are not easily identified, and certainly not clearly caballine (cf. Moorey 1970, 47 & n. 36). Perhaps more convincing is a letter found at Tell al Rimah, dated to the first half of the eighteenth century BC following the conventional ‘middle chronology’, which reads, ‘let the horses speedily bring the case of silver cups’, the earliest reference to a possible ‘pony express’-type delivery, though even here the meaning is not absolutely unequivocal (Dalley et al. 1976, text 85:11). An even earlier eighteenth-century letter from SÙams&i-Adad to his son in Mari asks for mules and horses as well as chariots/ carts for the celebration of a religious festival in Assyria (ARMT I, 50), while at Chagar Bazar, also at the time of SÙams&i-Adad, a wage-list refers to five ‘grooms’ in the charge of a ‘trainer’ (Gadd 1940, tablet 946). Another lists fodder for 20 horses (tablet 929), and there are references to true mules (ans&e.nun.na = damdammu, tablets 972, 981). Despite the rarity and obviously high status of the horse, it was clear that old traditions died hard. Perhaps the best-known letter of this period is that written to the king of Mari, Zimri-Lim, advising him that My lord should preserve his royal dignity. Even though you are king of the Haneans,3 you are also king of the Akkadians. Thus my lord should not ride horses, but a ‘chariot’ with mules (kudanu), and maintain the prestige of his sovereignty’ (ARMT 6, 76).4

Whatever the protocol, these letters make it clear that by the eighteenth century BC the riding of horses was commonplace, at least in some circles, but that the social traditions which had their roots in the third millennium were not easily abandoned. White horses were particularly valued. Another Mari letter reads, 120

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Figure 9.9. Detail from a seal impression from Kültepe, eighteenth/seventeenth century BC, perhaps a hunting scene. (After Littauer & Crouwel 1979, fig. 36.)

Figure 9.8. Detail from a seal impression from Kültepe (Karum Kanesh II, c. 1950–1850 BC). (After Littauer & Crouwel 1979, fig. 29.)

such means of control are adequate for messengers, military scouts and for hunting. It is only much later, when cavalry became a regular component of armies, that discipline and manoeuvrability in combat required more precise control. The letter to ZimriLim, of course, carries the implication that horseriding was not uncommon among the Amorite tribes of the early second millennium. The fact that we have few illustrations of or references to riding must to a large degree reflect the social customs of the time: to be drawn by horse and carriage was a sign of status, appropriate to both kings and gods, as was the use of the equally valuable hybrid in the third millennium. In the words of a later text from As&su & r:

I spoke to him in the matter of the white horses, and he (the king of Carchemish) said: No white chariot horses are available — I will give orders that they lead white horses to me where they are available. In the meantime I will have them bring him some ‘red’ Harsamna horses (Dossin 1939, 120).

Qatna, north of Damascus, would also seem to have been a source of horses at this time, and a letter from Zimri-Lim remarks, ‘About the white horses that are from Qatna, of which you are always hearing: those horses are really fine!’ (ARM X 147). Despite the evidence for the use of a bit at Tell Brak and perhaps also, early in the second millennium, at Tell Yelkhi in the Hamrin area of eastern Iraq (Zarins 1986, n. 4) and Tal-i Malyan in Iran (Anthony & Brown 1989, 110), it would appear that in the Middle Bronze Age the use of elaborate harness was still restricted to the attachment of horses to chariots, again following the practices of the Early Bronze Age. In the first quarter of the second-millennium pictorial evidence for the riding of horses is found on the terracotta plaques mentioned above (e.g. Fig. 9.7). The lightly-clad riders usually hold a stick in one hand and the reins, attached to a nose-ring, in the other; the animal is controlled by the pressure of knees and thighs and, as Moorey remarks (1970, 43),

O horse, creature of the mountains, you have been given for the chariot of Marduk, the great lord, you have been created by the god to be hitched and unhitched (CAD vol. 15, 331).

Thus in the second millennium the riding of horses was common in both senses of the word. Spoke-wheeled chariots are also well-attested in the early second millennium, almost certainly a development of the two-wheeled vehicles of the third millennium (Moorey 1986, 203ff.; Oates 2001), and with the equids, often now horses, still harnessed with a nose-ring (Fig. 9.8). At this time (Middle Bronze Age) a more refined method of control is 121

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a

b

Figure 9.10. a) Detail of stone relief of Assur-nasir-pal II (883–859 BC) from Nimrud, showing a pair of mounted riders, one of whom controlled both horses to free the hands of the bowman; b) seventh-century BC Assurbanipal relief showing a mounted bowman. (After Littauer & Crouwel 1979, figs. 76 & 78.) illustrated on Syrian sealings where four lines pass from the driver’s hands directly to the heads of the two draught animals (Fig. 9.9); according to Littauer & Crouwel (1979, 61) these indicate ‘proper reins’. Chariots seem still to have been used largely for ceremonial purposes, however, again following thirdmillennium precedents although there does seem now to have been a distinction between ‘chariots’ and ‘swift chariots’ (Dalley 1984, 163). The horse was clearly an animal of high status, perhaps even kept in the context of royal establishments, yet its primary official function persisted as a replacement for the hybrid as the appropriate animal for the drawing of chariots in royal processions and ritual. How early in the second millennium the horse and chariot acquired a military function remains a matter of debate, illustrated again by only a few cylinder seals. There is some evidence to suggest this already by the eighteenth century (perhaps a hunting scene), but the interpretation of the depictions on the relevant seals remain a matter of debate (see discussion in Moorey 1986). Towards the end of this period Hittite texts provide firmer documentation but, as emphasized by Moorey (1986, 203), this military role was not effected by ‘hurling the chariots into the midst of the enemy’ (as Xenophon Cyropaedia VI.1.30) but through use of their speed and mobility essentially as ‘rapid firing platforms’. Indeed, even in Homeric Greece the chariot merely carried a warrior into battle, where he fought dismounted. Surviving

accounts of the Hittite siege of Ursum in southeastern Anatolia during the reign of Hattusili I (c. 1650– 1600 BC) tell of the isolation of that city with a cordon of eighty chariots and eight ‘armies’ of infantry (Moorey 1986, 204). An earlier Anatolian document, the ‘Text of Anittas’, is often cited in the context of the military use of chariots, but the actual reference is to forty teams of horses. In the Late Bronze Age (c. 1500–1200) the evidence of the Amarna letters clearly associates horses with Mesopotamia in a way that seems to belie their assumed northern or eastern origins. The Egyptian Pharaohs constantly demand horses from Babylon, while the Hittite king (Hattusili III), ruler of an area where one would assume the presence of such animals, also writes to the king of Babylon (KadashmanEnlil II) asking for horses: Send me horses, in particular tall stallion foals. The stallions which your father sent me and those which my brother has sent me up to now are good but too small. In Hatti-land the cold is severe, and an old horse will not survive. So send me, my brother, young stallions. (Beckman 1996, 137)

It is in this same letter that the Hittite king remarks that ‘horses are more plentiful than straw in my brother’s land’, that is, Babylonia. The importance of the horse at this time is clear in the salutations with which these letters begin, ‘I and my house, horses, chariots, officials and my country are well indeed. May everything be likewise well with my brother 122

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and his house, his horses, chariots, officials and his country’ (EA 7, Burnaburias& of Babylon to Amenophis IV); in a postscript to EA 9, Burnaburias& adds that he has sent three pounds of lapis lazuli and five teams of horses with five chariots to his ‘brother’. By the Late Bronze Age there is widespread evidence for the use of the spoke-wheeled chariot by messengers and as a vehicle of war as well as in ritual processions, but we continue to lack evidence of mounted cavalry. To quote Littauer & Crouwel (1979, 97) with reference to the later second millennium BC: ‘Neither in Egypt nor in the Near East is there any conclusive evidence of any kind for riders taking part in combat, individually or in special mounted units’. Those rare instances where riders are shown on harnessed horses almost certainly represent grooms returning chariot horses (e.g. Renfrew 1998, fig. 15.11), but rider-messengers are clearly attested, for example in a letter from the Hittite queen Puduhepa to Ramses II which includes the request, ‘The moment the messengers reach you, let my brother send a rider to me. Let documents be brought to the lords of my land . . .’ (Beckman 1996, 127). By the early Iron Age, however, the ridden horse had become a regular component of military strategy. The Assyrian stone reliefs demonstrate that the Assyrian army used mounted cavalry from at least as early as the ninth century BC, the earliest written reference to mounted troops occurring in a text of Tukulti-Ninurta II (890–884 BC). At this time both ridden and draught horses were controlled by a bridle consisting of headstall, reins and a bit, the latter made of both iron and bronze. Horses continued to be used for hunting, as were their equid predecessors in the third millennium. Moreover, by the Iron Age the armour-plating of chariots, horses and riders, already attested in the Late Bronze Age (Littauer & Crouwel 1979, 92), would imply a heavier breed of horse, and both large and small horses are pictured on the Assyrian reliefs. Indeed late eighth-century BC Assyrian sources clearly indicate two breeds of different size, the choice for chariotry being the large ‘Kush’ horse, obtained via Egypt, and a smaller breed for cavalry, at that time brought from northwestern Iran, perhaps on the borders of Urartu where the best cavalry horses and riders were then to be found (Dalley 1985, 43). The Assyrian stone reliefs also illustrate an interesting development in the management of cavalry early in the first millennium BC. In the ninth century, mounted soldiers rode in pairs so that one rider controlled both horses and held the protective shield, leaving the other free to use his bow (Fig.

9.10a). To quote Littauer & Crouwel (1979, 134–5), the chariot complement — warrior and driver — is at this time ‘simply transferred to the backs of its team, the men’s respective functions remaining the same’. By this time also horsemen sit further forward on the horse, in contrast with the position astride the loins, illustrated on the second-millennium plaques. By the eighth-century individual riders are depicted, each controlling his own horse, but these ‘unaided’ horsemen seem at this time to use only spears. These eighth century lancers sit more easily on their mounts, however, with their legs hanging freely (e.g. Barnett & Falkner 1962, pls. 13, 66/67, time of Tiglath-Pileser III = Pulu of the Bible). By the seventh century BC the technique of controlling both horse and bow had been mastered, despite the lack of stirrups (Fig. 9.10b). It would seem, however, that mounted riders in the Late Assyrian period were deployed more for manoeuvrability than speed, and it was not until the invention of the stirrup, apparently in Late Roman times, that the ridden horse became a really effective military instrument. The purpose of this paper has been to provide a very brief summary of the western Asiatic evidence for the use of equids, and in particular the evidence for riding. Its intention is not philological, nor is the author competent to engage in arguments about proto-lexikons. But it may perhaps be useful to add that in the context of the Near Eastern evidence it is still not entirely clear to what extent the origins of horse domestication are necessarily related to speakers of an Indo-European language, there being five different Indo-European roots for ‘horse’ (Coleman 1988), and that there is likely to have been a Hurrian/ Proto-North-Caucasian component to this story, at least in the context of the introduction of the domestic horse into Mesopotamia and northern Syria. Recent evidence from the Khabur region of northeastern Syria strongly suggests that here at least the horse arrived in association with Hurrian-speaking peoples (not the Mitanni!), first identified in the cuneiform records at the time of Naram-Sin (c. 2254–18 BC). Certainly there are important Hurrian city-states in this region by the last quarter of the third millennium (Buccellati & Kelly-Buccellati 1997; Oates et al. 2001, 393–4) while, as we have seen, the earliest written documentation of the horse belongs to the last century of this period. In a recent paper Ivanov (1998) discusses the name of the horse in Hurrian, and comments on the possible relationships, inter alia, of Sumerian ans& e .zi.zi, Akkadian sı‹ s û (sı‹ s a# ’ um) (*sisa’um), Hurrian es&se& , Armenian es& (‘donkey’), Luwian as&su & wa. Unfortunately our knowledge not only of the 123

Chapter 9

Adad letter referred to on p. 120, but the famous Zimri-Lim letter uses the term kudanu.

early domestication of the horse but also of the spread of the North Caucasian, Hurrian and sat´m dialects is at present inadequate to resolve these questions. We can conclude, however, that the domestic horse had certainly been introduced into northern Syria and Mesopotamia by the last century of the third millennium BC. Nor is there any doubt that in the second millennium BC horses were both ridden and used to pull spoke-wheeled chariots, indeed that the riding of horses precedes by hundreds of years the horse-training manual of the Mitannian Kikkuli and other Hittite ‘horse-texts’ of the Late Bronze Age (Kammenhuber 1961; Starke 1995). The military employment of horses as cavalry dates from at least as early as the Assyrian armies of the ninth century BC. Although the Assyrian king Assurbanipal, who was prone to exaggerate his personal achievements, hunts on horseback with a bow (Barnett & Forman n.d., 83–4), Darius III fled Gaugamela ignominiously in his chariot, and it is not until the emperors of the West that the riding of a horse became a suitable royal symbol. Indeed the horse and carriage image remains with us today.

References Amiet, P., 1980. The mythological repertory in cylinder seals of the Agade period (c. 2335–2155 BC), in Ancient Art in Seals, ed. E. Porade. Princeton (NJ): Princeton University Press, 35–59. Anthony, D.W. & D.R. Brown, 1989. Looking a gift horse in the mouth: identification of the earliest bitted equids and the microscopic analysis of wear, in Early Animal Domestication and its Cultural Context, eds. P.J. Crabtree, D. Campana & K. Ryan. (Research Papers in Science and Archaeology, supplement to vol. 6.) Philadelphia (PA): MASCA, 99–116. Archi, A., 1998. The regional state of Nagar according to the texts of Ebla. Subartu 4, 1–15. ARM = Archives Royales de Mari. Paris. Barnett, R.D. & M. Falkner 1962. The Sculptures from the Central and South-West Palaces at Nimrud. London: British Museum. Barnett, R.D. & W. Forman, n.d. Assyrian Palace Reliefs. London: Batchworth Press. Beckman, G., 1996. Hittite Diplomatic Texts. Atlanta (GA): Scholars Press. Boessneck, J. & A. von den Driesch, 1976. Pferde im 4./3. Jahrtausend v. Chr. in Ostanatolien. Saügetierkundliche Mitteilungen 24, 81–7. Boessneck, J., A. von den Driesch & U. Steger, 1984. Tierknochen Funde der Ausgrabungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts Baghdad in Uruk-Warka, Baghdader Mitteilungen 15, 149–89. Buccellati, G. & M. Kelly-Buccellati, 1988. Mozan, vol. 1: The Soundings of the First Two Seasons. (Bibliotheca Mesopotamica 20.) Malibu (FL): Undena. Buccellati, G. & M. Kelly-Buccellati, 1997. Urkesh, the first Hurrian capital. Biblical Archaeologist 60, 77–96. Buccellati, G. & M. Kelly-Buccellati (eds.), 1998. Urkesh/ Mozan Studies, vol. 3: Urkesh and the Hurrians (Bibliotheca Mesopotamica 26.) Malibu (FL): Undena. Buchanan, B., 1966. Catalogue of Ancient Near Eastern Seals in the Ashmolean Museum I. Oxford: Oxford University Press. CAD = Chicago Assyrian Dictionary, vol. 15 (S), 1984. Civil, M., 1966. Notes on Sumerian lexicography, I. Journal of Cuneiform Studies 20, 119–24. Coleman, R., 1988. Comment on A.C. Renfrew, Archaeology and Language. Current Anthropology 29, 449–53. Collon, D., 1987. First Impressions. London: British Museum Press. Contenau, G., 1919. Trente Tablettes Cappadociennes. Paris. Dalley, S., 1984. Mari and Karana: Two Old Babylonian Cities. London: Longman. Dalley, S., 1985. Foreign chariotry and cavalry in the armies of Tiglath-Pileser III and Sargon II. Iraq 47, 31–48. Dalley, S., C.B.F. Walker & J.D. Hawkins, 1976. The Old Babylonian Tablets from Tell al Rimah. London: British School of Archaeology in Iraq.

Acknowledgements I would like to thank both David Hawkins and Roger Moorey for their helpful advice, and Dr Moorey and Annie Caubet for permission to publish the impressions illustrated in Figures 9.3 and 9.4. Notes 1.

2. 3. 4.

A first phalange, identifiable either as a small horse or possibly the kúnga hybrid, and certainly to be dated between c. 2150–2100 BC, was found at Tell Brak in the spring season, 2002 (Emberling & McDonald, Excavations at Tell Brak 2002; preliminary report, forthcoming). I am indebted to Jill Weber for this identification, and for unpublished information concerning the presence of domestic donkey on the Upper Euphrates. Oddly, we have as yet no evidence of fourth-millennium donkeys at Brak, where southerners must have arrived using some different form of transport, perhaps characteristic of the ancient Tigris/overland route to Anatolia and the Mediterranean. SÙakkan was the god of steppe animals. For more detailed comments on the text, see Klein 1981, 167 ff. A tribal confederation. The difference between kudanu- and damdammu- mules is not entirely clear, if there was one at all. According to the CAD, vol. 3, 64, the former were used for riding and the latter ‘were considered elegant draft-animals, as their mention before horses and their use for the Akitu festival procession shows’, see the Shamshi-

124

Early Evidence for Horse in Western Asia

Davis, S., 1976. Mammal bones from the Early Bronze Age city of Arad, northern Negev, Israel. Journal of Archaeological Science 3, 153–64. Dossin, G. 1939. Aplahanda, roi de Carkémis& . Revue d’Assyriologie 35, 115–21. Dossin, G., 1950. Correspondance de SÙams&i-Addu et de ses Fils, ARM I. Dossin, G., 1978. Correspondance Féminine, ARM X. EA = Amarna letter; see most recently Moran. Epstein, C., 1985. Laden animal figurines from the Chalcolithic period in Palestine. Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 258, 53–62. Gadd, C.J., 1940. Tablets from Chagar Bazar and Tell Brak. Iraq 7, 22–61. Garelli, P., 1963. Les assyriens en cappadoce. (Bibliothèque arch. et hist. de l’institut française d’Istanbul XIX.) Paris. Gilbert, A.S., 1991. Equid remains from Godin Tepe, in Meadow & Uerpmann (eds.). Goetze, A., 1953. Hulibar of Duddul. Journal of Near Eastern Studies 12, 114–23. Gordon, C., 1958. Sumerian proverbs and fables. Journal of Cuneiform Studies 12, 1–21. Grigson, C., 1993. The earliest domestic horses in the Levant? — new finds from the fourth millennium of the Negev. Journal of Archaeological Science 20, 645– 55. Groves, C.P., 1986. The taxonomy, distribution and adaptations of recent equids, in Meadow & Uerpmann (eds.), 11–65. Heimpel, W., 1994. Towards an understanding of the term siKKum. Revue d’Assyriologie 88, 5–31. Ismail, F., W. Sallaberger, P. Talon & K. Van Lerberghe, 1996. Administrative documents from Tell Beydar. Subartu II. Ivanov, V.V., 1998. Horse symbols and the name of the horse in Hurrian, in Buccellati & Kelly-Buccellati (eds.), 145–66. Jans, G. & J. Bretschneider, 1998. Wagon and chariot representations in the Early Dynastic Glyptic. Subartu IV(2), 155–78. Kammenhuber, A., 1961. Hippologia Hethitica. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz. Klein, J., 1981. Three SÙulgi Hymns. Bar-Ilan: Bar-Ilan University Press. Kramer, S.N., 1969. Sumerian hymns, in Ancient Near Eastern Texts, ed. J. Pritchard. 3rd edition. Princeton (NJ): Princeton University Press, 573–86. Kupper, J.R., 1954. Correspondance de Bahdi-Lim, ARM VI. Liebowitz, H., 1988. Terracotta Figurines and Model Vehicles: Excavations at Selenkahiye, Syria. (Bibliotheca Mesopotamica 22.) Malibu (FL): Undena. Littauer, M. & J. Crouwel, 1979. Wheeled Vehicles and Ridden Animals in the Ancient Near East. Leiden: Brill. Meadow, R.H. & H.-P. Uerpmann (eds.), 1986. Equids in the Ancient World, vol. 1: Beihefte zum Tübinger Atlas des Vorderen Orients. (Reihe A Naturwissenschaften 19/1.) Wiesbaden: Reichert Verlag.

Meadow, R.H. & H.-P. Uerpmann (eds.), 1991. Equids in the Ancient World, vol. 2 (19/2). Wiesbaden: Reichert Verlag. Molleson, T. & J. Blondiaux, 1994. Riders’ bones from Kish, Iraq. Cambridge Archaeological Journal 4(2), 312– 16. Moorey, P.R.S., 1970. Pictorial evidence for the history of horse-riding in Iraq before the Kassite period. Iraq 32, 36–50. Moorey, P.R.S., 1986. The emergence of the light, horsedrawn chariot in the Near East, c. 2000–1500 BC. World Archaeology 18, 196–215. Moran, W., 1992. The Amarna Letters. Baltimore (MD): Johns Hopkins University Press. Nagel, W., J. Bollweg & E. Strommenger, 1999. Der ‘onager’ in der Antike und die Herkunft des Hausesels. Altorientalische Forschungen 26, 154–202. Oates, D., J. Oates & H. McDonald, 2001. Excavations at Tell Brak, vol. 2: Nagar in the Third Millennium BC. (McDonald Institute Monographs.) Cambridge: McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research. Oates, J., 1986. Babylon. London: Thames & Hudson. Oates, J., 2001. Equid figurines and ‘chariot’ models, in Oates et al. 2001, 279–83. Owen, D.I., 1979. A thirteen month summary account from Ur, in ‘Studies in Honor of Tom B. Jones’. Alte Orient und Alte Testament 203, 57–70. Owen, D.I., 1991. The ‘first equestrian’: an Ur III glyptic scene. Acta Sumerologica 13, 259–73. Postgate, J.N., 1986. The equids of Sumer, again, in Meadow & Uerpmann (eds.), 194–206. Renfrew, C., 1998. All the king’s horses, in Creativity in Human Evolution and Prehistory, ed. S. Mithen. London: Routledge, 260–84. Sallaberger, W., 1996a. Grain accounts: personal lists and expenditure documents. Subartu II, 89–106. Sallaberger, W., 1996b. Nagar in frühdynastischen texten aus Beydar, in At the Crossroads of Civilisations in the Syro-Mesopotamian Realm, Proceedings of the 42nd RAI. Leuven. Sallaberger, W., 1998. The economic background of a seal motif: a philological note on Tell Beydar’s wagons. Subartu IV(2), 173–5. Starke, F., 1995. Die Keilschrift-luwischen Texte in Umschrift. (Studien zu den Bogazköy-Texten 30.) Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz. Strommenger, E., 1964. The Art of Mesopotamia. London: Thames & Hudson. Uerpmann, H.-P., 1987. The Ancient Distribution of Ungulate Mammals in the Middle East, Beihefte zum Tübingen Atlas des Vorderen Orients. (Reihe A Naturwissenschaften 27.) Wiesbaden: Reichert Verlag. Zarins, J., 1986. Equids associated with human burials in third millennium BC Mesopotamia: two complementary facets, in Meadow & Uerpmann (eds.), 164–93. Zeder, M., 1995. The archaeobiology of the Khabur Basin. Canadian Society for Mesopotamian Studies Bulletin 29, 21–32.

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Were the Donkeys at Tell Brak (Syria) Harnessed with a Bit? Juliet Clutton-Brock T

he finding of six donkey skeletons (Equus asinus) in one deposit from the excavations at Tell Brak with the date of around 4000 BP (uncalibrated) has yielded sound evidence that in life the donkeys were ridden or used as pack animals, and that they were killed and buried in a single event as sacrificial animals (Clutton-Brock 1989; Clutton-Brock & Davies 1993). There are no serious pathologies on any of the skeletons but there are features in the teeth and skeletons which indicate that the donkeys had been: 1) stabled; 2) used as riding and/or pack animals; and 3) that they had been harnessed with a bit. 1. Evidence for stabling: There are notches on the external edges of the incisor teeth (Fig. 9.11) of three of the donkeys that are typical signs of chewing on wood and it may be surmised that the animals spent much of their time in stalls where they developed the compulsive behaviour pattern, known as crib-biting, in an attempt to relieve the monotony of their lives, just as stabled horses will do today when they are bored. 2. Evidence for use: There are exostoses (bony outgrowths) on a hoof core from one of the donkeys, which suggests that this animal had been ridden or driven over hard ground. There is also flatten-

ing and the growth of spongy bone on the tops of the neural spines of the posterior thoracic vertebrae of another donkey, as shown in Figure 9.12, indicating that it had frequently carried a heavy load. 3. Evidence for a bit or rope in the mouth: This is shown by oblique wear on the second premolars (Fig. 9.13) which is most likely to have been caused by a hard bit. At first I believed that the bits must have been made of copper as there are small patches of bright blue-green staining on the enamel of the crowns, underneath the cement, and running through the closed pulp cavities of the roots of the first cheek teeth (upper and lower second premolars) of three of the six donkeys, as shown in Figure 9.14. However, when one of the teeth was sent to the Mineralogy Department at the Natural History Museum, London, for analysis, no evidence of copper could be found and no evidence has been found in the literature to show that copper can intrude into and discolour the enamel and roots of teeth during life. It is remarkable, however, that in three of the skeletons this green staining occurs only on the first cheek teeth, and it is these teeth that would have been

Figure 9.11. Notching on the incisor teeth, probably caused by chewing wood. Scale in mm.

Figure 9.12. Bony outgrowths on the top of the neural spines probably caused by heavy loading on the spine. Scale in mm. 126

Early Evidence for Horse in Western Asia

Figure 9.14. Three views of the lower right second premolar to show the green staining in the tooth. Scale in mm. Figure 9.13. Unnatural wear on the first upper right cheek tooth (premolar 2), probably caused by wear from a hard rope or bit. Scale in mm. in contact with a bit or a rope. The origin of the green staining is therefore, for the time being, a mystery, but there is still evidence in the wear of the teeth for the use of a hard bit, perhaps made of bone. In summary, the teeth and skeletal remains of the six donkeys indicate that they were reasonably wellcared for. They were housed in stalls but were frequently used as pack animals, were ridden or were harnessed to chariots or carts, and were bridled with bits or hard rope that caused wear and perhaps trauma to the first premolars.

Department of Mineralogy (NHM) who did their best to find copper in the tooth. They used Energy Dispersive X-ray Micro-Analysis and Laser Ablation but could only detect calcium, phospherus and some minor sulphur. The Photographic Department at the NHM took the photos. References Clutton-Brock, J., 1989. A dog and a donkey excavated at Tell Brak. Iraq 51, 217–24. Clutton-Brock, J., 2001. Ritual burials of a dog and six domestic donkeys, in Excavations at Tell Brak, vol. 2: Nagar in the Third Millennium BC, by D. Oates, J. Oates & H. McDonald. (McDonald Institute Monographs.) Cambridge: McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, 327–38. Clutton-Brock, J. & S. Davies, 1993. More donkeys from Tell Brak. Iraq 55, 209–21.

Acknowledgements My thanks are due to Richard Sabin, Mammal Division, The Natural History Museum, London (NHM) and to Alan Hart, John Spratt, and Teresa Jeffries,

127

Equids in the Northern Part of the Iranian Central Plateau

Chapter 10 Equids in the Northern Part of the Iranian Central Plateau from the Neolithic to Iron Age: New Zoogeographic Evidence Marjan Mashkour T

his study is based on zooarchaeological remains yielded by three sites on the Qazvin Plain 140 km to the northwest of Tehran. Tappeh Zagheh, Qabrestan and finally Sagzabad belong to the sixth/fifth, fourth and second/first millennia BC respectively (Mashkour 2001). Professor E.O. Negahban, head of the Institute of Archaeology of Tehran University, directed the excavation of the three sites between 1970 and 1978 (Negahban 1977). Approximately 70,000 animal bones belonging to these sites were studied between 1994 and 1997 at the Institute of Archaeology of Tehran University. The original aim of the study stressed palaeo-economic aspects and trends in the diet within a diachronic framework at a micro-regional scale; many other interesting features appeared in the course of the faunal study, regarding namely the taxonomic and palaeo-zoogeographic aspects of the material. The sites are located as seen in Figure 10.1, very close to each other in a flat, semi-steppe/arid zone at an approximate altitude of 1300 m above sea level. The Qazvin Plain, covers an area of 443,200 hectares and is geographically bordered by the Zagros Mountains to the west and the Alborz Mountains to the northeast and southeast. This special configuration and geographic situation was attractive for the study of animal exploitation patterns over five millennia within the Bu’in Zahra micro-region that includes the archaeological site (35°47'N Long., 49°56' E Lat.) in the Southern part of the plain. It should be noted that archaeozoological studies are generally not abundant in the Iranian territory compared to adjacent countries, specially those on its western borders where, owing to increased integration of faunal studies in archaeological investigations, a considerable amount of new data from almost twenty years worth of research has been yielded,

while Iran ceased all international archaeological cooperation. As a consequence of this, archaeozoology, as well as other environmental disciplines, is dramatically under represented for this region (Mashkour 1998). The faunal material yielded from the Bu’in Zahra micro-region in the Qazvin Plain is the largest assemblage studied in Iran since 1979 and the first set of important data for the Northern part of the Central Plateau, a rather unexplored region as is the case in the Eastern zone of the country. These post-Revolution investigations are renewed attempts at obtaining a better understanding of human–animal relationships in Iran. The importance of this large faunal assemblage, aside from the above-mentioned facts, hinges on its specific diversity and the high percentage of equids present, which sheds new light on the late prehistoric exploitation of this steppe area. The lack of data is felt dramatically when it comes to the history of equids on the Iranian Plateau. Generally speaking, at prehistoric sites the contribution of equids to the subsistence economy remains small. In large assemblages, it appears that equids are represented by 0.5 per cent to 6 per cent of all species considered.1 Moreover, the chrono-cultural disparity of the sites is a major handicap for proposing any regional and/or chronological pattern for equid exploitation. Nevertheless, these sites present the advantage of providing zoogeographic indications in terms of presence or absence of some species. Also the morphological data are important for documenting the evolutionary trends of some species and other cultural aspects like zootechnics (e.g. hybrids). At this point it can be noted that the Qazvin Plain sites, especially from the fourth millennium, can be distinguished from the other sites studied in Iran. It should not be forgotten, however, that this difference could be biased by a geographic imbal129

Chapter 10

TURKEY

TURKMENISTAN A ra s

Caspian Sea L ak

Tabrız

ia rm eU

A tr a k

Qe

z el Ow za n

s gro Za

Elbu

rz Qazvin Tappeh Zagheh Qabrestan Sagzabad Buin Zahra

Mts

Damghan

s

Mt

Tehran

IRAQ

Hamadan

Salt Desert

Qom

N Bakhtaran

Kashan 0

300 km

Khorramabad

dak del

Figure 10.1. Geographical location of Qazvin Plain prehistoric sites marked by black squares. Table 10.1. New radiocarbon dates for the Qazvin Plain. Site

Excav./ Year

Trench/ Square

SAG SAG SAG SAG SCM SCM SCM SCM SCM SCM SCM TZ TZ TZ TZ

1974 1974 1970 1970 1970 1973 1973 1973 1973 1973 1974 1973 1994 1973 1970

O XXI/2 N XXI/2 A A A E E E EA E K XX/3 TT FGX A8/4 D IX F IX

Thermoluminesence SAG 1970 A SAG 1970 A

Square Level L XIII L IX L XXIV prev. XIII L XXX prev. VII L XII J15 J15 J15/407 G14 H14

Depth 7 12

100 180–185 200–210 30–40 140–150 85–90 325–335 35 110–130

L XII

Sample code

Age Conv. BP

Gif-10347 Gif-10348 Gif-10349 Gif-10350 Gif-10227 Gif-10409 Gif-10408 Gif-10225 Gif-10411 Gif-10412 Gif-10410 Gif-10226 Gif-10343 Gif-10344 Gif-10345

2950±40 2945±45 2915±60 2820±30 4530±45 4130±50 4720±70 4730±70 4700±80 4890±50 4690±105 6100±60 5930±70 5885±75 5900±55

* *

3272±297, RE 7.72 3156±275, RE 7.29

δ 13C (‰)

Date Cal BC

Bone/Charcoal

–18.03 –19.2 –17.99 –19.56 –19.55 –17.32 –17.34 –17.08 –17.84 –17.45 –18.61 –18.6 –17.66 –17.71 –17.79

[1264–1013] [1294–1000] [1266–920] [1035–863] [3361–3046] [2876–2506] [3641–3358] [3643–3362] [3654–3129] [3782–3540] [3691–3102] [5212–4849] [4963–4607] [4927–4561] [4918–4616]

Equid, Cattle Equid, Caprine Equid Equid Equid, Caprine Equid,Cattle Equid Caprine Equid, Cattle, Mammal Equid,Cattle Cattle Cattle, Mammal caprini Mammal Mammal, Cattle

1276, TE 9.09 ceramique 1160, TE 8.70 ceramique

* = Archaeological Center/National Heritage Organization (Iran) Gif = Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l’Environement/ CNRS (France)

ance in the archaeozoological data in Iran. In fact the major part of the available information derives from the Zagros region, with a biotope which is different

to that in other parts of the country. Meanwhile, one should stress the fact that during the fourth millennium at some contemporaneous sites of Qabrestan, 130

Equids in the Northern Part of the Iranian Central Plateau

Thus palaeoclimatic changes in the past might have shifted the influence of these different zones. Contrary to the well-drained northern slopes of the Elburz Mountains, the Qazvin Plain is located in a dry steppe climatic zone owing to low rainfall corresponding with the approximate 200 mm isohyet (Zohary 1973, 38). According to Zohary’s climatic division it is included in a semi-arid-temperate zone (Zohary 1973, 38) with a temperature range possibly exceeding 60°C between summer and winter. From a phytogeographic point of view the Qazvin Plain lies in the intermediate plateau between the Caspian (Hyrcanian) and the Zagrosian forest, where generally open steppes are to be found. Nevertheless the southern slopes of the Elburz region, as many remnants prove, was once covered by juniper-forest (today Juniperus polycarpus and other shrubs or trees, i.e. almond, berberis and cotoneaster: Bobek 1968, 287). In the neighboring highland, it is adjacent to the semi-humid oak-juniper forest (Bobek 1968, 283). To the west, the Plain is adjacent to another dry forest region; the pistachio-almond-maple forest has now completely moved to the west of Tehran. More steppe and even desert-like formations dominated by Artemisia are also present in the area (Bobek 1968). In these formations, a large number of plant species belong to the Chenopodiaceae, almost all species of which are halophytes (Zohary 1973, 64).

even though located in an appropriate environmental setting for wild equids (especially wild asses), these animals were comparatively much less exploited2 by the prehistoric population. Following this statement regarding the question of equids in Iran, the archaeological context of the Qazvin Plain sites is briefly commented upon below. Several seasons of work at Tappeh Zagheh have resulted in extensive excavations of the mound, measuring almost 1.5 ha which brought to light twelve levels of occupation attributed to the late Neolithic period (Malek Shahmirzadi 1977a). Qabrestan, located 3.2 km from Zagheh is defined by its excavator as a proto-urban settlement, extending over 10 ha (Majidzadeh 1976; 1989). Sagzabad extends over 350 m from north–south and 400 m from east–west. On the basis of different archaeological evidence — pottery type (Malek Shahmirzadi 1977b; Naghshineh 1997), architectural remains and other artefacts (Tala’i 1983; 1984) — the site was occupied from Late Bronze Age to Iron Age II. Sagzabad is an important site for the Iranian Iron Age in the Central Plateau, being among the rare examples of evidence of settlement. In fact, most Iron Age sites of the Central Plateau are necropolises (Kambakhsh-Fard 1991). Another settlement has recently been discovered in southern Tehran (Mehrekian 1997) in addition to Sagzabad. Sagzabad is particularly characterized by its grey ware pottery which, like the horse, is one of the long-lasting indicators of the ‘intrusion’ and ‘spread’ of Indo-Iranian tribes onto the Iranian Plateau. New radiocarbon dates generally confirm the established relative chronology proposed by the each excavator (Mashkour et al. 1999). Two new thermoluminescence (TL) dates have been added to this list here (Bahr ol Olumi pers. comm.) in order to complete previously published data (Table 10.1).

Isotopic investigations Palaeoenvironmental changes in the micro-region under study have been assessed through isotopic studies of skeletal tissues from the three prehistoric sites. Good-quality collagen has been extracted from more than 40 bone samples from wild and domestic herbivores, boar, dog and humans. The carbon isotopic composition of herbivore collagen indicates mainly consumption of C3-plants with, however, a significant amount of C4-plants in some individuals. The amount of consumed C4-plants is correlated with increasing δ15N, suggesting that C4-plants are linked to saline environments. The δ15N and δ13C of wild herbivores seem to decrease with decreasing age, suggesting wetter conditions in the Iron Age than in the Neolithic. Domestic herbivores do not exhibit any trend, maybe because environmental conditions linked to human activity are less variable than natural conditions (Bocherens et al. 2000).

The environmental setting Phytogeographic aspects The northern part of the Central Plateau, where the prehistoric sites under study are located, belongs to the large Irano-Turanian group (Bobek 1968) and more precisely to the Armeno-Iranian sector which comprises the southern slopes of the Elburz Mountains and their continuation towards Azerbaijan and Khurasan (Zohary 1973, 197). It is located at a crossroad between several phytogeographic sectors, i.e. Armeno-Iranian, Kurdo-Zagrossian and Central Iranian sectors (Zohary 1973). Moreover, it is at the boundary of the Hyrcanian territory (Zohary 1973).

Faunal spectra General characteristics The identified animal bones in these assemblages refer mostly to mammals. The small number of bird, 131

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PtL

19

OL

Equus caballus/przewalskii OW

17

PtL

15

13

Equus hemionus onager

11

9

OLW 7 20

22

24

26

28

30

32

E. h. onager PM

E. h. onager M

Zagheh PM

Zagheh M

E. przewalskii PM E. caballus PM

E. przewalskii M E. caballus M

Qabrestan PM Sagzabad PM

Qabrestan M Sagzabad M

34

Figure 10.2. Scatter diagram for upper cheek teeth — Occlusal Length+Width/2 (OLW) versus Protocone Length (PtL) in (mm). (For measurements of Onager cf. Eisenmann & Mashkour 2000; Przewalski and Caballus measurements courtesy of Dr V. Eisenmann.) graphic arguments could be maintained in favour of the presence of pig. The very few camelid bones observed belong, on the basis of metapodial measurements, most probably to dromedary (Camelus dromedarius). The presence of red deer (Cervus elaphus) could only be verified through antlers. It is worth noting the presence of a few saiga (Saiga tatarica) horn cores in the faunal assemblage of the Iron Age. This is a major finding which brings a new light on the question of the distribution range of this Central Asian antelope, never recorded before among Iranian faunal remains. Besides its very curious presence in Iran, at least during the Iron Age, this new discovery raises the problem of interpretation: is it a cultural or a natural sign? Is it related to the overall changes observed throughout northern Iran which are associated with the so-called ‘newcomers’, and thus the result of exchange (of some parts of the animal (the horn) for some specific reason) or the intentional introduction of the species? If it is derived from a ‘natural’ occurrence, then it contradicts the isotopic results which suggest rather

fish and amphibian/reptile remains in the faunal assemblage would almost certainly have been higher if systematic sieving had been undertaken. Mammals comprise domestic and wild species. Among domesticates two major groups, caprids (sheep (Ovis aries) and goat (Capra hircus)) and bovids are distinguished. Bovid bones were generally allocated to the domestic form (Bos taurus) albeit that some could be assigned morphologically to aurochs (Bos primigenius); the latter are very poorly represented in the assemblage, an observation that is also supported by metrical analyses (Mashkour 2001). Among the bones assigned to wild mammals, the majority are of herbivores. Wild sheep (Ovis orientalis) and goat (Capra aegagrus) may be distinguished on the basis of morphological and metrical observations. Within the important sample of gazelle horn cores, almost all could be allocated with confidence to Gazella subgutturosa, the distribution range of which covers the northern part of the Iranian Plateau (Uerpmann 1987, 98). Suids (wild boar (Sus scrofa scrofa)), are rare in these sites and neither morphological nor demo132

Equids in the Northern Part of the Iranian Central Plateau

wetter conditions in the Iron Age compared to previous analyzed periods, given that the saiga is particularly sensitive to humidity. A solution would be that climatic conditions at this time became much more humid in southern Turkmenistan, the southeastern limit of the present-day distribution of saiga, compelling the animal to move, in this case, towards northern parts of the Iranian Plateau. The scarcity of data should be taken seriously into account and not over interpreted until other evidence is found from other parts of the Northern Central Plateau.

Table 10.2. Measurements for some of the Qazvin plain upper cheek teeth in (mm): S = Sagzabad; SC = Qabrestan, TZ = Zagheh; OL = Occlusal length; OW= Occlusal Width; Lpt= Length of the Protocone.

The equids The equid group comprises mostly wild forms. Owing to the taxonomic diversity and complex biogeographic distribution of these animals, especially in Southwest Asia, their remains have been scrutinized very cautiously. Detailed study of morphometric and morphoscopic observations was undertaken on cranial and post-cranial remains and is discussed in detail elsewhere (Eisenmann & Mashkour 1999; Mashkour 2001). As a result, the majority of the material can be allocated to hemiones (Equus hemionus onager and E.h. biangadensis, nov. sub. sp.). In addition, very few remains of hydruntinus (Equus hydruntinus), so far unreported from Iran, could be identified in Qabrestan and Sagzabad. Horse and ass were also present in the faunal assemblages of the sites. For the hydruntinus there is still a debate concerning its distribution range during the Holocene in the Near and Middle East (Uerpmann 1987). However, morphological and morphoscopic data tend to confirm its presence in the northern part of the Iranian Plateau as late as the Iron Age (Eisenmann & Mashkour 1999). Considering the importance of this finding and its zoogeographic and archaeozoological implications, DNA investigations are now deemed to be necessary some of the samples are currently being analyzed.3 From an economic point of view, an interesting observation is the parallel increase of cattle (from 3 per cent to 17 per cent) and equid remains (from almost 1 per cent to 24 per cent) from Zagheh to Sagzabad, i.e. from the late Neolithic to the Iron Age. In the two older sites cattle are more important, and conversely an opposite tendency is visible at Sagzabad. The major part of the equid assemblage in this latter site could be allocated to the hemiones.

Tooth code Tooth ident.

OL

OW

OL+OW/2 Lpt

S145 S150 S157 S164 S198 S21 S5 S169 S174 S197 S197 S198 SC1 SC11 SC12 SC14 SC15 SC20 SC3 SC4 SC74 SC75 SC76 SC78 SC79 SC80 SC84 SC85 SC90 SCx SC81 SC89 SC69 SC70 SC71 SC17 TZ1 TZ10 TZ2 TZ23 TZ3 TZ6 TZ8 TZ1 TZ1 TZ11 TZ12 TZ2 TZ5

25.1 23.4 24.3 25.4 26.3 24.0 25.5 28.5 27.8 30.7 26.6 29.5 23.0 23.0 25.0 21.0 22.0 23.0 23.5 23.0 23.1 22.2 24.3 25.1 25.8 26.8 25.7 23.4 23.5 23.7 27.5 26.7 27.4 25.8 29.2 26.5 25.0 23.0 21.7 22.7 22.0 24.0 24.0 29.0 28.0 25.0 26.5 25.0 26.5

26.6 25.1 26.1 27.0 28.2 25.0 27.5 26.2 27.0 28.5 28.5 29.1 25.0 24.0 26.0 23.5 23.5 25.0 24.0 25.0 23.9 25.3 25.5 25.6 24.6 24.3 23.8 25.4 24.6 23.7 29.0 26.0 26.8 27.2 24.0 25.0 26.0 22.7 25.0 25.4 24.0 26.5 24.0 29.0 28.0 25.0 26.0 27.0 25.0

25.9 24.3 25.2 26.2 27.3 24.5 26.5 27.4 27.4 29.6 27.6 29.3 24.0 23.5 25.5 22.3 22.8 24.0 23.8 24.0 23.5 23.8 24.9 25.4 25.2 25.6 24.8 24.4 24.1 23.7 28.3 26.4 27.1 26.5 26.6 25.8 25.5 22.9 23.4 24.1 23.0 25.3 24.0 29.0 28.0 25.0 26.3 26.0 25.8

M2 M1/2 M1/2 M1/2 M1 M1/2 M1/2 P3/4 P3/4 P3 P4 P4 M M M M1 M M M2 M M M M M M2? M2? M M M cf M2 P P P3/4 P3/4 P3/4 P4 M1 M M1 M M M M P3 P4 P P P4 P

13.5 13.2 13.1 13.2 13.1 13.0 14.0 13.6 15.0 13.7 12.3 14.5 10.5 10.0 11.6 11.3 10.3 11.0 11.2 10.6 12.1 10.1 13.3 10.0 12.0 11.4 11.2 11.2 12.5 10.9 12.8 9.5 13.1 13.2 13.7 10.5 14.0 12.0 11.2 12.5 10.6 11.7 11.0 13.5 13.0 11.0 11.8 12.0 11.0

skeleton (teeth, humerus, calcaneus, second and third phalanges). In Figure 10.2 the measurements of modern onager (Eisenmann & Mashkour 2000), domestic horse and przewalski4 (Eisenmann pers. comm.) and the archaeological specimens from Zagheh, Qabrestan and Sagzabad have been plotted considering the protocone length and the sum of the length plus width

The horse evidence These faunal studies also provided new information about the presence of the horse as early as the Late Neolithic at Zagheh. Osteometric analysis shows that its presence is evidenced by different parts of the 133

Chapter 10

Humerus

8 65

Sagzabad Qabrestan Zagheh

60

*

55

E. hemionus onager

50

E. ferus/caballus 45

* * *** * * * * * * E. hemionus onager *

40 35

6

cf. E. asinus, E. hydruntinus or E. h. binagadensis 30 50

55

60

65

70

75

80

85

90

95

Figure 10.3. Scatter diagram for Humerus — Distal articular breadth (6) versus Medial height of trochlea (8) in (mm). (For bone drawings and measurements of Onager cf. Eisenmann & Mashkour 2000.)

60

Calcaneus

7

Sagzabad Qabrestan Zagheh

55

*

E. hemionus onager

50

E. ferus/caballus

* * ** *** *** * * * * ***** ***** * *

45

40

E. hemionus onager

35

cf. E. asinus, E. hydruntinus or E. h. binagadensis

1

30 78

83

88

93

98

103

108

113

118

Figure 10.4. Scatter diagram for Calcaneus — Greatest Length (1) versus Greatest breadth (7) in (mm). (For bone drawings and measurements of Onager cf. Eisenmann & Mashkour 2000.) of each tooth divided by two (Table 10.2). The curved line indicates the approximate division between horses and hemiones. It clearly appears that one part of the archaeological assemblage falls into the variation range of E. caballus. It is indeed difficult to distinguish, between

E. przewalski and the domestic horses, on the basis of our modern data base. Considering the chronology of Zagheh and the low representation of this species in the fauna, it is logically difficult to allocate this group to a domestic form. The most critical point would be the status of the specimens from Qabrestan, 134

Equids in the Northern Part of the Iranian Central Plateau

Table 10.3. Measurements for humerus in (mm): S = Sagzabad, SC = Qabrestan, TZ = Zagheh.

Table 10.4. Measurements for Calcaneus in (mm): S = Sagzabad, SC = Qabrestan, TZ = Zagheh.

Site Excav./ Trench/ Year Square

8

Site Excav./ Trench/ Year Square

42.1 42.5 46 32.7 42.4 35.4 51.9 41.2 43.2 43.1 46.8 59.5 37.2 44.9 42.7 41.2 50.4 44.1 45.9 42.9 39.7

S S S S S S S S S S S SC SC SC TZ TZ

S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S SC SC SC TZ TZ

1971 1971 1971 1974 1974 1974 1974 1974 1974 1974 1974 1974 1974 1974 1974 1970 1973 1973 1973 1973 1973

N XX/4 NXXI/4 O XX/2 O XXI/3 O XXI/3 O XXI/3 O XXI/3 O XXI/3 O XXI/3 N XXI N XXI/4 O XXI/3 A EA/G13 II EA/G14 EA/G14 F XI

Locus Level

Depth 6

L VII L VIII pit 2 pit 2 pit 2 pit 1 pit 1 pit 2 L VIII L VIII LX L VII 401 409

66.3 66.1 68.1 54.6 63.9 58.6 74.6 64.7 64.2 71.5 70 75.9 57.4 69 65.7 63.4 88.2 67.8 70.5 66 61.2

1970 1971 1971 1971 1971 1971 1974 1974 1974 1974 1974 1971 1973 1973 1973 1973

A

N XXI/1 O XXI/3 O XXI/3 O XXI/3 O XXI/3

Level Depth 1

7

L XII

43.3 42.5 43.7 46 49 55.8 41.2 44.2 40.5 42.3 46.7 51 44.3 36.6 45.6 55

pit 1 pit 2 LX pit 2 LX

EA/G14 EA/G135 402 E IX 401 F XI

80–85

102.3 100.4 99.3 101 106.8 112.8 96.3 92.8 101 96.7 104.6 104 99.7 80 107 111.5

Table 10.5. Measurement for third metacarpal from Qabrestan (in mm). 10 41

SC72

0.08

Locus

11 41

12 31

13 25

14 26.7

10. Distal supra-articular breadth 11. Distal articular breadth 12. Depth of sagittal keel 13. Smallest depth of medial condyle 14. Greatest depth of medial condyle

Equus przewalskii (n = 29)

0.07 0.06 0.05 0.04 0.03

Qabrestan (SC 72)

0.02 0.01

E. hemionus kulan (n = 10) log difference with E. h. onager

0 10

11

12

13

14

Figure 10.5. Log Ratio Diagram for third Metacarpal. (For bone drawings and hemione measurements cf. Eisenmann & Mashkour 2000; for the Przewalski measurements cf. Eisenmann & Beckouche 1986.) precisely because of the chronology of the site (mid fourth millennium BC). The oldest evidence for the presence of domestic horse in Iran currently seems to come from Godin IV (3000 BC) contemporaneous to the ‘Yanik culture’ (Gilbert 1986). Qabrestan is a few

centuries older and the horse is apparently present. The presence of horse is also evidenced on other skeletal parts (Figs. 10.3, 10.4 & Tables 10.3, 10.4). Figure 10.5 represents a logarithmic diagram, in which the distal metacarpal profiles for E. prze135

Chapter 10

walski, kulan and the specimen from Qabrestan are compared to the onager (for computation of the method see Simpson 1941 or Eisenmann 1986). The Qabrestan equid has a comparable profile with the E. przewalski, but is of smaller size (see Table 10.5 for raw measurements). The chronological debates on horse domestication being critical for understanding this event in general and, in a wider sense, on the Iranian Plateau, it seems necessary to adopt a multivariate approach, noted also by Levine (1999), using different sources of data. Isotopic studies have proved to be very efficient in palaeoenvironmental research and interesting archaeological implications are constantly being developed by workers in this field. As a matter of fact, the method seems to be promising for distinguishing between wild and domestic populations, and has already been tested positive on bovids (Balasse 1999). This problem is now under investigation for the horse in Iran, at the Biogeochemistry Laboratory of Pierre and Marie Curie University in Paris (see also, Bocherens et al. 2001).

must still remain extremely cautious about the integration of such data in socio-cultural analyses, for many of these theories are based, at least in the northern part of Iran and Central Asia and especially for the faunal material, on old studies under debate (i.e. Levine et al. 1999). A more important fact is the new evidence for the presence of the wild horse (Equus ferus) as early as the Neolithic. In fact the problem is interesting because, until now, evidence for the wild horse in Iran came from two Palaeolithic sites in the Zagros, Tamtama cave (Coon 1951) and Warwasi shelter (Turnbull 1975) and (Bakken 2000). No relevant remains were found in the circum Caspian Palaeolithic/Early Neolithic sites of Belt and Ali Tappeh Caves (Coon 1951; Uerpmann & Frey 1981; Uerpmann 1987, 18–19). These new data emphasize, once more, the need for archaeological studies covering other regions of Iran besides the Zagros. I personally believe, on the basis of some recent studies in the northern part of the Central Plateau, that systematic research in this wide area along the Alborz range toward Afghanistan, is promising for archaeozoological investigations and especially for understanding the role of equids in the ancient societies that inhabited the region. But at this point of the study, considering the restricted amount of data, it is safer not to overinterpret the information. It should only be stressed that a probably wild caballin equid was present in the northern part of Iran in the Neolithic with the same or modified status in the Chalcolithic. An interesting question to be posed, relevant to the socio-economic and political setting of the studied sites would be: is this gradual diachronic increase in horse (Equus caballus) percentages in the Qazvin Plain simultaneous to the general increase of equids, all represented species considered, in the faunal assemblages from the three sites? Does it, result from an internal endogenous dynamic or was it the consequence of exogenous factors?

Conclusion The archaeozoological results from Zagheh, Qabrestan and Sagzabad faunal remains in Qazvin Plain have yielded palaeo-economic information relevant to the presence/absence of different groups of animals, stressing general patterns in abundance of each exploited animal, expression of cultural choices as well as ecological potentialities. Aside from the importance of artiodactyls as a major source of food, the impact of wild equids, especially during the Chalcolithic and the Iron Age, should be emphasized. A gradual modification of dietary habits, tending curiously from a less diversified fauna during the Neolithic to more a complex system during the Iron Age is discernible; the modification of faunal profiles is expressed by a general increase in wild species, i.e. hunting practices, striking in Sagzabad, where wild caprine, gazelle, suids and especially equids (major portion being wild equids i.e. hemiones and in a very lower rate, hydruntinus) provide almost 40 per cent of the identified remains. The aim of this paper was to show the importance of the exploitation of equids on the northern part of the Iranian Plateau. Regarding this problem, the Iron Age upheavals in Iran are most commonly linked to migration theories of Indo-European people (e.g. Dyson 1973) and its inseparable component — the domestic horse. In this respect, the increase in horse remains at Sagzabad is noteworthy, but one

Acknowledgements I am indebted to Dr Véra Eisenmann who acquainted me with the ‘Universe’ of equids, for her constant help and kind attention. Also the ESA 8045 of the CNRS/MNHN should be thanked for its scientific and financial support. Notes 1.

136

E.g. Tal-e-Malayan (Zeder 1986), Godin (Gilbert 1986),

Equids in the Northern Part of the Iranian Central Plateau

2. 3.

4.

modern Equus, wild and domestic, in Meadow & Uerpmann (eds.), 117–63. Eisenmann, V. & M. Mashkour, 1999. The small equids (Perissodactyla, Mammalia) of the Pleistocene of Binagady (Azerbaijan) and Qazvin (Iran): E. hemionus binagadensis nov. subsp. and E. hydruntinus. Geobios 32, 105–22. Eisenmann, V. & M. Mashkour, 2000. Data base for teeth and limb bones of modern Hemiones, in Fiche d’Ostéologie Animale pour l’Archéologie, Série B: Mammifères, eds. J. Desse & N. Desse-Berset. Juan les Pins: CNRS/APDCA. Gilbert, A.S., 1986. Equid remains from Godin Tepe, Western Iran: an interim summary and interpretation with notes on the introduction of the horse into Southwest Asia, in Meadow & Uerpmann (eds.), 75–122. Hole, F., K.V. Flannery & J.A. Neely, 1969. Prehistory and Human Ecology of the Deh Luran Plain: an Early Village Sequence from Khuzistan, Iran. (Memoirs of the Museum of Anthropology 1.) Ann Arbor (MI): University of Michigan. Kambakhsh-Fard, S., 1991. The Three Thousand Two Hundred Years Tehran, on the Basis of Archaeological Excavations. Tehran: Faza Edition. [In Persian.] Levine, M., 1999. The origins of horse husbandry on the Eurasian steppe, in Levine et al. 1999, 5–9. Levine, M., Y. Ramassakin, A. Kislenko & N. Tatarintseva, 1999. Late Prehistoric Exploitation of the Eurasian Steppe. (McDonald Institute Monographs.) Cambridge: McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research. Majidzadeh, Y., 1976. The Early Prehistoric Cultures of the Central Plateau of Iran: an Archaeological History of its Development during the Fifth and Fourth Millennia BC. Unpublished PhD Thesis, University of Chicago, Chicago. Majidzadeh, Y., 1989. An early industrial proto-urban center on the Central Plateau of Iran: Tepe Ghabristan, in Essays in Ancient Civilization presented to Helene J. Kantor, eds. A. Leonard & B.B. Williams. Chicago (IL): The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, 157–73. Malek Shahmirzadi, S., 1977a. Tepe Zagheh: a Sixth Millennium BC Village in the Qazvin Plain of the Central Iranian Plateau. Unpublished PhD Thesis, University of Pennsylvania. Malek Shahmirzadi, S., 1977b. The excavation of the Sagzabad Mound, Qazvin Plain, 1970–71. Marlik 2, 67–79. [In Persian.] Mashkour, M., 1998. Archaeozoological Studies in Iran: State of the Question. Unpublished paper presented at ‘Archaeozoological World Literature (1940–1995) Session, International Council of ArchaeoZoology (ICAZ), Victoria/Canada, 23–29 August 1998. Mashkour, M., 2001. Chasse et élevage du Néolithique à l’âge du Fer dans la plaine de Qazvin (Iran): Etude archéozoologique des sites de Zagheh, Qabrestan et Sagzabad. Unpublished PhD thesis, l’Université de Paris I-Sorbonne.

Tal-i Iblis (Bökönyi 1967), Mushki (Payne 1986), the sites of Dehloran (Hole et al. 1969) and Shahr-i-Sokhta (Compagnoni 1978). See for instance at Tepe Yahya where it is represented at less than 1 per cent (Meadow 1986). The analyses are being processed under the direction of C. Hänni at the Centre de Génétique Moléculaire et Cellulaire de l’Université Claude Bernard, Lyon 1. I used the E. przewalski measurements as representing a form of wild horse (Equus ferus), this being the only large and available large data base. This does not mean that the Equus przewalskii was actually present in Iran.

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Uerpmann (eds.), 132–77. Simpson, G.G., 1941. Pleistocene felines of North America. Am.Mus. Novitates 1136, 1–27. Tala’i, H., 1983. Late Bronze Age and Iron Age I architecture in Sagzabad - Qazvin Plain - The Central Plateau of Iran. Iranica Antiqua 18, 51–7. Tala’i, H., 1984. Notes on bronze artefacts at Sagzabad in Qazvin Plain Iran, circa 1400 BC. Iranica Antiqua 19, 1–42. Turnbull, P.F., 1975. The mammalian fauna of Warwasi Rock Shelter, west-central Iran. Fieldiana (Geology) 33, 141–55. Uerpmann, H.-P., 1987. The Ancient Distribution of Ungulate Mammals in the Middle East. Wiesbaden: Dr Ludwig Reichert Verlag. Uerpmann, H.-P. & W. Frey, 1981. Die Umgebung von Gar-e Kamarband (Belt Cave) und Gar-e ‘Ali Tappe (Behshahr, Mazandaran) heute und im Spätpleistozän, in Contributions to Environmental History of Southwest Asia, eds. W. Frey & H.-P. Uerpmann. Wiesbaden: Ludwig Reichert Verlag, 134–90. Zeder, M.A., 1986. The equid remains from Tal-e Malayan, southern Iran, in Meadow & Uerpmann (eds.), 366–412. Zohary, M., 1973. Geobotanical Foudations of the Middle East. Stuttgart: Gustav Fischer Verlag.

Mashkour, M., M. Fontugne & C. Hatté, 1999. Investigations on the evolution of subsistence economy in the Qazvin Plain (Iran) from the Neolithic to the Iron Age. Antiquity 73, 65–76. Meadow, R.H., 1986. Animal Exploitation in Prehistoric Southeastern Iran: Faunal remains from Tepe Yahya and Tepe Gaz Tavila-R37, 5300–3000. Unpublished PhD thesis, Harvard University, Cambridge (MA). Meadow, R.H. & H.-P. Uerpmann (eds.), 1986. Equids in the Ancient World. Wiesbaden: Dr Ludwig Reichert. Mehrekian, J., 1997. Study about the unknown architecture of the Grey Ware culture in Tepe Ma’mourin, in Proceedings of the ‘History of Architecture and Urbanism in Iran’ Congress (Bam-Kerman, 1996), vol. 3, ed. National Cultural Heritage Organization. Tehran: National Cultural Heritage Organization, 345–56. [In Persian.] Naghshineh, A.S., 1997. A Study of the Grey Ware Pottery at Sagzabad in Qazvin Plain and Aryan Migration. Unpublished Masters Thesis, Tarbiyat Modaress University, Tehran. [In Persian.] Negahban, E.O., 1977. Preliminary report of Qazvin expedition: excavations of Zagheh, Qabrestan, Sagzabad (1971–1972). Marlik 2, 26–44. Payne, S., 1986. Early Holocene equids from Tal-i-Mushki (Iran) and Can Hassan III (Turkey), in Meadow &

138

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Chapter 11 A Walk on the Wild Side: Late Shang Appropriation of Horses in China Katheryn M. Linduff Representations

of horses, such as the little jade pair depicting the tenacious, wild Equus przewalskii from the Fu Hao Tomb (M5) at Anyang (Fig. 11.1) (Institute of Archaeology, Beijing 1980, pl. 30:2) and the inscription in the shape of a long-eared wild ass on the base of the bronze ritual vessel gui (Fig. 11.2) from Jingjiecun, in Lingshi, Shanxi province (Shanxi 1986, 14), are rare in Shang period China (c. 1550– 1050 BC). Even so, their portrayal follows Shang artistic predilection for depiction of wild animals on artefacts used in ritual. Their features — stocky build, erect manes and shaggy tails — are not comparable, however, to the longer-legged and elegantly-proportioned bodies of the horses that have been found buried in sacrificial pits and tombs at the last capital of the Shang Dynasty at Yinxu, Anyang (Fig. 11.3). Evidence of highly-trained horses and the associated equipment such as those buried in these tombs has not been documented elsewhere in ancient China before about 1250 BC. The practice appears full-blown at Anyang as part of a well-established set of rituals — of burial, hunt, and war (Creel 1970; Yetts 1934). The simultaneous appeal of representations of wild,

and sacrifice of tamed, horses in ritual use in late Shang society raises questions about the attraction of this dichotomous manner of display as well as the availability of such tamed and untamed animals. How, when and why this occurs within the context of late Shang history and politics is the focus of this investigation. The excitement surrounding the discovery and excavation at Anyang centred on the data it provided for understanding the sophisticated state level culture of the ancient Chinese. Evidence of economic,

1

2

3

Figure 11.1. Jade horses from the Tomb of Lady Hao at Yinxu, Anyang, Henan province. (From the Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Science 1980, pl. xxx:2.)

4

Figure 11.2. Bronzes from M1, Jingjiecun, Shanxi Province. (From WW 1986.11, fig. 8.) 139

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bells, bow-shaped fittings (Fig. 11.4), and the rare small jade replicas of equids — A and/or skeletal remains of J 50 K the domesticated horse themK J E selves. These discoveries pro35 vided unequivocal evidence I 3 of the use of trained, domes5 ticated horses in a controlled H H 1 2 G ritual setting as early as G 31 3 8 4 27 30 c. 1250 BC. And as an obvious 20 9 26 18 19 6 J J 3 29 28 24 2322 21 17 12 corollary, their discovery im37 6 36 13 I 7 15 25 F plied the need for specialists F 14 10 who bred, trained and man11 32 D aged horses as well as individuals who designed, 33 34 produced and adjusted the gear for Shang purposes. As part of an elaborate Shang ceremonial apparatus, these large and colourful aniE mals, their gear, their probable heritage outside of Yinxu as well as their role in Shang 41 life can also be documented 38 45 in early written records. And, 43 39 N 46 their prominence and the 42 40 ritual behaviour that they 51 52 record have been frequently 50 49 44 47 reconfirmed in reoccurring 48 0 1m excavations at Anyang since C B dak del their first recovery in the 1930s (Anyang 1979). Their Figure 11.3. Chariot burial of Tomb 175, Dasikong, Anyang, Henan province: introduction and exceptional A) driver; B & C) horses; D–I) impressions of various parts of the chariot; J) traces appearance have been noted of red lacquer; K) dark-coloured material; 1) bronze bell; 2) sheet of gold leaf; in many past studies (Chow 3) cowrie shell; 4) bronze ladder-shaped fitting; 5 & 25) bronze pang bow-fittings; 1984; 1989; Olsen 1988; 6) stone ko; 7, 14, 15 & 36) bronze arrowheads; 8–10, 18, 20, 24, 28 & 37) bone Shaughnessy 1988), but what tubes; 11) bone arrowheads; 12, 30, 31, 35 & 39–42) chariot fittings; 43, 44, 47, they might signify about 48, 51 & 52) horse fittings; 13) bronze pen socketed axe; 16) bronze knife; 17 & early Chinese political con22) mi bow-tips; 19, 21 & 26) shell buttons; 23, 27 & 32) bone ornaments; 29) trol, foreign affairs, social pobronze arrow rack; 33, 34, 38, 45, 46, 49 & 50) bronze buttons. (From Cheng sition and cultural identity 1960, 71.) has not been explained. Data including horse gear and chariots are faideological, political and social lifeways was found miliar in the debris from Andronovo societies loat the site which could be recognizably associated cated far to the west of Anyang in the steppe zone of with the foundations of the historic Chinese culture. eastern Eurasia from at least as early as c. 2000 BC Many features of the remains, however, were not convincingly explained as indigenous to the Shang (Anthony 1995; 1998; Gening et al. 1992; Kuzmina homeland. Conspicuous among those ‘foreign’ re1994a) and suggest that knowledge of these pracmains were items either associated with the use of tices in China was due to contact with horse-using the horse — latent impressions of highly-ornamented communities far beyond their established Dynastic chariots with bronze attachments (Fig. 11.3), tack centre. But the evidence from Anyang, however simiincluding bronze bits, cheek pieces, small animal lar to that of the steppe, was either adapted in deco140

Late Shang Appropriation of Horses in China

ten evidence for the use of horses and for contact between Shang dwellers at Yinxu and outsiders who were supposedly and/or evidently connected to horse management, care and use. The final section considers the overall implications of this large-scale appropriation during the Anyang period and notes its impact on early Zhou culture and subsequent Chinese history.

a

d b

Archaeozoological evidence of horses Neolithic and early Metal Period The early practice of animal domestication in China as in other parts of the world, emphasized animals that provided food reserves and hide — the pig, sheep, and cattle — and/or the extended benefits of assistance in herding or companionship — the dog. Although much debated, the horse, on the other hand, was unlikely to have been domesticated for the sole purposes mentioned above, but additionally perhaps as a working animal and/or as a means of transportation, providing mobility for human beings (Bökönyi 1984, 166; Levine 1999, 8–14). The definitions of animal domestication vary among scholars, but Bökönyi’s description is relevant,

c

Figure 11.4. Bronze objects associated with horses in burials: a) bronze bow-shaped fitting from M5, Anyang, Henan; b) bronze cheek pieces from M5, Anyang, Henan; c) bronze bell for dog from M5, Anyang, Henan; d) bronze ‘crop’ from M1, Jingjiecun, Shanxi. (a–c: Institute of Archaeology 1980, pls. 75.1, 74.5 & 79.2; d: WW 1986.11, fig. 20.1.)

The essence of domestication is the capture and taming by man of animals of a species with particular behavioural characteristics, their removal from their natural living area and breeding community, and their maintenance under controlled breeding conditions for mutual benefits. (Bökönyi 1989, 22)

Or put another way, ‘the repercussions of domestication would have reverberated throughout the whole society’ (Levine 1999, 20). First, the availability of wild species is significant.1 Pleistocene fossil horses have been found in eastern Siberia, Mongolia and China (Olsen 1988). Based on their prevalence in the fossil record, horse populations must have been large in Eurasia in the Pleistocene. Most researchers agree that wild horses preferred open grasslands, but were often associated with forest-steppe environments as well. They were primarily grazers, but also depended in a minor way on browsing woody plants (Olsen 1997, 1). New World horses apparently preferred fibre-rich medium to tall grasses near rivers and, to a lesser extent, sedges and minor amounts of brush. And, according to Chase’s studies on equids of the Middle Palaeolithic (1986), certain geographic regions were more suitable for horses over a long time. These areas were well-watered by large rivers and supported vast open grasslands, although forests were

ration and practice at the Shang centre in a distinctively Chinese fashion or invented there. Review here of reported remains of horses in adjacent regions and dating prior to the occupation of Anyang and of their use and care, will disallow an argument for any sort of endemic regional development of full domestication and training prior to the Shang, but does support the proposition that its abrupt arrival in the late Shang implies active association with horseusing groups nearby, but outside the city centre. Analysis of that interaction and its results in ritual, its manifestation in political and social life, and its display in material culture converge in this study. The first section reviews the remains of horses, questions about domestication and use in China prior to and including the obvious ritual uses by the élite at Anyang, and analysis of the process and content of interaction established in the late Neolithic and early Metal Period (c. 2000–c. 1200 BC). The second part looks at Anyang itself, at the material and writ141

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often at the margins. In any environment or period and with any method, however, wild horses were not easy to hunt. They, like Equus przewalskii, could be quite fierce and aggressive, as well as agile. Distinctive models for hunting developed — including stalking and herd drives — and these techniques required different strategies (Levine 1999, 43). Herd drives, for example, necessitated large-scale human co-operation and at least seasonal aggregation (Levine 1999, 43), while stalking could be managed with a few individuals. Equus przewalskii lived in abundance for many centuries in areas of central and western Asia and was restricted to western Mongolia and northwest China (Xinjiang) a few decades ago due to over hunting (Bökönyi 1984, 167). The abundance of this species in areas adjacent to those where Chinese civilization eventually emerged suggests to some that this was the early stock known to the Chinese and their neighbours (Chen 1984; Xie 1985; Olsen 1988). Second, the behavioural patterns of candidates are of crucial importance for the success of domestication — the horse required less modification of wild characteristics than many other animals. In the Chinese dynastic setting, ecology and cultural features probably played a significant part in their eventual and relatively late capture and behaviour modification (Chen 1984; Xie 1985). Third, the degree to which horses integrated into the natural and socio-cultural environment depends on local cultural contexts. These features varied among pastoral groups and agriculturally-based states. Some have suggested that the combined introduction of domesticated grazing animals (cattle and sheep), innovation in means of transport (horseback riding and wheeled vehicles), and the emergence of a complex interplay of technologies and ideologies (of bronze metallurgy and copper mining, and of the horse-drawn chariot as an instrument of élite competition) revolutionized lifeways of the Andronovo peoples of the eastern Eurasian steppe during the third millennium BC to agro-pastoralism (Kuzmina 1986; Anthony 1996, 2). Because the lifestyle of those peoples of southern Siberia was both comparable to and distinctive from the Late Neolithic and early dynastic peoples of the Central Plain, the Chinese case serves as a good point of departure for testing that model. The adoption of the domesticated pig, sheep and goat, cattle and dog has a long history in several regions in China and is peculiar to regional topography, ecology as well as custom of the settled life of farmers (Olsen 1988). Such is not as clear in the case

of the horse in the ancient Chinese cultural complex. No clear indication from the north Asian archaeozoological context thus far confirms that the earliest Neolithic populations in China domesticated horses on a wide-scale, although wild horses were known. The excavations of sites from that period show, however, that animal husbandry and crop raising occurred together and both pig and dog remains were found (Chow 1984). Mid to late Neolithic remains The mid to late Neolithic period has often been considered the earliest period in which remains of horses in deliberate relation to human activity can be identified in China (Olsen 1988) (Table 11.1; Fig. 11.5). There too, however, there are no unequivocal signs of domestication such as horse gear or chariots found in excavations.2 The earliest datable remains of horses in habitation debris are the two molars and first phalanx of horse found at Banpo, Shanxi (c. 4500– 3000 BC), reported as Equus przewalskii (Chow 1989). Along with evidence of hunting and fishing and of the domestication of the pig at the site, the recovery of these few horse remains in habitation debris leads to the conclusion that horses were at the most supplemental to the diet, or simply a chance remnant of exotic capture by hunter-members of the community. Excavators of several Longshan period sites have reported horse bones (Equus sp.) in large numbers from the Chengziya site in Shandong (Academia Sinica 1934), in fewer numbers at the Baiying site in Henan (Yang 1984), and most recently, the Beiwutun site in Dalian (Fu 1994). These materials were recovered in habitation contexts and are dated to before 2000 BC and are usually thought of as kitchen debris (Academia Sinica 1934, 90). Whether the livelihood and breeding of these animals were directly under human control, however, has not been investigated. Study of the age and gender of these animals as well as exploration for pens or corrals would greatly help to determine whether they were intentionally kept and/or, bred or whether they were captured in the wild. The early Metal Period: dietary and ritual roles A larger number of sites containing the remains of horses have been reported dating from the late Neolithic and early Bronze Age periods (c. 2000– 1500 BC) (Fig. 11.5). Most are located outside, rather than within, the dynastic centres in the Central Plain, although it should be noted that recovery and analysis of animal remains has not been a high priority among Chinese archaeologists. To the north, for ex142

143

Xindian and Qijia cultures

Xindian and Qijia cultures

1950–1513 BC Siba culture Majiayao culture Yangshao culture

Jijiachuan, Yongjing, Gansu

Zhangjiazui, Yongjing, Gansu

Huoshaogou, Yumen, Gansu

Majiawan, Yongjing, Gansu

Banpo, Xian

Gaodui, Linfen, Shanxi

horse bones in dwelling pit (*KGXB, 1957.1)

two teeth, one piece of toe bone (GDYGR, 1959.1)

horse bone (*KG, 1975.2)

horse bones (*WKZSS, 1990)

three teeth of Equus sp.; 15 spades made of horse/cattle bones (*KGXB, 1980.2)

five spades made of horse/ cattle bones (*KGXB, 1980.2)

bone of horse in Baiying, dwelling and Tangyin, burials (*KGXB, Henan 1975.2)

bones (*KGXB, 1974.2)

Central

Key: *GDYGR - Gujizhui dongwu yu gurenlei (see References: Anon. 1959) *KG - Kaogu *KGXB - Kaogu xuebao *WKGSS - Wenwu kaogu gongzuo sanshinian *WWCZ - Wenwu ziliao congkan *ZKX - Zhongguo kaogu xuebao

Zhuanlongzang, Baotou, Inner Mongolia

Qijia culture

2114–1748 BCE Qijia culture

Qinweijia, Yongjing, Gansu

Neolithic Dahezhuang, Yongjing, Gansu

West/North

Table 11.1. Neolithic sites in China with reported remains of horses (c. 4000–1500 BC).

2601–1890 BC Longshan culture

Yangshao culture horse bones in ash pits (*KG, 1980.3)

horse teeth (*WWCZ, 1956.9) Beiwutun, Dalian, Liaoning

Chengziya, Licheng, Shandong

Northeast/East

6000–3500 BC

Longshan culture

horse bones in dwelling pit (*KGXB, 1994.3)

bone of Equus sp. (*ZKX, no. 1, 1934)

Late Shang Appropriation of Horses in China

Chapter 11

R U S S I A N F E D E R AT I O N K A Z A K H S TA N Heilongjiang

MONGOLIA

KYRGYZSTAN

Jilin

Gansu Huoshaogou

N ei M on

g g ol

Z

a) oli o ng M r n ne u (I Zhuanlongzang iz hiq

Liaoning

NORTH KOREA

Beijing Hebei Majiawan

★

Ningxia Huizu

Dahezhuang Qinweijia Jijiachuan Zhangjiazui

Xizang Zizhiou (Tibet)

Shanxi Shaanxi Gaodui

★

★

★

★

Yellow Sea

Shandong Jia

ng

su

Henan Hu a

i

He

Anhui

CHINA

SOUTH KOREA

Hubei

Shanghai

East China Sea

Jia

g

L

an

A

ng

Ch

EP

ua

Baiying

Banpo

Qin Ling Mts

N

H

e H

ng

Qinghai

Bo Hai ) ow ell (Y Chengziya

(Y an gtz e)

Xinjiang Uygur Zizhiqu

BUTAN

Zhejiang

Sichuan Jiangxi

Hunan

N

Fujian

Yunnan

★

Guangxi Zhuangzu

TAIWA

N

Guizhou

Guangdong

VIETNAM

South China Sea Hainan

0

800 km dak del

Figure 11.5. Distribution of horse remains in Neolithic China (4000–1500 BCE). in metal working as well as casting.3 Identification of these horses has not been made with regard to species or type but their association with metal workers may be of significance, for at Huoshaogou they were intentionally sacrificed at burial (Gansu Work Team, IA, AS 1974; Zhang 1990). Moreover, from the same period and area comes the only evidence of a wheel in north Asia prior to those discovered at Anyang. In Qinghai at a site called Dulan in Nuomuhonghalehe both a ‘corral’ and a wheel with sixteen spokes were reported (CPAM of Qinghai Province et al. 1963, 17– 41), although the interpretation of the remains is much debated (see note 2). Nevertheless, the greatest number of horse remains of any kind dating from the late Neolithic are found in the Gansu corridor

ample, in western Inner Mongolia at Zhuanlongzang, a site near Baotou (Wang 1957) associated with the Arshan culture (c. 1500 BC), horse bones were reported. In middle Gansu three molars of Equus sp. were recovered from Zhangjiazui (Xie 1980), a site associated with early Xindian (Phase B), a culture with simple and robust hand-formed, painted local types of pottery, copper and bronze objects dating from the second half of the second millennium BC. At sites in eastern Gansu associated with the Qijia culture at Qinweijia near Yongjing (Xie 1975) and Siba culture at Dahezhuang and Huoshaogou in Yumen (Gansu Museum 1979; Xue et al. 1990), horse remains were associated with communities dating from between c. 2000–1600 BC and were actively engaged 144

Late Shang Appropriation of Horses in China

and contiguous areas in Qinghai, and not in the Central Plain where state level society emerged at least as early as the Shang c. 1550 BC, and perhaps even two centuries earlier. A further look at the evidence from the Gansu Corridor is revealing. The Qijia culture mentioned above is distributed in eastern Qinghai, Ningxia, Gansu and southwestern Inner Mongolia (Li 2002). The culture is characterized by advanced farming, by villages located on terraces above rivers with no external fortifications, by ‘stone circle’ ritual sites where animals were probably sacrificed, by remains of oracle bones and metal objects (knives, axes, spoons, rings, and small ornaments) including ones of almost pure copper, and of bronze (Linduff et al. 2000, 15–19). Metallographic analyses of certain of the items show that these people were reducing local copper-zinc ores from as early as about 3000 BC in this region4 but that the alloying of metals was limited until about 1900 BC, or comparable to other regions in presentday north China. Some burials there include sacrificed pigs (in large numbers) and sheep. Local pottery includes yellow or buff ware with combed or incised designs and shapes particular to the culture, especially a flatbottomed jar with constricted neck, flared mouth and two large vertical double handles. Both handand wheel-formed Yangshao and Longshan pottery types and designs show affinities with the cultures to their east in the Central Plain, suggesting indirect contact.5 Burials show wide variance in size and amount of grave goods indicating social and, probably, job differentiation. Unlike the custom in the Central Plain at Erlitou (dating from about 1700 BC), the burial practice that marks high status in these cemeteries is animal sacrifice, not the inclusion of metal items. In the somewhat later but related culture known as Siba, a remarkable change occurs. Dating between 1900 and 1600 BC, the Siba culture vigorously begins to produce alloyed metals, especially bronze. This development can be characterized by looking at the sites of Ganguya (Li et al. 1988), Donghuishan (Xu 1988), and Huoshaogou.6 Information on these three sites confirms the existence of advanced technological sophistication. Tin bronze, lead bronze and leadtin-bronze have been found in all three Siba sites. Multi-mould casting was in use, showing that this advanced technology was on a par with that of contemporary cultures in the Central Plain. Even so, a large number of artefacts, for example most weapons and implements from Huoshaogou, were made of copper, while most ornaments were made of

bronze. Most metal artefacts were small, and no metal vessels were found at this level of the archaeological remains of this region. The production of many artefacts made of an alloy of copper and arsenic found at Ganguya and Donghuishan is unusual in this part of the world, but typical of materials excavated from cultures of somewhat earlier date in eastern Eurasia7 where this alloy was used long before tin bronze. The fabrication of arsenical bronze at Huoshaogou, however, was due to use of local ores containing copper and arsenic (Sun & Han 2000, 175–200). Manufacturing techniques including both casting and forging were typical of this region and set it apart from the metal-using cultures of the Central Plain (Sun & Han 2000, 175–200). Socio-cultural factors, as determined from study of burial and habitation remains at Huoshaogou, also set this area apart from the dynastic centres in the Central Plain. For instance, in the 312 burials excavated at Huoshaogou, 106 contained bronze objects. These objects were cast in single or bi-valve stone moulds that have been found at the site in an area identified as a foundry by the archaeologists, but not yet published. Analysis of the cemetery remains clearly shows social differentiation — in small burials only one or two ceramic pots were found, but in rich burials there are up to 12 or 13 pots recorded as well as jades, turquoise and agate beads, local and sea shells, and bronze, gold and silver (only one) items. In twenty other tombs, another feature marks special status individuals — human and/or animal sacrifice. Among the animals sacrificed, sheep are the most numerous, but pigs, cattle and horses were also killed at funerary rituals. Two features of these burials are worth investigating further: the bronzes themselves and the presence of horse sacrifice. Over 200 items of bronze have been recovered: axes, chisels, knives, daggers, spears, arrowheads, awls, needles, sickles, buttons, tubes, a pickaxe, bracelets and mirror-like ornaments, but no horse gear (Fig. 11.6). These are cast objects made from controlled alloys of copper and tin as well as lead. They do not represent an experimental stage in metal production, but are artefacts executed by knowledgeable craftworkers who were called upon to produce both ornamental and utilitarian items. The uses and metallic content of these artefacts were clearly regularized as were their typology and function. Both the types and uses of these bronzes are important for this discussion. For instance, five types of single burials can be identified at Huoshaogou: one included a gold nose ring and a pair of bronze 145

Chapter 11

a

e

c a

f

e

h

c

d

f

Figure 11.7. Metal earrings from China and Siberia: a) bronze earring from Tagirmen sai near Amu Darya River in the Aral Sea region (from Pyankova 1994, 366); b) bronze earring, Andronovo culture, western Siberia (from Masson & Danic 1992, 349, fig. 4); c) bronze earring, Malyi cemetery near Tomsk, Andronovo culture (from Gimbutas 1965, 101, fig. 61:14); d) bronze earring, Andronovo culture, western Central Asia (from Masson & Sarianidi 1972, 149, fig. 40); e) gold earring from Liujiahe, Pinggu, Beijing (from Lin 1986, 249, fig 50:8); f) copper earring covered with gold foli from the Altai (from Jettmar 1951, pl. I:B:10).

d

b

b

g

i M260

Figure 11.6. Copper objects from the Qijia culture: a) strip-shaped ornament from Huangniangniangtai, Wuwei, Gansu (from KGXB 1981.3, 278, fig. 6:1); b) knife from Huangniangniangtai, Wuwei, Gansu (from KGXB 1981.3, 278, fig. 6:2); c & d) awl from Huangniangniangtai, Wuwei, Gansu (from KGXB 1981.3, 278, fig. 6:3, 4); e) chisel from Qinweija, Yongjing, Gansu (from KGXB 1981.3, 278, 7:1); f) axe from Qinweija, Yongjing, Gansu (from KGXB 1981.3, 278, fig. 7:2); g) ornament from Qinweija, Yongjing, Gansu (from KGXB 1981.3, 278, fig. 7:2); h) knife from Dahezhuang, Yongjing, Gansu (from Shiqian Yanjiu no. 1 1984, 40, fig. 2:1); i) mirror from Gamatai, Guinan, Qinhai (from Shiqian Yanjiu, no. 1 1984, 40, fig. 2:7).

M247

Button 0

Earring (gold)

2 cm

Nose ring (gold)

M266

Nose ring (silver copper alloy) 0

Bronze pendants

5 cm 0

3 cm

Figure 11.8. Bronze ornaments, Siba culture, from Huoshaogou, Yumen, Gansu.

earrings; several held two bronze earrings; several others included one gold earring; still others had two gold earrings; and the fifth type included only one bronze earring (Figs. 11.7 & 11.8). An explanation for this differentiation was not offered by the excavators, but it suggests that some sort of personal identification was afforded by the inclusion of these very distinctive items as well as their material of manufacture. These particular metal ornaments were cast and then hot forged, or cold hammered,8 and both their shape and method of manufacture can be found in comparable examples in present-day northeast, but not in the Central Plain (Linduff et al. 2000, maps 1–4). Other bronze items such as curved knives, leaf-

shaped and pierced blades (bishou), spearheads, mace heads and socketed axes are unique finds in East Asia at this time (Figs. 11.9 & 11.12), but are well known among groups identified archeologically in eastern Eurasia and more particularly in Andronovo (Kuzmina et al. 1986) and Seima-Turbino (Chernykh 1992, 219; Anthony 1998) sites of southern Siberia. In addition to these ‘imported types’, the dominant presence of a local ceramic tradition9 along with sacrificial horse remains in burials and of horse bone used for manufacture of shovels/hoes, temptingly suggests that by the end of the third millennium BC this region hosted newcomers, or at least knowledge of 146

Late Shang Appropriation of Horses in China

further to its east. The evidence in Gansu, and especially of the Siba culture, shows no parallel in concentrated use and production in the Xinjiang region as yet. Still, the northwestern region of Xinjiang may have been in a key position with regard to its contact with its Andronovo neighbours in what is now Kazakhstan and Kirghizia (Mei & Shell 1998). Based on current knowledge and on the clear parallels in tool types and metallurgical content of the objects, this region could very well have been the entry point for metallurgical knowledge and, with it the preference for domesticated horses, into the Gansu Corridor. In contexts which are somewhat later in date and located to the northeast of the Central Plain, remains of Equus caballus (domesticates) were recovered and reported in Zhoujiadi, Xiajiadian, Nanshan’gen, and in the Zhizhushan where the debris was associated with the Upper Xiajiadian culture (c. 1000–600 BC) then scattered in eastern Inner Mongolia and parts of Liaoning province (Cui 1988). All are associated with habitation debris and suggest that the horse was either hunted, along with deer and other wild animals, or kept in limited numbers as a food source. Since the earliest clear evidence of intensive use of domesticated and trained horses in China comes from late Shang period and at Anyang, many Chinese archaeologists have argued that Chinesestyle residential agriculture did not welcome the use of horses for food because dietary protein from animals was, and had been for many decades, provided from pig, cattle, sheep and goats. Therefore, they argue, there was no direct stimulation for farmers in the Central Plain to domesticate horses (Chen 1984; Xie 1985). Moreover, the Yellow River Basin was shot with communities settled close to rivers, sometimes tree covered and always in regions with very fertile soil. The ecology and topography of the Central Plain allowed for intensive agriculture to develop to a high degree during the middle and late Neolithic, but did not hold large tracts of open lands for grazing for wild or captive animals. The lack of draught animals and wheeled vehicles in the region in prehistory underscores the existence of easily tillable and fertile soil where digging sticks and stone hoes were commonly used well into the historic period. On the other hand, the regions in the zone north and west of the Central Plain with its rocky, mountainous terrain and often arid climate where most of the Neolithic horse bones were reported, is one where horses could be thought to be useful in everyday life. Recovery of horse bones in numerous sites in Shaanxi, Inner Mongolia and Gansu support part of this assumption. Of the horse bones associated with

M254:4

M114:7

M100:4

0

5 cm

0

5 cm

Figure 11.9. Bronze spatulas (bishou), Siba culture, from Huoshaogou, Yumen, Gansu. their metallurgical technology, their tool, weapon and personal ornament types and even perhaps their horse-using life-style.10 Moreover, our knowledge of prehistoric metallurgy in Xinjiang (to the west of the Gansu Corridor) has been enriched by recent archaeological finds revealing the earliest appearance of copper, the practice of casting (stone moulds), the use of leadedcopper and tin bronze, and the smelting of arsenic copper.11 Mei Jianjun and Colin Shell have reviewed the information available and suggest that there are three centres for the use of copper and its alloys. The centres are close to copper resources, suggesting the possibility of local metal production. The earliest types from there, comparable to those found in Gansu, were excavated in sites which have been dated and calibrated from between c. 1800–400 BC and become widespread by about 1000 BC (Mei & Shell 1998, 583). The evidence in the earliest period is scant, but nonetheless suggests that in this area, experimentation with metal was taking place as it was 147

Chapter 11

those of sheep, roe deer and dog collected from Zhuanlongzang (c. 1500 BC) in the Baotou area, Inner Mongolia, no clear indication of whether the bones belong to domesticates was given. Polished stone tools and a large number of microliths and pottery with basket-weave patterns lead the archaeologist to claim that ‘residents of Zhuanlongzang were farmers engaged in animal husbandry as well as hunting’ (Wang 1957). Another group of late Neolithic sites in Yongjing County (including Dahezhuang, Qinweijia, and Zhangjiazui) in Gansu province has yielded horse bones. In the Zhangjiazui site, for instance, bones of domesticates — cattle, sheep, pig, and dog — were found with those of horses and deer. The large-scale residential area excavated there and the sizeable residue of animal bones including those fashioned as implements point to agro-pastoralism as the base of the subsistence economy. Of the total number of horse, pig, sheep, cattle, dog, deer (including roe deer) bones at Dahezhuang, those of horses make up only 1.13 per cent of the total (Gansu Work Team, IA, AS 1974). The small percentage of horse remains in the debris of this agricultural community suggest that these were not the main staple of the diet and that they may have been captured (stalked) from wild herds living in the vicinity. Most Chinese scholars agree that the process of domestication was a slow and late development and can be recognized in the remains of the Longshan period. For the Central Plain, several scholars have suggested that the Equus sp. found in Banpo, Shaanxi, evolved from the local wild horse in the steppe area of northwestern China (Wang 1980, 99; Xie 1985, 285). At Chengziya in Shandong, where horse bones make up one third of the total amount of bone remains, ready availability of horses must be understood. Further evidence found in the northwest and northeast suggests that there was easy access to horses in those areas as well and some argue that some control over herds of horses can be assumed (Song 1983). Li Yuanfang concluded that because horse bones in most Neolithic sites made up only a small portion of the total bone remains recovered, a much later date for horse domestication than other animals could be expected in China (1987). For most Chinese scholars, domestication of horses emerges about 2800 BC. But, because of difficulties in determining domestication from analysis of bone and the lack of solid evidence of intentional containment, breeding and/ or training (tack) from archaeological remains, this position must remain disputable. Review of the evidence, however, can be said to have pointed out

that: 1. the earliest remains of horses associated with human habitation were late Neolithic communities in the north, northwest (Gansu and Qinghai) and east (Shandong) of the Central Plain suggesting that there were at least two centres where horses were a substantial part of the lives of local sedentary, agricultural groups; 2. the only evidence of horses in ritual was in the west (Huoshaogou, Gansu); 3. the connection between metallurgy and horses may have had special meaning in relation to cultural interaction among groups living to the west of Gansu and elsewhere to the northwest of the dynastic centre; 4. horses did not play a significant role in the lives of the agricultural groups in the Central Plain prior to the Anyang period. Evidence from the Anyang period: exploited captives, local or imported domesticates? In the Central Plain, clear evidence of horse domestication and training under harness was brought to light with the discovery of the ruins of the Shang centre. Both in burials of Shang male élite (especially M1001, M1004), their female companions (M5), and unidentified individuals (M45), and in actual chariot or horse pits (Li 1957; Liang et al. 1948), related equipment and/or horses were excavated in ritual contexts (Table 11.2; Figs. 11.10 & 11.11). Here there is no doubt about their domestication for their harnessing to chariots is well displayed in burial. The remains can be dated to as early as about 1250 BC. Horses, chariots and their burials During the eleventh excavation of the Yinxu site at Anyang, several horse pits were unearthed: thirtyseven horses were buried in the largest pit and only one horse in the smallest. The usual number buried in a pit was from two to four. All horses in pits wore harnesses and were decorated with bronze fittings. The connections between this discovery and written records that mention horses are quite direct. Second, horses were harnessed to chariots and were used by Shang kings in rituals of hunt, burial and war. Over fourteen chariot pits have been unearthed since the 1930s and, among them, thirteen contain one chariot and two horses; one other contains one chariot and four horses. By contrast, horses and chariots have seldom been recovered from the settlement or in a region of the cemetery of ordinary people. The horses and chariots were associated at death primarily with 148

Late Shang Appropriation of Horses in China

R U S S I A N F E D E R AT I O N K A Z A K H S TA N Heilongjiang

MONGOLIA

KYRGYZSTAN

Jilin

Xinjiang Uygur Zizhiqu Gansu N ei M on

g g ol

Z

u( iz hiq

In

M n er

o ng

a) oli

Liaoning

NORTH KOREA

Hebei Beijing

Bo Hai

✢

Datuotou Qinghai

Ningxia Huizu

Shanxi Shaanxi

Jingjie

▼

✢✹

an

g

Anyang Hu Shandong

✢

Liaoniupo

✹✢

su

Hu a

i

He

Anhui

CHINA

East China Sea

Jia

ng

Hubei

Shanghai

g

L

an

A

ng

Henan

Ch

EP

Jia

Zhengzhou

Qin Ling Mts

N

Yellow Sea

(Y an gtz e)

Xizang Zizhiou (Tibet)

SOUTH KOREA

) w llo Ye e( H

BUTAN

Zhejiang

Sichuan Hunan

Jiangxi

N

Fujian

Yunnan

Guangxi Zhuangzu

TAIWA

N

Guizhou

Guangdong

✹ ✢

VIETNAM

South China Sea

▼ Hainan

0

800 km dak del

Figure 11.10. Distribution of Chinese sites of late Shang date (c. 1250–1050 BC) with evidence of horses. the Shang élite (Shih 1993; Yang 1994). The chariot increased from its first ritual use in sixteen Shang-date sites in and around Anyang (Fig. 11.10) to virtually every major Western Zhou-date site from Gansu to Shandong and Liaoning (Shaughnessy 1988, 190). The seven locations at Anyang that have yielded pits complete with chariots and tack are by far the most abundant remains of this material anywhere until the beginning to the Zhou Dynasty. Their disposition at Anyang is worth examining. They are buried in pits, all of which correspond to human burial grounds or to sacrificial pits among palace/temple constructions. Their placement is located on Figure 11.11:

1. in five pits next to the Palace area; 2. in five pits discovered in the west of Xiaotun among burials; 3. in four pits unearthed in Dasikongcun in an area with small burials; 4. in two more pits discovered in a cemetery at Baijiafen in a cemetery of mid-sized graves, and; 5. in the royal cemetery at Xibeigang, Houjaizhuang in M1136 and M1137 where chariots were also found in the tombs. The dating of this group spans a period from at least as early as 1240±145 BC from M1613 in Xiaomingtun, west Yinxu, at the beginning of the occupation of Anyang to one of the five well-known chariots from 149

Late Shang date

150 c. 1050 BC

Destroyed (*AERY 1994, 60, 139) 1 horse, 1 human sacrifice (*KG 1987.5, 462–3) 2 horses, 1 chariot and 2 human sacrifices (*KG 1987.5, 463)

Xiaotun M45, Anyang, Henan

Xiaotun M202, Anyang, Henan

2 horses, 1 chariot and 3 human sacrifices (*AERY 1994, 60)

Xiaotun M40, Anyang, Henan

Xiaotun M164, Anyang, Henan

1 horse found in a horse pit (*KG 1987.5, 463)

4 horses, 2 chariots, 3 human sacrifices (*KGXB 1947.2, *KG 1987.5, 463)

Xiaotun M20, Anyang, Henan Xiaotun H33, Anyang, Henan

1 horse in a horse pit (*EY 1987, 288)

1 horse and chariot pit (*KG 1998.9, 73)

Guojiazhuang M147, Anyang, Henan

North Miaopu, T129(5)H139, Anyang, Henan

1 horse and chariot pit (*KG 1998.9, 73)

Guojiazhuang M146, Anyang, Henan

2 horses, 2 human sacrifices (*AERY 1994, 131)

4 horse and chariot pits (*AERY 1994, 133)

Southeast Dasikong, Anyang, Henan

a horse pit (*AERY 1994, 86)

2 horses, 1 chariot (*AERY 1994, 142)

Dasikong M757, Anyang, Henan

Hougang 71M3, Anyang, Henan

2 horses, 1 chariot,1 human sacrifice (*AERY 1994, 141)

Dasikong M755, Anyang, Henan

North Miaopu IVF1, Anyang, Henan

1 horse (*EY 1980, 81)

Dasikong H415, Anyang, Henan

2 horses, 1 chariot, 1 human sacrifice (*AERY 1994, 140)

inscription of Dasikong M292, Anyang, Henan horse design (associated with ‘Maqiang’ described in oracle bones) on the bottom of bronze gui, horse fittings. (*WW 1986.11)

Jingjie, Lingshi, Shanxi

1040-850 BC

2 horses, 1 chariot, 1 human sacrifice (*KGXB 1955.9, *KG 1987.5, 463)

horse bones found in a bone workshop (*AERY 1994, 95)

2 horses (*WW Dasikong M175, Anyang, Henan 1988.6, 1)

Beixinzhuang, Anyang, Henan

Central

Laoniupo M17, Xi’an, Shaanxi

Laoniupo Pre-dynastic 2 horses, 1 M27, Xi’an, Zhou chariot (*WW Shaanxi 1988.6, fig.11)

West/North

Table 11.2. Sites in China of Late Shang date (c. 1250–1050 BC) with evidence of horses.

horse teeth (*KG 1966.1)

Northeast/East Datuotou, Tianjin

Chapter 11

West/North

Table 11.2. (cont.).

1 chariot, 2 horses, 1 human sacrifice (*AERY 1994, 140)

Xiaomintun, M7, West Yinxu, Anyang, Henan

151

30 sacrificial pits yield a total of 117 horses totally; M39, M40, M41 contain human sacrifices. Horsebones are suspected to be found about 80 pits not yet excavated at the site (*KG, 1987.12)

M5: 1430– 1137 BC; M39: 1020– 810 BC (*RDCA, 171) 1376– 1010 BC

Wuguangcun, north, Anyang, Henan

Wuguancun north M110, Anyang, Henan

2 horses (*KG 1977.1)

horse leg bone (*KGXB 1979.1)

horse bones with other animal bones found (*KGXB 1987.1)

West Yinxu, M260, Anyang, Henan

horse leg bone (*KGXB 1979.1)

1 horse (*KGXB 1979.1)

West Yinxu, M217, Anyang, Henan

West Yinxu, M699, Anyang, Henan

1 horse (*KGXB 1979.1)

West Yinxu, M216, Anyang, Henan 1370– 1091 BC

West Yinxu, M700, Anyang, Henan 1370– 1091 BC

2 horses (*KGXB 1979.1, fig.45)

West Yinxu, M150, Anyang, Henan

BC

2 horses, 1 chariot (*AERY 1994, 141)

1 chariot, 2 horses, 1 human sacrifice ( *AERY 1994, 140)

Xiaomintun, M2, West Yinxu, Anyang, Henan

1240±145

1 chariot, 2 horses, 1 human sacrifice ( *AERY 1994, 140)

Xiaomintun, M1, West Yinxu, Anyang, Henan

Xiaomintun, M1613, West Yinxu, Anyang, Henan

1 chariot, 2 horses (*AERY 1994, 141)

Baijiafen M151, West Yinxu, Anyang, Henan

2 horses, 1 chariot, 1 human sacrifice discovered in a pit and a horse pit with 1 horse found at the northern ramp (*AERY 1994, 147, *KG 1987.5, 463)

2 horses found in a horse pit (*KG 1987.5, 463)

Baijiafen M150, West Yinxu, Anyang, Henan

Xiaomintun M698, West Yinxu, Anyang, Henan

1 chariot, 2 horses (*AERY 1994, 140–41)

Baijiafen M43, West Yinxu, Anyang, Henan

1389– 1055 BC

destroyed (*KG 1987.5, 463)

Central Xiaotun M204, Anyang, Henan

Northeast/East

Late Shang Appropriation of Horses in China

152

a horse pit (*KG 1987.5, 462) 3 horses found in a horse pit (*KG 1987.5, 462) horse bone in dwelling (*KGXB 1957.1)

Zhengzhou, Henan

3 horses found in a horse pit (*KG 1987.5, 462)

Xibeigang, M1887 Anyang, Henan

Xibeigang, M2017 Anyang, Henan

1 horse and chariot pit yield 2 chariots (*AERY 1994, 118, 139 )

Xibeigang 1136-1137, Anyang, Henan

Xibeigang, M1963 Anyang, Henan

20 horse pits (*AERY 1994, 117)

Xibeigang, Anyang, Henan

a horse pit (*KG 1987.5, 462)

37 horses found in a horse pit (*KG 1987.5, 462)

Xibeigang, Anyang, Henan

Xibeigang, M1912 Anyang, Henan

30 horse pits (*AERY 1994, p. 117)

Xibeigang southeast M1550

4 horses found in a horse pit (*KG 1987.5, 462)

1 chariot pit yield 25 chariots (*KG 1987.5, 462 )

Xibeigang, near HPKM1001 and HPKM1003, Anyang, Henan

Xibeigang, M1911 Anyang, Henan

2 chariot pits yield 1 chariot in each pit (*KG 1987.5, 462 )

Xibeigang HPKM1003, Anyang, Henan

2 horses found in a horse pit (*KG 1987.5, 462)

7 horse pits and 1 chariot pit yields 1 chariot (*AERY 1994, 106, *KG 1987.5, 462 )

Xibeigang HPKM1001, Anyang, Henan

Xibeigang, M1888 Anyang, Henan

6 horse pits yield a total of 28 horses (*AERY 1994, 108–9)

Central Wuguandamu (50WGKM1), Xibeigang, Anyang, Henan

Key *AERY - Archaeology excavation and researches in the Yin ruins [Yinxu faxian yu Yanjiu] (see References: Institute of Archaeology, CASS, 1987) *EY - Excavation of Yinxu [Yinxu fajue baogao] (see References: Institute of Archaeology, CASS, 1980) *KG - Kaogu *KGXB - Kaogu xuebao *RDCA - Radiocarbon Dates in Chinese Archaeology 1965–1991 [Zhongguo kaoguxue zhong tan shisi niandai shuju ji 1965–1991]. *WW - Wenwu

West/North

Table 11.2. (cont.). Northeast/East

Chapter 11

Late Shang Appropriation of Horses in China

J i n g h a n ra

the Xiaotun palace district in M20, considered to be the latest example at the end of the N Dynasty (Anyang Archaeological Team, IA, CASS 1984, 505–609; Yang 1994, 547) (Fig. 11.11). Altogether there are 16 ✢✹ Xibeigang chariot and horse pits, and all but one contained two-horse chariots (Guo 1951). In one of ✢ Wuguangcun the large tombs, Wuguan✢ ✹✢ damu, excavated in 1950 only Beixinzhuang horse sacrifices were found; ✢✹ on the north ramp there were Dasikongcun ✢✹ ✢✹ three pits with 16 horses, on Yinxu, West Xiaotun the south ramp there were also three pits with 12 horses. ✹ In M1003 the bases of two ✢ Baijiafen Hougang chariot cabins were excavated an Miaopu ✢ Hu next to two rib bones of a ✹ whale. Guojiazhuang At Dasikongcun 166 tombs were discovered. Tomb M175 contains a chariot comSites with horse remains in Anyang plete with horse and driver as well as an abundance of River items associated with warfare City of City wall and harnessing horses to the Anyang Railway chariot — yoke, harness and ✹ chariot remains ✢ horse sacrifices bit parts; bronze weapons, animal bells, arrowheads, and dak del four whetstones for sharpening blades (Fig. 11.3). Figure 11.11. Sites with horse remains in Anyang, late Shang period. (Based on Tomb M20 at Xiaotun Cheng 1960, 2, map 1.) was among the latest chariot burials at Anyang and is located under a layer of as listed above, it lacked ritual bronze vessels of pounded earth and inside a boundary marked with Shang type and commission. These same attributes red lacquer in the palace/temple complex. These of the frontier also accompanied Fu Hao (M5), the five pits were placed in a deliberate order that sugconsort of King Wu Ding who died about 1200 BC, to gests a ritual function. M20 is the only one of these her grave — curved knives, bow-shaped objects, arfive pits which was discovered intact. This burial rowheads, horse gear (bronze cheek-pieces, bridle included four horses, a driver and two archers, and and rein buttons), and animal bells and identify her a full range of tools and fittings as well as curved non-Shang heritage (So & Bunker 1995, 36; Linduff knives with animal-headed terminals and whetstones 1996) (Fig. 11.13). nearby (Hu 1949, 82). The abrupt appearance of the chariot at Anyang Tomb M164 at Xiaotun is very unusual. A sinhas spawned a great deal of study about the origins gle male was buried with a horse and gear — curved of the vehicle type (Shaughnessy 1988; Yang 1994), knife and whetstone at his left hip in frontier fashion but their prominence at Anyang has defied explana(BIHPAS, XXIII 1952, 467) — and a bow-shaped obtion. Of all the themes leading to a discussion of ject, arrowheads, and pottery guan typical of ones ancient Chinese relations with Inner Asia, the chariot from the region west of Anyang were also included. is the most debated (Dewald 1964; Hayashi 1959; He was presumably a horse trainer or charioteer, Piggott 1974; 1978; Yang 1984). Actual contact canand although this tomb contained bronze implements not be fully substantiated by archaeological evidence, il w a

y

153

Chapter 11

M19:5

M171:6

M100:5

M185:13

a

Tanged blade 0

5 cm

b Scraper

0

c

d

e f

3 cm

M79:22

g Tanged knife

M304:15

Scraper 0

5 cm

Knife 0

j

2 cm

h

M299:9

k

l

Figure 11.13. Bronzes of Northern Zone-type unearthed from the Fu Hao tomb and their northern counterparts: a–f) from Fu Hao tomb; g–l) from various sites in the Northern Zone. (From Lin 1986, 252.)

M112

0

i

the Urals and Kazakhstan (Kuzmina 1994b, 38). The wooden chambered tombs with chariots and sacrificed horses, such as the one from Krivoe Ozero of the Sintashta-Petrovka culture in western Kazakhstan, date from between c. 2136 to 1904 BC (Gening et al. 1992; Anthony 1995, 2). The chariots are light, with a body measuring 1.2 m × 0.7 m and with 10 to 12 spoke wheels which are one metre in diameter. It is not clear that these Central Asian versions were prototypes of the more refined Shang models, however remote in time and location, but in the context of the Shang oracle inscriptions, chariots were identified as prized booty from Shang adversaries to the west of Anyang and/or in relation to the king’s personal use for hunting (Shaughnessy 1988, 215; Chen 1984). Were, then, the chariots found buried at Anyang built by and/or captured from non-Shang groups? The debate over the origins of these types will not be furthered here, but an interpretation which gives them an active part in the Shang socio-political and ritual system and which invests them with a role that values them as exotica associated with Shang

5 cm

Figure 11.12. Bronze tools and weapons, Siba culture, from Huoshaogou, Yumen, Gansu. even though the horse and chariot only became a regular ritual burial feature during the occupation of Anyang, and not before. Textual and artefactual evidence lead to more firmly grounded argument for their introduction into dynastic China from outside of Anyang. The sites in closest proximity to Anyang where chariots, sometimes with teams of bridled horses, were found in warriors’ graves are at Sintasta, Ulyubay, Veljanka IV, Berlik and Satan cemeteries in 154

Late Shang Appropriation of Horses in China

is more pictorial than those representing domesticated animals such as cow, sheep, dog and pig. This suggested to Ding Su (1966, 2b) that the Shang had horses later than the others, and that the Shang were unfamiliar with these animals since their graphs for tiger and deer were pictorial in the same fashion as that of the horse. Keightley, on the other hand, speculated that certain animal graphs might have been more detailed for religious reasons (1978, 110). This debate has not been resolved, but it is quite clear that the early oracle-bone graph for horse (Mair this volume) depicts the wild Equus przewalskii with tufted tail, short body and legs, and a stand-up mane. Moreover, the word is used in inscriptions that discuss dealings with non-Shang peoples, or to name those groups directly. The association with wild horses and those outside the late Shang political realm is confirmed with this evidence as it was with the jade figurines from the Fu Hao Tomb at Anyang (M5) and the inscription on the ritual bronze vessel from Jingjiecun (Figs. 11.1 & 11.2). According to Shaughnessy (1988, 233–4), the word ma for horse occurs more often than the word che for chariot, and the greatest number of these occurrences refers to proper names rather than to the horse per se. Three inscriptions refer to their capture in the course of battle; and a series of inscriptions refers to the place called Mafang, or ‘horse country’ and thereafter to various groupings of ma peoples presumably all related to the Mafang. The location of Mafang is generally assumed to be in western Shanxi, somewhat east of the Yellow River. Mafang appears in the earliest inscriptions as an enemy of the Shang, a relationship that continued until Wu Ding expanded into the area of eastern and central Shanxi around 1250 BC. Although effective control by the Shang during the Anyang period does not seem to have extended much beyond the Fen River, the Shang did make attacks against certain groups located in that area. One of these states was the Qiangfang who at the time were assumed to be the leaders of a confederation that included the Mafang. The Qiang continued to be an enemy throughout the Anyang period, and qiang became a generic term used for any adversary that lived to the west of the Shang. After Wu Ding came to control the western region, inscriptions often refer to the duoma Qiang, or ‘the Qiang of many horses’, who acted as allies, defended the borderlands and perhaps even continued to serve at Shang court by the name, duoma ya, or the ‘Many Horse Guard’ (Shaughnessy 1988, 233). By the reign of Lin Xin, the 25th of 30 Shang

central authority and probably with the kings themselves follows. Given that there is almost no evidence of the use of wheeled conveyances in northern China prior to their introduction in burial at Anyang, that there is mention in oracle bone inscriptions for their use in the royal sport of hunting (Ho 1975, 225; Shaughnessy 1988) and in war, and that they were useless without teams of well-trained and equipped horses and drivers, we must question from where and whom they acquired the necessary expertise to breed, care for and train horses.12 Although they may have captured the equipment from the encounters of war as is argued by many, it is likely, perhaps even inevitable, that the Shang adopted horse management, including breeding, training and veterinary medicine (Meserve 1995) through some sort of exchange rather than war booty (Bunker 1995; Linduff 1996). If this were the case, some degree of control over, or at least co-operation with, knowledgeable ‘outsiders’ was necessary to maintain these vehicles and their horses in working condition. Excavations of horse remains prior to the Anyang period, already discussed, come from sites in the Gansu/Qinghai region, from one site in Shandong, from one site in Henan and from the Bronze Age site at Baotou (c. 1500 BC) in western Inner Mongolia (Figs. 11.5 & 11.10). The bones from all these sites were indeterminate species. These finds are sporadic; they come from lands peripheral to the Shang and correlate with early metal working and casting sites dating from at least as early as c. 2000 BC (Linduff et al. 2000, map 1). The discoveries of horse remains neither document widespread controlled breeding nor use over time. There are no horse remains at Erlitou (c. 1700–1500 BC) or Zhengzhou (middle Shang-date centre), for instance, nor evidence for the development of equipment or ritual practice associated with their domestication until the late Shang period at Anyang. They played a role there which had consequences for the kings as horses were found sacrificed throughout the occupation and burial sites. All burials at Anyang were dedicated to the glorification of the kings and the state, and the cemetery was not for general use of the Shang populations. Burial of horses must have been an effective reminder of the power and prestige of the living as well as deceased leaders. Inscriptional evidence Oracle inscriptions that mention horses confirm the late Shang acceptance and use of the horse. Interestingly, the earlier form of the character ma, for horse, 155

Chapter 11

leaders, ma units were incorporated into the Shang army, attesting to the growing familiarity with and acceptance of horsemanship on the part of the Shang. The Zhou, who lived to the west of the Qiang and with whom they were allied, may also have been familiar with horses and chariotry some time before their conquest of the Shang. This is attested to in the one chariot burial outside of the vicinity of Anyang, M27 at Liaomupo near Xi’an, which contains one chariot and two horses (Fig. 11.10). Immediately upon their defeat of the Shang, the Zhou buried chariots in large numbers. This display confirmed the heightened significance of the horse and chariot to their newly gained power and authority and perhaps their mixed, ‘western’ heritage (Hsu & Linduff 1988). Such items were no longer restricted to the king either in use or in access, but were much more broadly available among Zhou leadership. Presumably, they were no longer exotica and were demystified through full incorporation into military practice and expanded ownership. Written records on oracle-bones often mentioned the function of horses and described them in some detail. Many sentences carefully list the colour of their hair, for example bronze, white, red, black, yellow and parti-coloured. Other combinations of characters represent particular colours: dark black, roan, and black with yellow on their back ends. Besides the description of hair colour, oracle inscriptions also combined animal terms in order to describe the character of certain horses. A ‘deer horse’ described an alert horse, while a ‘pig horse’ was a fat one. Detailed identifications of horses were probably associated with their use depending on function. The Shang élite apparently chose the type of horse to meet the need (Wang 1980) indicating that such choices were possible and that breeding and selecting for type, colour and size was possible and important to meet both the requirements of function as well as ritual. Shang inscriptions on ritual bronzes from the late Shang address the sources of horses. For example, one inscription reads, ‘the head of Double-bow Kingdom’ contributed white horses to the Shang royal court. Wang Yuxin proposed that this person was a relative of Fu Hao, a wife of Wu Ding buried in Tomb 5 at Anyang (1980, 102). In addition to horses, the Double-bow people also contributed bronze vessels to Wu Ding — a round tripod and five nao (bell) — thought to be tribute. According to the Zhouli, written in the late first millennium BC, over eight titles were reserved for the officers who took charge of the training, driving, riding and medical care of horses in Shang royal court.

Horses were part of ritual life — they were portents; they were used to pay homage; they pulled the conveyance of the king as he faced his subjects or adversaries. They were used as sacrifices when the Shang élite paid homage to their ancestors, were praying for harvest or erecting a building. Often, the number of horses, the colour of their fur and their age was recorded in inscriptions, tempting us to think that those features had some ritual significance. References to horses and chariots appear most often in the oracle records and in association with the king. He might ask the diviner if there was a problem with his horse harnessed on the left of the chariot rig, or if a white horse from the south was a good omen. The king might order the drivers to prepare horses for hunting events, or to use a number of war captives and horses from Qiang as sacrifices to his ancestors. A particular character referred to driving a team — a horse and a hand — and was used to record the moments when the royal guard drove the chariots in ceremonies and/or when the King was driven in a chariot to be presented to dukes from other states. Wang Yuxin read one inscription from the latest period at Anyang as follows: In a battle against the Weifang, officer Qiang captured the commander of the Weifang — Mei Zhe took 24 captives, killed 1570 people and wounded over 100. He also received more than 1000 horses, 2 chariots, and 180 shields . . . One of the leaders of Weifang — Bai Bin was killed as a sacrifice to the Shang ancestor Da Yi; another person was sacrificed to Zu Yi; and Mei Zhe himself was killed in honour of Zu Di. (Yinxu wenzi xucun 2)

From such an inscription, we learn that the late Shang leadership accumulated horses and chariots from outside groups by means of warfare. We also learn that those outsider groups had their own equipment. It is difficult to determine whether what we see at Anyang was produced outside of the dynastic centre since only one chariot pit near Xi’an has been recovered outside of Anyang so far (Fig. 11.10). Interaction between the states in the Central Plain and groups in the Northern Zone had already lasted for many centuries. The two sites of Panlongcheng, Hubei (Bagley 1977) and the latest levels at Zhukaigou, Inner Mongolia (Linduff 1995) attest to arrangements including colonization as in the case of Panlong and exchange through trade as in Zhukaigou. Since these sites date from the middle of the Shang period (c. 1500 BC) before the Shang capital moved to Anyang, they attest to the expansive char156

Late Shang Appropriation of Horses in China

acter of middle Shang ‘foreign policy’. Apparently, a reciprocal relationship was established, through which the goods could flow peacefully. During this period there is no evidence to suggest that horses were either a trade commodity or a ritual necessity for there are neither osteological remains nor equipment relics in burial or otherwise at these sites dating from this period. By the Anyang period, there is not only material debris but also literary evidence of this exchange indicating that each side attained necessities through ritual exchange, war and capture. Horses and chariots may reflect one part of the whole activity that began in the pre-Anyang period as part of a neighbourly exchange system between the dynastic Shang and pastoral societies who lived along their northern frontier and emerged as an essential part of a supply system for stately ritual during the occupation of Anyang. By the later Zhou period, such official texts as the Zuo Zhuan, Hanshu, Zhouli and Shiji, all suggest that the original breeding grounds of horses were in the west in what is now Gansu, central Shanxi and adjacent provinces, and northern Inner Mongolia (Guo 1985). They associate this skill with various groups (for example the Rong, Zhai, Beidi, Yandai) ) and places peripheral to the political power centre and in border areas where broad scale agriculture gives way to agro-pastoralism, and ultimately to steppelands. By the time of the late first millennium BC, the Qin State used horses introduced from Gansu as draught horse to draw chariots and ones from Mongolia for riding. These distinctions can be observed from the terracotta models in Qinshi Huangdi’s mausoleum dating from 210 BC. In the Pit no. 1, most are draught horses displaying pony-size bodies, short ears, thick limbs and big hooves, all important for drawing loads. Horses found in Pit no. 2, on the other hand, have sleek bodies, long ears and long, thin legs and must be models of elegant breeds for riding (Guo 1985, 295).

whom we have evidence of an interest in the use of horses for parade and not for food. Their state-level apparatus must have been sufficiently elaborate to support such a labour-intensive activity. They probably maintained their stables only through frequent contact, both cordial and hostile, with non-Shang groups. Intensive breeding and training is not indicated in dynastic lands before that time and further support the notion that alliances with groups to the west and north of Anyang provided the best sources for horses, but also for breeders and trainers as well as equipment. The possession of horses among adversaries and/or their friends, or among the late Shang themselves must have given the owners an advantage — in transporting their leaders as well as goods. Burial evidence from Anyang underscores the notion that horses also counted when sacrificing to the ancestors or other spiritual beings. Inscriptional evidence expands our understanding of the high regard in which horses were held — their features including colour, size, number and confirmation were recorded and associated with special aspects of character (speed, strength, power) which was accorded those in association with the steeds. Burial practice and the contents of the tombs indicate that those associated directly with trading, breeding, training and managing horses were ‘outsiders’. And likewise, these outsiders shared knowledge of horses and use of metal tools with peoples living as far west as the Urals during the second millennium BC. In the Shang, association with the horse and horse gear could indicate cultural identity or affiliation as it did with Fu Hao in Tomb M5. As effects of the royal tombs, the horse and the chariot were part of the complex apparatus of power, both political (chariot) and spiritual (horse sacrifice). The wild counterparts of the great parade animals, on the other hand, were memorialized in jade (Fig. 11.1) or were described in pictographs (Fig. 11.2) and were thereby transformed into static symbols signifying ‘outsiders’. Throughout the realm in the early Zhou nearly all burials of high-level officials included chariot and horse sacrifices, providing a unifying image of the power of the Zhou (c. 1050–900 BC) and affiliation with it. Highly trained horses and drivers were available to and perhaps necessary for the political élite and the mysteries of the horse and chariot as exotic booty was clearly forgotten.

Conclusion Taken together all the evidence points to limited control of horses primarily for dietary and burial purposes in northwestern present-day China before they were introduced for ritual purposes for the Shang dynastic élite at Anyang. Osteological remains are inconclusive with regard to domestication, but do underscore the availability and varied use of horses to groups outside of the Central Plain from no later than 2000 BC. The Shang are the first for

Acknowledgements With the assistance of a grant from the Chiang Ching157

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excavators for showing me this unpublished material in May, 1995, and to Emma Bunker for first bringing the existence of a gold earring from there to my attention (see also Bunker 1994, 31–9). Gold was one of the earliest metals worked by the peoples to the west and northwest of dynastic China. Similarly shaped examples have been found in Liaoning at Niuheliang, the Hongshan site (see Liaoning Provincial Institute of Archaeology et al. 1992a, 403, fig. 8:5; 1992b, 452, fig. 14:19, and 35 [knife]); in Hebei (see CPAM, City of Beijing 1976, 60, fig. 4:2); at Zhukaigou, Inner Mongolia and in Lower Xiajiadian sites. New sites in Gansu have been reported on by Li Shuicheng, this volume. 7. Arsenical bronzes are typical of alloyed metal artefacts in certain west Asian and Eurasian settings, but tin bronze are more typical of cultures from the Altai, including the Andronovo, in the third and second millennia BC (see Chernykh 1992, 190–234). Coghlan (1975) reviews the use of arsenic bronzes (see also Tylecote 1992, 12). In his study of the Yamnaya, Anthony (1998, 44–113) points out that they were the first to intensively exploit steppe copper ores and to produce arsenical bronzes — probably as a result of increased movement over and familiarity with the steppe landscape. 8. Personal communication from Han Rubin, Institute of Science and Technology Beijing, May, 1998. 9. Li reports the presence of styles of pottery that are not local in the region. Whether these types, which are similar in décor to Andronovo, according to Li, were locally made or imports is not known (see Li this volume). 10. This is precisely the period that Anthony proposes the beginning of large-scale trans-continental exchanges. Among the factors that he claims revolutionized steppe lifeways, the development of metallurgy and mining are listed along with innovations in means of transport — the introduction of wheeled vehicles and horseback riding — and domesticated grazing animals (1998, 95–103); and map 3 (p. 100) which locates Andronovo culture sites at the base of the Altai Mountains on the eastern edge of the Eurasian Steppe along the Yennesei, Ob and Irtysh Rivers. 11. Recent studies have suggested that this material can be organized into eight cultural groups (Shui 1993, 447–90). On the basis of typological studies of ceramics, burials, and other finds, another study suggest ten archaeological cultures (Chen & Hiebert 1995, 243–300). 12. Because the possibility of driving the light-bodied and slender-wheeled Shang chariot at high speed over the terrain of north China in combat is highly unlikely, we must presume another use for them. Use in parade or as a launching platform for leaders is much more likely.

kuo Foundation, research for this paper was begun in 1995 with Qiao Xiaoqin, then a Research Associate of the University Centre for International Studies, University of Pittsburgh. His help was essential. Li Jianjing diligently prepared the maps and charts, begun by Hsu Miao-lin some time ago. Chiou-Peng Tze-huey read the manuscript and helped clarify my argument. I am indebted to them for their assistance. This version of the paper was formed after the invitation to participate in the seminar on ‘The Late Prehistoric Exploitation of the Eurasian Steppe’ at Cambridge University in January 2000. My thanks to Professor Colin Renfrew and Dr Marsha Levine for their inspiration, patience and preparation of the seminar, and for their courage in bringing us all together. Notes 1. 2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

For a review of the theories of domestication, see Levine 1999, 8–9. At a site called Dulan in Nuomuhonghalehe in Qinghai, there is a mention of a corral along with a wheel with sixteen spokes, see, CPAM of Qinghai Province et al. 1963, 17–41. A C14 date for the wood was published in Meacham 1983, 143, but there are two dates reported. One of these is c. 2000 BC (2175±110 BC [ZK61]) which came from tests on a piece of wood. The other date [ZK62] is 955±140 BC, and was taken from a sample of woven fabric. Donald Meacham (1983, 168) quotes an uncalibrated date of 2166± BC for ZK61. ‘Copper’ implements (analyses of one metal knife and awl showed 99 per cent copper with impurities of lead, tin and so on of less than 0.4 per cent) including knives, chisels, and awls, as well as earrings, finger rings, and mirrors (for instance, at Gamatai in Guinan, Qinghai) were unearthed. See Archaeological Work Team, Gansu Provincial Museum 1980, 22–4; Xie 1981, 76–83; Hu 1980, 77–82. Copper-zinc alloying is not common in China, but ores containing both metals have been located in the region (Linduff et al. 2000, map 7). The most obvious contact culture is Kexingzhuang II, distributed in present-day Shaanxi. See Liang 1987, 407–11, and 1994, 397–424. A notice of this well-excavated site is in Wenwu Editorial Committee 1990, 142–3. Excavations conducted by Wang Hui and Chai Shengfang at the site were begun in 1975 and continued through 1990, but unfortunately full publication of the material has not yet occurred. The site is carbon-dated between 2000 and 1600 BC (uncalibrated), or contemporary with the other metal producing sites in the Northern Zone. About 300 tombs were excavated, and although a habitation site is known nearby, it is located under village buildings where excavation is not possible. At another local site, fragments of pottery kilns and a metal furnace including slag have been found. I am grateful to the

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chaeology. Beijing: Wenwu Press. Xue, Y. et al., 1990. Ten years of archaeological fieldwork in Gansu province [Gansusheng Wenwu Kaogu Gongzuo Shinian], in Ten Years of Archaeological Fieldwork 1979–1989 [Wenwu kaogu gongzuo shinian] 1979– 1989, ed. Gansu Institute of Archaeology. Beijing: Wenwu Press, 317–18. Yan, W., 1984. A discussion of the Chalcolithic age in China [Lun Zhongguo de tongqi bingyong shidai]. Shiqian Yanjiu 1, 36–44. Yang, B., 1984. The discovery and reconstruction of Shangdynasty chariots [Yindai chezi faxian yu fuyuan]. Kaogu 6, 546–55. Yang, B., 1994. Chariot and horse pits found in Yinxu [Yinxu faxian de chemakeng], in Archaeology Excavation and Researches in the Yin Ruins, ed. Beijing Institute of Archaeology. Beijing: The Institute of Archaeology, CASS, Science Press, 138–47. Yetts, W.P., 1934. The horse: a factor in early Chinese history. Eurasia Septrionalis Antiqua 9. Zeuner, F.E., 1963. A History of Domesticated Animals. London: Hutchinson. Zhen, R., 1987. On the chariot and horse burials of the Shang dynasty [Shilun Shangdai de chemazang]. Kaogu 5, 462–9.

yanjiu] 1, 447–90. So, J.F. & E.C. Bunker (eds.), 1995. Traders and Raiders on China’s Northern Frontier. Seattle and London: University of Washington Press. Sun, S. & R. Han, 2000. A study of casting and manufacturing techniques of early copper and bronze artifacts found in Gansu, in Linduff et al. (eds.), 175–94. Tianjing Bureau of Culture Archaeological Team, 1966. Trial diggings at Tatuotou, Taguang Hui autonomous county, Hebei province [Hebei Daguang Huizu zizhixian Datuotou yizhi shijue jianbao]. Kaogu 1, 8– 13. Tylecote, R.F., 1992 [1976]. A History of Metallurgy. London: Institute of Materials. Wang, Y., 1980. Horse and horse domestication in the Shang dynasty [Shangdai de ma he yangmayie]. Zhongguoshi yanjiu 1, 99–108. Xie, C., 1985. The beginning and development of animal domestication in early China [Zhongguo yuanshi xumuyie de qiyuan he fazhan]. Nongye kaogu 1, 282–91. Xie, D., 1981. On the Qijia culture [Shilun Qijia wenhua]. Kaogu yu wenwu 3, 76–83. Xu, Y., 1988. The Siba culture site at Huoshaogou, Donghuishan, Minle County, in The Almanac of Chinese Archaeology (1988), ed. Beijing Institute of Ar-

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Chapter 12 The Horse in Late Prehistoric China: Wresting Culture and Control from the ‘Barbarians’ Victor H. Mair T

he coming of the domesticated horse to East Asia, both in its own right and as part of a cultural complex including the chariot and other highly distinctive traits, was utterly transformative. Despite the overwhelming importance of the horse for civilization in China and neighbouring countries, many difficult questions confront the investigator who attempts to assess its significance. Among these are the basic problems of when it arrived, who brought it, where it came from, and the uses to which it was put. These problems can only be solved by recourse to both archaeological and linguistic data. A careful examination of the available data yields, among others, the following findings: 1. the domesticated horse came to China toward the end of the second millennium BC, after domesticated ovicaprids and cattle, both of which were already present by the third millennium BC; 2. the first use of the horse in China was for chariot traction; 3. during the first half of the first millennium BC, China’s northern and western neighbours did ride the horse, but primarily for purposes of hunting and transportation; 4. the people to the north and the west of China began to engage in mounted warfare during the second half of the first millennium BC, but the Chinese themselves did not do so until near the end of the fourth century BC. While grappling with these matters of sheer chronology, other interesting facts emerge. For example, by studying the language and the script of the Shell and Bone Inscriptions (c. 1200–1050 BC) and Bronze Inscriptions (c. 1050–400 BC), it is possible to determine the extent of Chinese knowledge concerning the horse and the applications to which it was put. Furthermore, comparison with equine and related terminology in Indo-European languages yields ex-

tremely interesting and valuable information about possible paths of cultural transmission. The emperor had previously divined by the Book of Changes and been told that ‘divine horses are due to appear from the northwest’. When the Wusun came with their horses, which were of an excellent breed, he named them ‘heavenly horses’. Later, however, he obtained the blood-sweating horses from Ferghana, which were even hardier. He therefore changed the name of the Wusun horses, calling them ‘horses from the western extremity’, and used the name ‘heavenly horses’ for the horses of Ferghana1 (from Shi ji [The Grand Scribe’s Records], scroll 123, in reference to the Western Han emperor Wudi, c. 120 BC).

From the Western Han dynasty (206 BC–AD 8) onward, Chinese emperors repeatedly sent tens of thousands of soldiers marching halfway across Asia on expeditions designed to procure the finest horses. Such expeditions often ended in failure, but this did not deter the Chinese rulers from trying again and again, often at huge expense and with great loss of life, to possess for themselves a few of these magnificent beasts. When it finally dawned on the Chinese rulers that war was not always the most efficient means for obtaining the much-coveted steeds, other methods were sometimes adopted. In the mid-seventh century, for example, a Tang emperor dispatched a Chinese princess to marry a Turkic khan — for the bride price of 50,000 horses, with a substantial number of camels and sheep thrown in for good measure. In the late Tang, when the khans had perhaps tired of the charming eastern princesses, the Chinese were paying the exorbitant price of a million bolts of silk for 100,000 horses every year. The drain on the empire’s economy can well be imagined and no doubt contributed to its downfall. 163

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According to Paul Smith (1991, 13), who has made a detailed study of Chinese efforts to purchase large quantities of horses during the Northern Song Dynasty (960–1126), which succeeded in reuniting China after the break-up of the Tang, ‘From the rise of the mounted archer around the fourth century BC until the incursion of European imperialism in the eighteenth century AD, the chief external threat to sedentary China issued from the nomad warriors of Inner Asia’. Assuming that this was indeed the case, how did the Chinese attempt to defend themselves? Various strategies were adopted, including playing off one group of nomads against the other. Beginning around the third century BC, the Chinese also built a series of defensive walls. To man the walls and occasionally expand beyond them, they raised huge standing armies. Much attention was paid, furthermore, to armaments industries to provide the soldiers with adequate weapons and to fortify the system of walls. Above all, from the third century BC on, the Chinese developed their own cavalry, giving them increased mobility on open plains and enabling them to project power outward when it was thought to be necessary. Maintaining a sizeable cavalry meant that large quantities of horses were required. Ironically, the only source of suitable mounts was from the nomads themselves, posing a not inconsiderable dilemma.2 There can be little doubt that Chinese authorities during the last two millennia perceived the horse to be essential to the war-making capability of the regime. The centrality of the horse in the vast majority of expeditions to the north and west can be appreciated by glimpsing the logistics of a single operation. Plans that were drawn up in January 1548 for a Ming Dynasty campaign to recover the Ordos3 region from the Mongols called for 60,000 men, 67,500 camels, and 85,000 horses. The magnitude of this operation in feeding the horses alone can be imagined when one considers that a single horse consumed about four pounds of grain per day and the working load of a camel was computed at 266 pounds. This means that it would have taken about 1275 camel loads per day just to feed the 85,000 horses requested for this campaign (Waldron 1990, 134–5, 245n395). If we go back in history beyond the time of the first incursions of mounted and armed nomads, however, it would appear that the Chinese were fascinated by the horse no later than the last two centuries of the second millennium BC and strove mightily to obtain a steady supply of them from the peoples to their north and west. Bronze inscriptions of the early first millennium BC already show the extreme impor-

tance that was attached to horses of good breed (Hsu & Linduff 1988, 138–40). The extraordinarily high status of the horse in all sorts of Chinese imperial rituals from the Shang and Zhou dynasties right down through to the end of the empire in 1911 is remarkable for a sedentary people.4 It would appear, then, that the Chinese desire for noble horses was far more profound than can be explained by the need to respond militarily to the attacks of mounted nomads in the latter part of the first millennium BC. When we examine the roots of this compelling desire to secure the finest horses on earth, we find that they are psychological and symbolic as well as strategic. Furthermore, they can only be adequately explained by carefully investigating the circumstances under which the Chinese first encountered horses that were controlled by humans. To comprehend the deeper significance of the horse for Chinese civilization, we must ask (and attempt to answer) the following questions: 1. When did the domesticated horse first appear in China? 2. From which direction did it come? 3. Who was it that brought the domesticated horse to the attention of the Chinese? 4. For what purpose(s) was the horse initially used in China? 5. When was the horse first used for traction in China? 6. When was the horse first ridden in China? (Renfrew 1999, 3) Inscriptional evidence The aims of this paper are strictly limited to answering the above questions, and the types of sources that it utilizes are severely restricted. Only materials that have been archaeologically recovered and can be reliably dated to the relevant period (chiefly the Late Neolithic and the Bronze Age) will be cited here. Chinese historical sources do speak about these times, but they were written many centuries or millennia later, are fraught with serious problems of composition and transmission, and are prone to various biases and misconceptions.5 As much as possible, we shall restrict ourselves to primary sources, eschewing all texts except those that have been dug up out of the ground and pertain to the time when they were originally composed, i.e. the Bronze Age itself. For the Shang Dynasty, this means that we will be utilizing Shell and Bone Inscriptions (SBIs, called jia&gu&we¤n in Chinese). For the Western Zhou Dynasty, we will be relying on bronze inscriptions (BIs, called jiînwe¤n in Chinese). For the Late Neolithic, the only 164

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In the tenth month, because the Xianyun rose up and broadly attacked the Jing (‘Capital’) Garrison,13 a report concerning pursuit of them was made to the Zhou king. The king ordered Duke Wu (‘Martial’): ‘Send your best troops to embark in pursuit of them at the Jing Garrison’. Duke Wu ordered Duo You14 to lead the duke’s chariots in pursuit at Jing Garrison. On the guiÛweiô 15 day, the Rong16 attacked Xun,17 taking many captives. Duo You pursued them to the west. On the morning of the jia&she#n18 day, he engaged them in battle at Qi.19 He cut off heads and took prisoners for interrogation. Altogether, relying on the duke’s chariotry, he decapitated two hundred and . . . 20-five men, took 23 prisoners, captured one hundred and seventeen of the Rong chariots, and recovered a large number of captives from Xun. Then he did battle at Gong,21 decapitating thirty-six men, taking two prisoners for interrogation, and capturing ten chariots. Duo You continued to follow them, pursuing them to Shi,22 where he did battle, decapitating more men and taking more prisoners for interrogation. Then he raced in pursuit till he reached Yang Zhong23 where the duke’s chariot forces decapitated one hundred and fifteen men and took three prisoners for interrogation. However, the captured chariots could not be used, so Duo You burned all of them. He used the horses to transport the wounded and he recovered captives from the Jing Garrison. Thereupon, Duo You presented to Duke Wu the left ears24 his men had captured together with the prisoners for interrogation and Duke Wu presented them to the king. Thereupon the king said to Duke Wu: ‘Since you have pacified the Jing Garrison, I will reward you by bestowing upon you fields and land’. On the diîngyo&u25 day Duke Wu was at the Presentation Hall. Thereupon, he ordered Xiangfu26 to summon Duo You who was thus invited into the Presentation Hall. The duke27 personally spoke to Duo You, saying, ‘I have sent you on this initial assignment and you did well. You did not disobey and you accomplished the task by numerous captures. You have pacified Jing Garrison, so I bestow upon you a jade-handled ladle for sacrificial wine, a set of fine metal bells, and a hundred ju#n of qia@otia@o28 bronze’. Duo You dares to respond by extolling the Duke’s generosity, using it to make this ritual tripod whereby he may strengthen the bonds of friendship. May his sons and grandsons eternally treasure and use it.29

prima facie evidence that will be admitted are artefacts and remains directly pertaining to that period.6 The Chinese interest in the northern people and their horses is documented already in the very earliest period of the SBIs (beginning of the twelfth century BC).7 An inscription dating to that period may be translated as follows: ‘On the jia&che¤n8 day of the first month, Zheng asked the oracle: “We will lead a campaign against the Horseland (Mafang). Will the Di support us?”’9 This ‘place of horses’ was apparently in northern Shaanxi. As used in the SBIs, the term refers both to the area and to the people living there. Since this was one of the main areas where the Chinese10 sought breeding horses later in historical times, it is probable that they were intent on procuring good stock during this expedition as well. Another interesting feature of this inscription is the ambivalent role of the Di in Chinese conflicts with the peoples of the steppe. While such semi-pacified groups were vital conduits in the perennial contestations and negotiations between the Chinese and their neighbours to the north and northwest, they were by no means considered reliable, perhaps because of their very liminal status. It was also in the north that the Chinese frequently encountered opponents possessing chariots, some of which they occasionally captured in battle. From the number of chariot wrecks mentioned in the SBIs, it would seem that the Chinese of the late Shang period were not fully in command of this new technology that had recently come into their hands. Here is an example of one such accident: [An oracle bone was caused to] crack on the guisÛ iô day (the thirtieth in the cycle of sixty) and Que divined, ‘Will there be any danger within the next ten-day period?’ The king prognosticated [that there would be] and now a calamity actually did occur that was in accord [with the divination]. On the jia&wu& day (thirty-one in the cycle of sixty), the king went out to hunt rhinoceros. The Minor Vassal was driving the chariot [and caused] the horses [to crash against] a cliff, damaging the king’s chariot. Ziyang11 also fell out.12

By the latter part of the ninth century BC, it would seem that the Zhou successors of the Shang were better able to handle their chariots, as is evidenced by a long inscription on the Duo You Tripod. This large bronze vessel was discovered only recently, having been unearthed in November of 1980 at Xiaquan Village, Chang’an District, Shaanxi Province. It probably dates toward the beginning of the reign of King Xuan (r. 827–782 BC); the exact date may be 816 BC.

This is an extraordinary account in many respects. Aside from being the second longest bronze inscription in existence, it is virtually unique in the extent of its narrative description of events, most other bronze inscriptions being rather perfunctory ritual expressions about relationships, gifts, and wishes for the future prosperity of the descendants of the 165

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owner of the vessels upon which they are engraved. The Duo You Tripod inscription deserves separate treatment of its own.30 The amount and type of information that it contains lead to all sorts of vital issues. Here we need list only the following: 1. It mentions by name a specific group of northern antagonists called the Xianyun who are also referred to in later historical texts. 2. Even as late as the latter part of the ninth century BC, there is still no indication that the Xianyun or other northern and western peoples rode horses into battle. 3. Both the Xianyun and the Zhou possessed chariots numbering in the hundreds31 and used them for fighting. 4. Duo You, the protagonist of this account, did not have his own chariots, but was commanded to use those of the duke. 5. The fact that Duo You was not able to use all of the chariots he captured but had to burn some of these valuable vehicles is tantalizing. Since he was able to employ the horses for transport, does this mean that he lacked a sufficient number of extra trained drivers? It is worth noting that, aside from the gift of bronze itself, among the most valuable conveyable (i.e. not land or other types of stationary property) items that could be presented to a Western Zhou vassal were gifts of chariots and horses which are often mentioned in BIs of this period.32 They are mentioned, for example, in the inscription on the Bigger Yu Tripod (Da Yu Ding), the biggest Western Zhou bronze tripod ever discovered. Dating to the period 1004– 978 BC, it was unearthed around the second quarter of the nineteenth century in Li Village, Qishan District, Shaanxi Province.33

significant numbers associated with burials in the heartland of what is now China (viz. Anyang, in the modern eastern province of Henan, the capital of the late Shang period, c. 1250–1050 BC: Fig. 12.1), the archaeological evidence is inadequate to draw the conclusion that they were local domesticates. Quite the contrary, there are many indications, both archaeological and inscriptional, that these first unquestioned remains of significant numbers of domesticated horses in China proper (i.e. the area of the Shang polity) were imports. Not only do they seem to have been acquired from outside (viz. from the north and northwest of the Shang polity) through forcible capture, strategic alliances, amicable exchange, and other means (So & Bunker 1995, 26–7), for the initial two centuries of their appearance in China proper, significant numbers of unmistakably domesticated horses are exclusively and tightly restricted to the immediate environs of Anyang. It is only when the Shang Dynasty is replaced by the Zhou Dynasty, which originated far to the west of the late Shang capital (i.e. nearer to the horserich, bronze-using cultures of the Gansu Corridor mentioned two paragraphs above), that archaeozoological indications of horses appear in significant numbers at sites outside the immediate environs of Anyang (Linduff this volume). Indeed, the Zhou themselves are suspected of having a non-Sinitic background, despite the fact that — like countless other northern and northwestern peoples who came to rule over all or part of China — they early on adopted Sinitic as their language (at least for the purposes of ritual and rule recorded in writing). No less than the ‘Second Sage’ of Confucianism, Mencius (371–289 BC), declared that the nominal founder of the Zhou Dynasty, King Wen himself, was ‘a man of the Western Yi (barbarians)’ (Mencius 4B.1). Among herded animals, the horse was definitely a relative latecomer to China. The earliest faunal domesticates in north China are the pig (Sus domestica) and dog (Canis familiaris). Large quantities of their bones are found in Neolithic Yangshao (5000– 3000 BC) and Longshan (2500–2000 BC) sites and at all Shang and Zhou sites. Pig bones were found in practically every ash pit at Banpo (near Xi’an in Shaanxi Province, c. 4800–4300 BC), with a markedly high proportion of yearlings and young adults. Dog bones are also common at Yangshao sites and therefore must have been domesticated. Cattle, sheep, and goats are occasionally found at some Yangshao sites, but are extremely scarce and were probably not fully domesticated in China till the Longshan period. For the horse, domestication occurred much later. Any

Archaeological evidence Indications of horse domestication in China before the middle of the second millennium BC are extremely scanty and problematic. Those sites where horse bones are culturally prominent before this time (such as those belonging to the Qijia and Siba cultures) relate to the first half of the second millennium, are located on the western fringes of what is now China (though they were not part of a Chinese polity while they were in existence), and — in contrast to the cultures of the Central Plains at the same time — possessed economies that were unmistakably involved with metalworking (Fitzgerald-Huber 1995; Yang 1998; Li 1999). When horse remains do begin to show up in 166

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Figure 12.1. Map showing archaeological sites in China mentioned in the text. Even in late prehistoric and early historic times, the pig still remains overwhelmingly dominant among faunal remains, followed by the dog. Cattle, however, are by now well entrenched at sites along the northern and western fringes of China proper, as are sheep, but goats are still rather rare, and horses are even fewer in number (Ho 1975, 101).

horse remains found in the heartland of China before the late Shang period, and they are very few and often problematic, are generally considered to be wild (Chang 1977, 29; Ho 1975, 93–4; Hsü & Ward 1984, 65, 75n4.9). The pig is still tremendously prominent at Longshan sites, which lie farther to the east than Yangshao. As with Yangshao, the dog is next in number after the pig. It is noteworthy that cattle remains are increasingly evident during Late Neolithic Longshan times, but still far from being ubiquitous like those of the pig. Sheep become slightly more numerous yet can hardly be thought of as common. The goat is rarer still, and the horse is barely present (Ho 1975, 96ff.; Barnes 1993, 155).

The ambivalent role of the horse and its keepers To return to Anyang, where we have the first unmistakable evidence of the horse in the heartland of China, its bones were restricted in number and confined almost exclusively to sacrificial burials, not in refuse pits or elsewhere at the site (Chêng 1960, 89– 167

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later phase of the city (twelfth–eleventh century BC) (Watson 1961, 94). Another indication that the horsedrawn chariot entered China as a new and poorly understood technology late in the reign of Wu Ding (roughly in the second decade of the twelfth century) may be gleaned from the fact that, of the 16 occurrences of the graph for che# (‘chariot’) in the SBIs, there are 13 quite distinct variants (Shaughnessy 1988, 215). The combination of inscriptional and archaeological evidence for the horse in Shang society indicates that it was virtually restricted to royal (and, perhaps, occasionally and latterly aristocratic) circumstances. Horses appear to have been so limited in numbers that, unlike cattle and sheep, they were not to be wasted for sacrifice other than in magnificent burial contexts. Overall, one gains the impression that horses and chariots in the latter part of the Shang were primarily for ‘show’, not for such utilitarian matters as transportation or even military applications. Even in royal burial contexts, one senses that the horse and chariot were there because it was considered fitting for a monarch to go the Otherworld accompanied by them. This was simply the way things were done if one was to be thought of by posterity as a genuine thearch. K.C. Chang indicates that the Shang horses were not raised locally but had to be imported; SBI inscriptions mention the ‘entry’ of horses. Hu Houxuan believes that they were imported from the northwest (Chang 1980, 143). SBIs mentioning the horse are only slightly more numerous than those for the chariot and far more often relate the horse to the northern and northwestern enemies, or at best allies, of the Shang than to the Shang themselves. The Mafang (Horse Place/Country and the people therefrom) are mentioned half a dozen times, usually as a threatening force that the Shang either needs to defend against or attack. There are about half a dozen other instances of the word Ma (‘Horse’) used alone as a personal name. Most of these instances are ambiguous, but at least two refer to a force that needs to be defended against or attacked, although others seem to indicate a person (or group) who might be called upon to assist the Shang. Unlike the Mafang who are always referred to as adversaries in the SBIs, the Duoma Qiang (Qiang of Many Horses) are always referred to as allies. Of the eight inscriptions mentioning the Duoma Qiang, one has them being commanded to defend against another group not belonging to the Shang polity, one has them being commanded to carry out some unspecified task, two have them allying with the Shang and resisting an

91; Yang 1950). Unlike dogs, cattle, sheep, pigs, and chickens, whose bones were found in garbage heaps at Anyang, there is no evidence that the horse was consumed by the Shang period Chinese. The horse appears to have been a rare and valuable animal which was probably used almost exclusively for pulling chariots. Chariot use itself, however, was highly restricted and limited. There is now virtually universal scholarly acceptance that the chariot originated in West Asia and was transmitted to China (Bagley 1999, 203–4; Barbieri-Low 2000; Shaughnessy 1988; 1989; Piggott 1977[8]) Nevertheless, the chariot seems not to have made a deep imprint in the archaeological record between the southern Urals, where it is welldocumented from the early second millennium BC (Anthony & Vinogradov 1995), and its ritualistic appearance in Shang Dynasty contexts late in the same millennium. Perhaps this may be due to the relative rapidity of its passage from west to east. If the transmission of the chariot from west to east was as quick as it appears to have been, its archaeological tracks would naturally be ‘shallow’. There is no evidence that the Shang actually used the chariot in battle and only rarely did they encounter enemies who seem to have employed a few chariots in warfare. At best, the chariot during the waning years of the Shang Dynasty may have served as a mobile command platform. It seems to have been almost purely for show or display, as in parades and royal burials. There is little discernible, practical purpose to the chariot during the Shang period. SBIs containing the word for chariot indicate that it was used for hunting (e.g. to chase rhinoceros and deer) and, most interestingly, to net horses — a dangerous business, but one in which the king himself and his princes felt compelled to engage (Shaughnessy 1988, 214). There is unmistakable evidence that the Shang Dynasty Chinese attempted to use sheep to draw small chariots (Barbieri-Low 2000, 52–3). This raises a host of questions: Was it because they did not have access to a steady and sure supply of horses? Was it due to their having to rely largely on foreign trainers and charioteers to handle the horses? Was it the result of their having had too many serious accidents with swift, horse-drawn chariots? Were the sheep-drawn mini-chariots meant for young princes? In any event, this was not a workable solution to the need for wheeled vehicle traction, since sheep cannot pull a heavy load and are not very obedient, whether in or out of harness. The siting of chariot-pits of the Shang royal burial grounds at Xiaotun, Anyang link them with a 168

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unspecified group, one has a guard of theirs named Chi being commanded to join in an inspection, one has a guard of theirs encountering misfortune, one has them being called out to chase and catch deer, and one has them being called out to shoot and net unspecified animals. The Qiang, who were a sheep- and goat-herding people located to the northwest of the Shang, are often mentioned in the SBIs as enemies. The Shang had to field vast armies against them (on one occasion 13,000 men were sent into battle), resulting in large numbers of the Qiang being killed or captured. Of those who were captured, thousands met their end in sacrificial rites, while others became slaves employed in agriculture, for hunting, or for other purposes. Clearly the Qiang were not part of the Shang polity. Considering their ambivalent status as enemies, slaves, and quondam horse-rich, horse-wise allies, the Qiang would have been a prime source of horses for the Shang royal house. The likelihood that they supplied their services and horses to the Shang only under extreme duress is great, since they eventually joined with another northwestern people, the Zhou, in bringing an end to the Shang (Chang 1980, 227–31, 249). The Qiang are almost always described as Tibeto-Burman by modern scholars (Pulleyblank 1983, 417ff.), largely on the basis of their identification with a current minority group bearing that name who live in Sichuan Province and do speak a TibetoBurman language. But there are many reasons to doubt the identification of the northwestern Qiang people mentioned on the oracle bones with the southwestern Qiang minority of today. First of all, it was Han period historians, more than a millennium after the Shang period, who loosely applied the designation ‘Qiang’ to a variety of non-Han peoples living to the west of the Chinese heartland. Secondly, the self-designation of the modern minority in question is actually Rma (Olson 1998, 286), Qiang being the ethnonym applied to them by Sinitic speakers. Thirdly, whenever we find Shang and Zhou visual representations of people who can plausibly or securely be identified with the Qiang or their successors in the same locale, they almost always have clearly Europoid characteristics (large and long noses, round and deep-set eyes, narrow faces, thin lips, prominent jaws, beards, tattoos, etc.) (Chang 1980, fig. 59; Fig. 12.2). Unless there is some hitherto unexplained Europoid component among Tibeto-Burmans, it is difficult to imagine these late Shang and early Zhou period individuals as being TibetoBurman speakers.

Figure 12.2. Magnificent, exquisitely wrought bronze halberd showing a bearded, tattooed, cattle-herding Europoid. Found just to the west of the early Zhou capital at Baicaopo, Lingtai District, eastern Gansu Province. Western Zhou (1045–771 BC). 23.3 cm. (After Yang 1992, 80, fig. 103.) General references to the horse (i.e. not in connection with chariots or as an element in the names of non-Shang peoples/lands) on the SBIs, of which there are a score, fall into the following categories: being taken, being sent, being brought, being led, being tethered, associated with the Qiang or other people outside the Shang polity, reaching (a certain place) and resisting, having the misfortune of encountering (?) a tiger, being made to precede or advance and thus preventing rain (especially on a hunt) or encouraging others to ally with the king’s troops, orders for them to be raised, and being white (and, apparently, therefore auspicious). The numbers of horses mentioned in any given SBI are relatively small, ranging from one to five, twenty, or thirty. The overall impression one gains from the late Shang inscriptional evidence concerning general references to horses is that they were few in number, essentially acquired from real or potential enemies, mainly thought of in symbolic or propitious rather than pragmatic terms, and still considered as something alien (almost otherworldly) that nonetheless bestowed great power upon their possessor (Shaughnessy 1988, 235–7). We have already briefly mentioned the importance of the Qijia culture (c. 2500–1600 BC, flourished mostly c. 2000 BC) for metallurgy and herded animal 169

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of distant contacts. Metal artefacts (particularly certain types of knives and axes) suggest a connection with Siberian and Central Asian cultures, especially the Seima-Turbino complex (Fitzgerald-Huber 1995). During the last couple of centuries of the second millennium BC, the people of the area formerly occupied by the Qijia culture were referred to on the SBIs as Qiang. The character used to write their name prominently incorporates the semantic component for ovicaprid with the graph for person (i.e. goat/ shepherd; people who are associated with ovicaprids) and they were quite familiar with the horse, as we have already seen. In their encounters with the Shang people, so often were they taken captive and enslaved that many occurrences of the graph for Qiang on the SBIs include a third element, viz. a rope or other restraining device around their neck. ‘Qiang captive’ becomes almost a cliché in SBI language, on a par with horses, dogs, and bovids sent in to the Shang court from outlying regions (Keightley 1978, 12, 35, 180). Farther to the east and slightly later than the Qijia culture, developments in the Xiajiadian culture of the southeastern Mongolian Plateau are important for the subsequent utilization of the horse in China. Xiajiadian culture is located at various sites in Inner Mongolia and the northeastern province of Liaoning. Lower Xiajiadian (c. 2000–1500 BC) sites have small metal objects (bronze knives, pole tops, arrowheads, earrings, etc.) and bones used for divination. Caches of bovine scapulae are particularly intriguing in light of the importance of scapulimancy at the Shang court later. Xiajiadian culture displays a similar range of domesticated animals as Neolithic sites in north China, but cattle and ovicaprids grow in abundance. Since their remains are found in houses, hearths, and burials, the population must have been a relatively settled one. Larger bronze objects (including ritual vessels, axes, and helmets) have been found in the Lower Xiajiadian culture range for the period 1500–1000 BC, but it is not certain that they belong to any phase of Xiajiadian culture. In comparison with Lower Xiajiadian sites, Upper Xiajiadian (1000–300 BC) sites show two innovations: a) the appearance of animal-style bronzes among the cultural artefacts; b) the clear addition of the domesticated horse to the faunal repertoire. At Upper Xiajiadian sites, we find evidence of the horse being sacrificed as well as ovicaprids (Barnes 1993, 157). Furthermore, it is at an Upper Xiajiadian site (Nanshan’gen) that we find the first unmistakable evidence for horseriding in East Asia (Fig. 12.3) not long after it is known in West Asia (Fig. 12.4b). From

Figure 12.3. The first evidence for horseback riding in East Asia. Two mounted hunters pursuing a hare on a bronze, buckle-like fitting from Tomb 3 at Nanshan’gen, Ningcheng District, Inner Mongolia. Eighth century BC. (After So & Bunker 1995, 49, fig. 17; also Bunker et al. 1997, 70; fig. A105) Among the Scythians, the spearing of hares from horseback was a sort of national sport (Rolle 1989, 98). domestication. Closer examination of Qijia as a potential source of horses that could ultimately be conveyed to the Chinese heartland is merited. Naturally, this would have to be accomplished by its successors via geographically intermediary groups. Qijia was located to the northwest of the Chinese heartland, with its main centre near the base of the Gansu Corridor, but it also reached northward and eastward toward what is now Inner Mongolia and was present along the upper reaches of the Yellow and Wei rivers. Dogs, pigs, cattle, and ovicaprids are prominent at Qijia sites, but what distinguishes Qijia from other early cultures in the region is the addition of numerous domesticated horses. The bones of all these animals, with the exception of dogs, were used for the purpose of divination, foreshadowing the late Shang predilection for this practice. The remains of houses and cemetery burials are found at Qijia sites. Consequently, they must have engaged in herding within the framework of settled society. Qijia was a culture of advanced farmers for whom animal husbandry was of greater importance than it was for agriculturalists in the heartland of China (Chang 1986, 282; Barnes 1993, 156; Di Cosmo 1999, 900–901). Qijia culture was distinguished by the use of copper and bronze; indeed, it is one of the earliest bronze cultures in East Asia. This raises the question 170

The Horse in Late Prehistoric China

a

b

Figure 12.4. a) Use of the horse-drawn chariot for hunting: a bone plaque from Tomb 102, Nanshan’gen, Ningcheng District, Inner Mongolia. Eighth century BC. (After So & Bunker 1995, 49, fig. 16; also Bunker 1997, 69, fig. A102.) b) Ancient horseriding hunters wearing trousers in Southwest Asia: impression of a cylinder seal from Tepe Sialk Cemetery B, east of the Zagros Mountains and on the western fringes of the Iranian Plateau. Later ninth or eighth century BC (After Jettmar 1967, fig. 134.)

a the same site, there is also direct visual evidence of the use of the horse-drawn chariot for hunting (Fig. 12.4a). Still farther to the east, additional evidence of mounted hunters is found at the early second-century site of Xichagou in Xifeng County, Liaoning Province. Here was discovered a bronze plaque depicting two warriors with long swords in scabbards suspended from their belts (Fig. 12.5a). One of the warriors carries a hunting bird on his right wrist. Falconry can be documented in Anatolia from the third millennium BC (Bunker 1997, 80–81), suggesting a possible transmission along with the sort of cattle- and sheep-herders who are known to have engaged in this sport on the Eurasian steppe during the past two millennia. The men on the Xichagou plaque are probably so-called Dong Hu (Eastern Hu) who were by this time absorbed into the Xiongnu (Hun) confederation. This plaque, which offers the first excavated representation of falconry for the eastern Eurasian steppe, was most likely produced in Buryatia or Mongolia where falconry is still practised. Similar Xiongnu mounted warriors with long swords suspended from scabbard slides are shown on a gold belt plaque from southern Siberia dating to around the same time (Fig. 12.5b). One is shooting an arrow at full gallop as the other is humorously jolted from his horse. Although both the pair of men on the Xichagou plaque and the pair on the south

b

Figure 12.5. A bronze and a gold belt buckle showing mounted warriors on the northern borders of China in the Western Han (second century BC): a) Eastern Hu, Liaoning Province, Xifeng District, Xichagou; b) Xiongnu, South Siberia. (After Sun 1996, 32, fig. 12.) 171

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0

necessarily by the Chinese themselves, since the individual depicted on the mirror looks steppic. Despite the tremendous amount of attention that has been devoted to the mummies of Eastern Central Asia (Xinjiang/Sinkiang, East Turkestan, Uyghurstan) and their associated cultures in recent years (Mair 1998a; Barber 1999; Mallory & Mair 2000), the main path of transmission for herded domesticates and the chariot across Eurasia would have been the relatively hospitable steppes to the north, not the formidable deserts and mountains to the south. Nonetheless, just as the northern steppe traffic flowed down into China when it reached its eastern terminus, so did branches of it spill south toward the Tarim Basin along its middle portion. Thus, traces of the herded domesticates (cattle and ovicaprids) and the horse are found in Eastern Central Asia from the second millennium BC. There is, however, no clear evidence of horseriding in Eastern Central Asia until the first millennium BC. The earliest, clearest, and most massive evidence of the appearance of the horse in Eastern Central Asia is at the site of Charwighul (Chawuhugou) (c. 1000–500 BC) at the base of the southern foothills of the Tängri Tagh (Tian Shan, Heavenly Mountains) about 50 miles north-northeast of Korla and closer than that to the northwest of Baghrash Köl (Lake Bostan). Here we find numerous remains of horses associated with human burials (Wang & Lü 1999). There can be little doubt that the Charwighul people were deeply involved in the initial exploitation of the extensive high mountain pastures in the valleys of the Tängri Tagh during the first half of the first millennium BC. The horse was obviously crucial for their ability to herd their flocks in these vast spaces with excellent summer grass and to move them great distances down to lower pastures in winter. In the southeast corner of the Tarim Basin at the village of Zaghunluq in Chärchän (Qiemo) County, one of the hundreds of tombs belonging to an ancient cemetery (c. 1000–650 BC) has yielded a large, upholstered saddle and the foreleg of a horse. Here we also find deceased males wearing trousers suitable for riding. At the cemeteries of Subeshi (c. 400 BC), on the eastern edge of the Turfan Basin, Lü Enguo recovered a beautiful, upholstered saddle with bone toggles, complete with bridle, straps, and ropes that seem as good as new. Another possible instance of the early utilization of the horse in Eastern Central Asia are the massive, tripartite disk wheels found outside the village of Qaradöwä (Wupu) at the Qizilchoqa cemetery approximately 40 miles west-northwest of Qumul (Hami), which lies near the eastern

2 cm

Figure 12.6. Bronze plaque showing a cavalryman with sword drawn against an enemy. Xichagou (cf. Fig. 12.5a). (After Sun 1960, 30, fig. 17.)

Figure 12.7. Horseriding in the heartland of China. Scene on a bronze mirror found at the Late Zhou dynasty capital of Loyang. Fourth century BC (?). (After Barnes 1993, 157, fig. 70.) Siberian plaque have the look of men who could easily engage in mounted warfare, none of them is actually caught in the act of doing so. Instead, they are shown as hunters in the chase. Another bronze plaque from Xichagou (Fig. 12.6), however, does depict a mounted warrior with drawn sword apparently about to decapitate or scalp an enemy. Although the scene is somewhat enigmatic, it is obvious that the horse is here being used for cavalry. A mounted hunter with sword drawn against a tiger is depicted in a scene on a late Zhou period bronze mirror from Loyang (Fig. 12.7). Located in modern Henan Province, this piece indicates that horseriding was known in the Chinese heartland from about the fourth century BC, although not yet 172

The Horse in Late Prehistoric China

end of the Tängri Tagh. Dating 1 2 N to approximately 1200 BC, these 4 two disk wheels are of the ut30 most importance in tracing the 3 spread of wheeled vehicles, but 5 we cannot be certain that horses 31 provided the traction. Farther to the east, in the 8 neighbouring province of Qing6 21 22 hai, at the site of Nomhong near 23 19 20 7 18 Dulan (about 100 miles to the 28 17 southwest of Kokonur), the re25 24 16 mains of two wheels were found 9 at the entrance to a Bronze Age sheepfold. Because of the advanced bronze technology, the 15 wheels, and an abundance of 26 10 superb woollens that were found 14 at this site, its dating has occasioned controversy in China. A 29 calibrated C 14 reading taken 13 from one of the posts of the 12 sheepfold yielded a date of 11 2195–1935 BC (ZK-0061; Institute of Archaeology 1991, 285). On the other hand, the wheels are associated with socketed axes 27 and knives that are said to point 0 1 2 to a date of around 1500 BC dak del (So & Bunker 1995, 26). Whether 2195–1935 or 1500 BC, this is a very early date for the cultural Figure 12.8. The first concrete evidence for spoked wheels in East Asia. Two complex found at Nomhong well-shaped hubs (nos. 1, 2) outside the gate of a corral. Nomhong, Qinghai when compared with comparaProvince (Kokonur), c. 1500 BC or earlier. 3) Horizontal wooden bar for gate; 4– ble cultures of the Chinese heart22, 30) wooden posts; 23–6, 31) wooden cross-pieces; 27) wild ox horns; 28 & land. 29) post-holes. (After Qinghai Sheng 1963, fig. 8.) The ground of the Nomhong corral was covered with a thick layer of ing has been circulated (fig. 18 in the preliminary ovicaprid droppings, about 15–20 cm deep. There site report) is actually a hub made of rough pine were also some cattle, horse, and camel droppings in with an axle hole 6.5 cm. The hub is 26 cm long and the corral. It is probable that the inhabitants of has places for 16 spokes, the fragments of which Nomhong also raised yaks since a pottery model of reveal that they were made of a better quality of one was found at the site (artefact 057, drawing 20 in wood. A red substance had been smeared on the the preliminary site report). The placement of the holes for the spokes, indicating a sort of ritualistic wheels in front of the enclosure gate seems to have ‘burial’ of the hub. The cross section of the spokes is been both deliberate and significant. We may also oval and about 6 cm in width. Judging from the number of spokes and from the size of the axle, hub, note that, opposite the entrance, at the back of the and spokes, the wheel would not have been very corral, was placed an enormous pair of wild ox (Bos large and must have belonged to a small cart, not a gaurus) horns measuring nearly a metre in width. chariot. One also suspects that the animal used to Owing to their tremendous size, careful placement, draw the cart would not have been a full-size horse, and neat cutting, the excavators of the site specubut perhaps a pony or donkey. A photograph of the lated that the horns possess religious significance. As for the wheels, one (designated Q1:2) whose drawsecond wheel fragment (Q1:1), also a hub, has been 173

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published as plate III, no. 7 in the preliminary site report and the authors indicate that it is similar to the hub just described. However, in the drawing of the entire corral (fig. 8 in the preliminary report, Fig. 12.8 in this paper), Q1:1 appears to be part of a solid, tripartite disk wheel, but also one which is of small dimensions. Since the photograph of Q1:1 actually seems identical to the drawing of Q1:2, down to the size and direction of the cracks, one suspects that either the drawing or the photograph has been mislabelled and, instead, that the drawing and the photograph are indeed of the same object. Thus, there may well be only one spoked hub and one small disk wheel (Qinghai Sheng 1963). The horse does not thrive in the environment of the Tarim. The sandy terrain, great heat, and lack of good pasture preclude extensive usage of the horse. Cattle also do not generally prosper there, except in a few of the larger oases and next to lakes (such as Bostan) or large rivers near the edge of the desert. In the past, as today, the most successful herded domesticates around the Tarim have been ovicaprids (especially goats), and the favoured animals for transportation have been donkeys and camels. For the Tarim Basin and immediately surrounding areas, ovicaprids take pride of place in earliness, quantity, and distribution. From the early second millennium when they entered the region in significant numbers, their hardiness (the ability to withstand poor conditions of pasturage and tremendous temperature differentials) has enabled ovicaprids to serve as an invaluable source of wool, meat, milk, and other products for the inhabitants of the Tarim Basin and immediately surrounding areas. Horses, though present in the circum-Tarim from the latter part of the second millennium BC, only began to play an increasingly vital role in the exploitation of the intramontane pastures of the surrounding Tängri Tagh, Pamirs, Qurum Tagh, and Altun Tagh as mounts from the first millennium BC. This is in conformity with the chronological spread of horseriding on the grassy steppes to the north and across them to the border areas northwest and north of China. We do have a fairly good idea of when the Chinese of the heartland themselves decided to adopt horseriding, since there is a historical record of a policy decision that was made regarding it. This occurred in the year 307 BC and took place in the northern state of Zhao, which had built some of the earliest Chinese defensive walls in a vain attempt to prevent the horseriding peoples from entering its lands. After agonizing discussions about how to cope with the northerners, the ruler of Zhao finally de-

clared, ‘Now I am going to teach the people to “wear hu@ dress and shoot arrows while mounted” (hu¤ fu¤ qiê she$)! Later generations will surely criticize me for this, but what can I do?’ (Shiji [The Grand Scribe’s Records or Records of the Grand Historian], c. 91 BC, Kaiming ed., 152a). The four syllables of the quotation within the ruler of Zhao’s declaration become a classical statement of the necessity of the Chinese people to adopt the ways of the northern nomads. The term hu@ is a very broad reference to peoples to the north and west of China, including the Xiongnu (Huns). The fundamental veracity of this celebrated passage is supported by a thorough study of archaeological and textual evidence which confirms that riding astride in north China began only during the latter part of the fourth century (Goodrich 1984; Creel 1970, 199, 262–3n61). The ruler of Zhao may have been the first to make such a ringing declaration of the utility of barbarization, but the fatal attraction with the ways of the steppe continued throughout Chinese history. To cite a single example from the second half of the second century AD, ‘Emperor Ling (r. 168–189) was fond of hu@ dress, hu@ screens, hu@ beds (actually a kind of folding camp chair), sitting like a hu@, hu@ food, hu@ harps, hu@ flutes, and hu@ dance. All the members of the royal family in the capital vied in affecting these things’ (Hou Han shu [History of the Later Han], AD 445, Kaiming ed., 695d). Riding and tending horses were a very hú thing to do. Tang period (618–907) tomb figurines and wall paintings clearly attest that camel grooms and attendants of the finest horses were commonly depicted as non-Chinese from the north or the west. Visual materials from the following Song, Ming, and Qing dynasties still maintain the convention of the foreign groom. It was as though the ridden animal were still somehow, after two or three thousand years of Chinese acquaintance with mounted mammals, properly the preserve of men (and women) from the steppes. And rightly so, as the history of language and writing attests. Linguistic and graphic data I. SBI forms of graphs a. For ovicaprids

174

The Horse in Late Prehistoric China

Here we see that the legs and the body have been reduced to conventionalized lines, but the eye has grown to truly enormous proportions. It is obvious that the scribes of the Western Zhou had finally done for the horse what they had already done centuries earlier for the goat/sheep and the bovine, namely, they had taken one part (the eye in the case of the horse, the horns in the case of the sheep/goat and cattle) to stand as the most salient identifying characteristic of the animal. By the Han period, the flowing mane became increasingly elaborate until, as with current forms of the graph that are still in use today, the body and legs amount to a mere afterthought (cf. Ding 1966, 2b).

b. For bovines

c. For horses

Source for all forms in this section: Mizukami 1995, 1039, 829 & 1467.

In each case, the earliest (period I [see note 7 for periodization of SBIs]) forms are on the right and the latest (period V) are on the left. We may observe that, from the time of the very earliest SBIs, the forms of the graphs for ovicaprids and bovines are already highly stylized and schematic, whereas those for the horse are determinedly representational. The forms for pig and dog are also more abstract in comparison with the pictorial quality of the forms for horse. This strongly suggests that the Chinese acquired the domestic horse considerably later than they acquired sheep, goats and cattle, and that they initially strove to render this animal to which they were unaccustomed as faithfully as possible. Already in the SBIs, however, we can detect an increasing process of abstraction during the roughly a century and a half from around 1200 to 1050 BC. By the time of the Western Zhou BIs, when the Chinese had become much more used to the animal, the forms of the graph for horse became quite schematic:

II. Identifiable SBI graphs by period a. Relating to ovicaprids I

I

I

ya¤ng

mie#

gao#

gu&

me&i

goat, sheep

bleating of lamb

lamb

ram

beautiful

*I Qia#ng

†I

I

I

I

mu$

sha#n

shepherd

rank, goatish

* ‘Name of a Proto-Tibetan people’; enemies of the Shang; often used in sacrifice. † This graph is written with an ovicaprid signific in the SBIs but with a bovine signific in the BIs and later.

Note that every single one of these eight identifiable graphs is from period I. Nine other graphs with the signific are of unknown meaning, eight of which date to period I and one to period IV. Three others are suspected to be place names and date one each to periods I, II, and V. One other signifies an ovicaprid intended for use in sacrifice and dates to period I. One is the name of a person and dates to period I. One is the name of a tribe and dates to period IV. One is an unspecified kind of ovicaprid and dates to period I. There are 41 additional graphs containing a component that are considered to belong under other significs. Total = 65.

BI forms of the graph for horse 175

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b. Relating to bovines I

Total = 19.

*I

V

niu@

mu&

ga#ng

cow, cattle

bull; male domesticated quadruped

bull

I

*I

Two striking facts emerge from a consideration of the materials gathered here: 1. the number of graphs containing the horse signific are relatively few in comparison with those containing an ovicaprid or bovine signific; 2. all except one of the graphs containing the horse signific appear only relatively late or very late in the SBI record in comparison with graphs which contain ovicaprid or bovine significs, nearly all of which are found in the SBIs dating to the first period. The latter phenomenon is particularly remarkable and almost certainly indicates that the domesticated horse became familiar to the Chinese after they had acquired ovicaprids and bovines. We can be more specific and state that — on the evidence of the dates when graphs for horse slowly begin to proliferate on the SBIs — the domesticated horse became familiar to the Chinese around 1150 BC.

piôn female domesticated quadruped

†I

she#ng

la@o

complete bovine for use in sacrifice

corral; pen for ovicaprids, horses or bovines

* This graph is now written with the bovine signific, but on the SBIs it could variously be written with bovine, ovicaprid, canine, pig, horse, and deer significs. † This graph is now written with the bovine signific, but on the SBIs it could variously be written with the horse or ovicaprid signific as well.

Note that five of these six identifiable graphs are from period I and only one is from period V. There are 17 other graphs containing the component that are considered to belong under other significs.

Source for all data in IIa–c: Jiagu wenzi dian, pp. 413–24, 337–8, 78–84 & 1067–76.

Total = 23. c. Relating to horses I

I

I

I

ma&

liê

bo#

xiê

horse

black horse

pied horse

horse with long hair on its legs

*I xiîng roan, sorrel; reddish horse especially favoured for sacrifice

III. Ratios of SBI forms (c. 1200–c. 1050 BC) to BI forms (c. 1050–c. 700 BC) and small seal forms (c. AD 100) (Source: Hanyu da zidian, s.v.) a. For graphs having the (‘ovicaprid’) signific SBI forms 12 BI forms 15 SS forms 38 The largest modern dictionaries of sinographs now have approximately 220 different characters grouped under the signific.

†I biô

* This graph, now usually written as , is composed of three components: horse, ovicaprid, bovine. † The meaning of this graph on the SBIs is not clear, but it later comes to signify a ‘short, sturdy horse’.

(‘bovine’) signific b. For graphs having the SBI forms 8 BI forms 10 SS forms 52 Large dictionaries of sinographs now have over 350 different characters grouped under the signific.

Note that only the graph for ‘horse’ itself belongs to period I, while four of the other five graphs belong to period III and one belongs to period V. There are, in addition, ten other graphs containing the horse signific which are said to be the names of horses; two of them are from period III and eight are from period V. One graph containing the horse signific is thought to be the name of a person and dates to period III. The form of the graph for ‘corral’ containing a horse dates to period III (unlike that containing a bovine which dates to period I) and a graph which consists of a horse next to a corral with a bovine inside dates to period III.

c. For graphs having the (‘horse’) signific SBI forms 4 BI forms 13 SS forms 126 Large dictionaries of sinographs now have in excess of an astonishing 550 characters grouped under the signific. 176

The Horse in Late Prehistoric China

From these figures, we can discern the following pattern. Namely, of these three important domesticated quadrupeds that derived from the west, the Chinese first and foremost became familiar with ovicaprids, next with bovines, and last with horses. As time passed, however, the relative importance of the three animals was completely reversed (at least in the élite strata of politics, society and culture), so that the horse became overwhelmingly dominant, bovines retained their middle position, and ovicaprids fell to last place. The early primacy of ovicaprids in Chinese culture can nonetheless be recovered by a kind of grammatological ‘excavation’ which reveals the surprising abundance of SBI graphs signific: (me&i, for key concepts that include the ‘beauty’), (ya&ng, ‘raise’, — written , this word (xiu#, later comes to mean ‘nourish, nurture, rear’), ‘present ([humble] offering of food, especially mutton)’; this later evolves to mean ‘shame, embarrassment’), (yiô, ‘righteousness, justice’), (sha$n, ‘good’), (xia#ng, ‘felicitous, auspicious’), ( jia#ng, place where the mythological ‘Divine Farmer [Shennong] dwelled’). No other animal in China can lay claim to have provided the inspiration for so many fundamental, positive cultural concepts, certainly neither the horse nor bovines can begin to compete with sheep and goats in this regard. So dramatic was the impact of ovicaprids at the foundational level of Chinese civilization that we cannot escape drawing the conclusion that shepherding pastoralists must have been intimately involved with its establishment.

qu#

liê

gallop

black horse

(?) name of a horse

shiÛ(?), liô(?)

name of a horse

* The identification of this graph, which also occurs with a bovine instead of a horse in the bottom right corner, is not agreed upon by all authorities.

Between 13 and 20 additional SBI forms, depending upon how one counts, may be considered as unidentifiable graphs containing the signific. Two other forms will be separately discussed in the next section because of disagreement concerning them and because of their importance for the history of horseriding and horse traction in China. b. Modern equivalents of identifiable BI forms To the above eight SBI graphs, of which the first, second, fourth, fifth, and sixth are also to be found in the BIs, may be added the following: / /

N.B.: There are substantial discrepancies among scholars concerning both the total number of SBI graphs and the number that may be securely identified with the forms of characters still in use today. This accounts for the differences in the numbers of SBI graphs related to ovicaprids, bovines and horses cited at various places in this paper. A reasonable compromise estimate of the total number of SBI graphs would be approximately 3000 and, of these, there is a fair degree of consensus concerning the identification of about 1000 forms. The total number of small seal graphs listed in the Shuo wen jie zi [Explanations of Simple and Compound Graphs], an important dictionary completed in the year AD 100, is 9352.

*

†

hua@n

ma$

siô

ju#

yearling

oath, curse

team of four horses

two-year-old horse

jia$

luo$

zhuiî

sa#o

yoke a horse to a chariot

white horse with black mane

dappled horse

vexed, agitated

xiîng

jia#o

bia#o

roan, sorrel; red horse

horse of six chi*† in height

flock of horses

qiê gray

* The phonophore ( ) of the modern form of this graph indicates cognateness with a group of Sinitic words signifying ‘circle, around, ring’. The meaning of ‘yearling’ may be accounted for by the fact that the animal was hobbled, a practice which is still followed for young horses in parts of the Eurasian steppes. † Here is actually being used as a phonophore, not a signific. *† This graph later comes to mean ‘untamed horse; vigorous, strong; proud, arrogant’. 1 chi = 23.1 cm; 6 chi = 138.6 cm = 55.4 inches = 4.62 feet.

IV. An inventory of identifiable SBI and BI forms of graphs containing the (‘horse’) signific

Sources: Hanyu da zidian, Jiagu wenzi dian, Shima 1971, Gao 1974, Schuessler 1987.

a. Modern equivalents of identifiable SBI forms

From the SBI graphs, we may deduce that the Chinese of the twelfth century BC and the first half of the eleventh century BC knew well little more about the horse than its gross physical appearance, that it could be made to run very fast, and perhaps that it could be bridled. From the BI graphs, it would appear that

* ma&

bo@

horse

pied

xiê horse with long hair on its legs

jiî

bridle

177

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was driving [a chariot]’). The BI form for yu$ employed here is which consists of a horse on the left and a hand holding something on the right. The modern form of this graph is . The word yu$ (‘drive, direct, manage’), however, is more commonly written with an entirely different graph, viz., . The earliest SBI form for the latter ( ) shows a kneeling man with what has been interpreted as a whip or reins. Shortly after this stage, but still on the SBIs, the component was added to indicate that the word in question had to do with movement or that it happened on the road, thus . There is much confusion over the interpretation of the early stages of this graph, since it is also used as the name of a sacrifice or welcoming ceremony. Even more confusing is the fact that the alternate graph for yu$, viz. , also appears on the SBIs. Regardless of the confused state of affairs surrounding and during the Shang period, by the early Zhou they were being used interchangeably. The graph consists of a horse plus a hand (holding a whip). In the BIs, the whip is shown, but in the SBIs only the hand appears. Whether written as or , the basic meaning of yu$ is considered to be ‘to drive; driver; charioteer’ and the derived meaning of the word is considered to be ‘direct; manage; manager; work as an official’. It is rather remarkable that a word of such seemingly humble beginnings ultimately came to signify all things imperial. Thus / (yu$ yu&) means ‘(of a monarch) to rule over a land or realm’. In a very real sense, then, we may think of the Chinese emperor as a grand charioteer who is holding the reins of state and controlling the course which it follows.

the Chinese of the tenth and succeeding centuries came to know more about the characteristics of the horse, its temperament, how to yoke and harness it, and how to rear it. V. Two sets of graphs vital for the history and significance of the horse in China a. Horseriding in the Late Shang period? Wang et al. (1997, 478b) list the following three SBI graphs: He compares them to these two BI forms: Cf.

(Gao 1974, 2120c)

And he equates both the BI forms and the SBI forms to the SS form , which is, of course, the precursor (qiê, ‘ride [a horse, etc.]’; of the modern sinograph jiô, ‘cavalry, rider’). There can be little doubt that the SS forms derive from the BI forms and that the SBI forms depict a person riding an animal. The differences in shape and construction between the SBI forms and the BI forms are, however, so great that it is impossible to feel confident that they are in any way related. Furthermore, in the context of the actual inscriptions in which the SBI forms occur (see Matsumaru & Takashima 1993, #4708), they would appear to be the name of a person (perhaps belonging to a foreign group of people who were capable of horseriding). In any event, we cannot — on the basis of the three enigmatic SBI forms cited by Wang et al. — claim that horseriding was a part of late Shang period culture. The other sinograph often used to describe horseriding is (kua$, ‘sit astride’), but it is to be found neither in the SBIs nor in the BIs, appearing only at a later stage in the development of the script. Judging from the evolution of the graphs for horseriding in the Chinese script, there is no solid evidence that the people of the late Shang or early Zhou were very familiar with this practice and there is certainly no evidence that they had made it a part of their own culture. That was not to happen until the latter part of the Warring States period, around the end of the fourth century BC.

VI. Old Sinitic reconstructions and selected IndoEuropean comparisons N.B.: IE terms are provided for comparative purposes only. The author expressly disavows any claim of cognateness between Sinitic and IE but does not rule out the possibility of borrowing during the time period discussed in this paper.

Key for below: K = Karlgren 1972; L = Li Fang-kuei (in Schuessler 1987); S = Schuessler 1987; B = Baxter 1992; C = Chou 1973; T = Tung T’ung-ho (in Chou 1973); P = Pulleyblank 1991. Pulleyblank’s (1991) reconstructions are Early Middle Sinitic (a generalized standard dating to around AD 600). All of the Old Sinitic (c. 600 BC or earlier) reconstructions should be considered as having asterisks in front of them. Pok = Pokorny 1959; IE = Indo-European.

b. Metaphors for control in the early Zhou period Schuessler (1987, 788b) quotes the following short sentence from an early Zhou BI dating to the first half of the tenth century BC: (wa¤ng yu$, ‘The king 178

The Horse in Late Prehistoric China

K ma* ma&, ‘horse’ L mragx S m´ra/ B mra/ C mrwaƒ P maˆ/mE˘'

Old Irish Welsh Gaulish Old Norse Old English Old High German

marc march marco(s) marr mearh marah

biô *

‘horse’ IE root *ma@rkos Germanic words for ‘mare’ derive from this same root. These are clearly words of the western IE world and belong to Celtic and Germanic. No other IE languages have native words for ‘horse’ that derive from *markos.

* SBI meaning is uncertain; later comes to signify ‘stout, sturdy horse’. It has been suggested that this word can be compared with the German word Pferd (‘horse’). Despite a vague similarity, however, it is virtually impossible that they could have anything to do with each other, since Pferd probably derives from Latin paravere#dus (