Alfred Galik

Data Sharing Reveals Complexity in the Westward Spread of Domestic Animals across Neolithic Turkey

This study presents the results of a major data integration project bringing together primary archaeozoological data for over 200,000 faunal specimens excavated from seventeen sites in Turkey spanning the Epipaleolithic through Chalcolithic periods, c. 18,000-4,000 cal BC, in order to document the initial westward spread of domestic livestock across Neolithic central and western Turkey. From these shared datasets we demonstrate that the westward expansion of Neolithic subsistence technologies combined multiple routes and pulses but did not involve a set ‘package’ comprising all four livestock species including sheep, goat, cattle and pig. Instead, Neolithic animal economies in the study regions are shown to be more diverse than deduced previously using quantitatively more limited datasets. Moreover, during the transition to agro-pastoral economies interactions between domestic stock and local wild fauna continued. Through publication of datasets with Open Context (opencontext.org), this project emphasizes the benefits of data sharing and web-based dissemination of large primary data sets for exploring major questions in archaeology (Alternative Language Abstract S1).

The Aegean in the Early 7th Millennium BC: Maritime Networks and Colonization

The process of Near Eastern neolithization and its westward expansion from the core zone in the Levant and upper Mesopotamia has been broadly discussed in recent decades, and many models have been developed to describe the spread of early farming in terms of its timing, structure, geography and sociocultural impact. Until now, based on recent intensive investigations in northwestern and western Anatolia, the discussion has mainly centred on the importance of Anatolian inland routes for the westward spread of neolithization. This contribution focuses on the potential impact of east Mediterranean and Aegean maritime networks on the spread of the Neolithic lifestyle to the western edge of the Anatolian subcontinent in the earliest phases of sedentism. Employing the longue durée model and the concept of ‘social memory’, we will discuss the arrival of new groups via established maritime routes. The existence of maritime networks prior to the spread of farming is already indicated by the high mobility of Epipalaeolithic/Mesolithic groups exploring the Aegean and east Mediterranean seas, and reaching, for example, the Cyclades and Cyprus. Successful navigation by these early mobile groups across the open sea is attested by the distribution of Melian obsidian. The potential existence of an additional Pre-Pottery Neolithic (PPN) obsidian network that operated between Cappadocia/Cilicia and Cyprus further hints at the importance of maritime coastal trade. Since both the coastal and the high seas networks were apparently already well established in this early period, we may further assume appropriate knowledge of geographic routes, navigational technology and other aspects of successful seafaring. This Mesolithic/PPN maritime know-how package appears to have been used by later groups, in the early 7th millennium calBC, exploring the centre of the Anatolian Aegean coast, and in time establishing some of the first permanent settlements in that region. In the present paper, we link this background of newcomers to the western edge of Anatolia with new excavation results from Çukuriçi Höyük, which we have analysed in terms of subsistence strategies, materiality, technology and symbolism. Additionally, further detailed studies of nutrition and obsidian procurement shed light on the distinct maritime affinity of the early settlers in our case study, something that, in our view, can hardly be attributed to inland farming societies. We propose a maritime colonization in the 7th millennium via routes from the eastern Mediterranean to the eastern Aegean, based on previously developed sea networks. The pronounced maritime affinity of these farming and herding societies allows us to identify traces of earlier PPN concepts still embedded in the social-cultural memories of the newcomers and incorporated in a new local and regional Neolithic identity.

Fish remains as a source to reconstruct long-term changes of fish communities in the Austrian and Hungarian Danube

The main objective of this paper is to investigate how archaeological fish remains and written historical records can contribute to the reconstruction of long-term developments of fish communities along the Austrian and Hungarian Danube. Although such approaches are sensitive to various factors, the chronological subdivision and relative quantification of proxy data demonstrate environmental and faunal changes from Prehistory onwards. Intensification of fisheries, decline of large specimens and massive exploitation of small and young fish point to increasing pressure along the chronological sequence towards Early Modern times. One result of this impact was the establishment of regulations and laws to protect such fish. At the same time, the rise of aquaculture and common carp cultivation can be viewed as another upshot of human impact on the Danube’s environment. Finally, the massive import of salted marine fish reflects a compensation for the undersupply caused by overexploitation of the Danube fish fauna and points to the growing demand for fish as food in late medieval and Early Modern times.

How a millennium of fishing changed fish populations: a case study of Lake Peipus and the Velikaya River (NW Russia)

The Velikaya River is the principal river flowing into the southern part of Lake Peipus, which is situated in the basin of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. Lake Peipus is one of the largest and most productive freshwater bodies in Europe. An important population center in ancient Russia, the town of Pskov sits on the downstream part of the Velikaya. Here fisheries resources have been exploited for millennia. Local archaeological materials and historical documents provide unique opportunities for examining the historical ecology of this river and lake ecosystem. This study describes millennium-long changes in fish populations in the Velikaya River and Lake Peipus and discovers the factors responsible for them. We analyzed 5,981 fish remains dating from the 4th to the 18th centuries collected at two archaeological sites in Pskov and its surroundings. During this 1500-year period, three species predominated: pike, perch and bream together composed about three-quarters of identified bone elements. Fish sizes estimated from bone remains showed that target species, particularly bream and perch, tended to be larger before 1800 than in 20th century landings. Catch composition also changed over this long period, with increased contribution from smaller species such as whitebait, ruffe and vendace, especially in the 20th century. The main driver of the observed changes was fishing, with other human-induced factors and climate change being less important.

A sunken ship of the desert at the river Danube in Tulln, Austria.

Rescue excavations recovered a skeleton that resurrect the contemporary dramatic history of Austria in the 17th century as troops besieged Vienna in the second Osmanic-Habsburg war. Unique for Central Europe is the evidence of a completely preserved camel skeleton uncovered in a large refuse pit. The male individual of slender stature indicates a few but characteristic pathological changes revealing not a beast of burden but probably a valuable riding animal. Anatomical and morphometrical analyses suggest a hybrid confirmed by the ancient DNA analyses resulting in the presence of a dromedary in the maternal and a Bactrian camel in the paternal line.

Der nächtliche Jäger als Beute. Studien zur prähistorischen Leopardenjagd

Abstract: Leopardenknochen vom Çukuriçi Höyük in Westanatolien bilden den Ausgangspunkt dieser Studie zur Bedeutung dieser Raubkatze für den urgeschichtlichen Menschen. Ihre pleistozäne und holozäne Verbreitung, die überlieferten Knochenfunde in archäologischen Kontexten, die Entwicklung unterschiedlicher bildlicher Darstellungsformen von Leoparden, schriftliche Zeugnisse sowie verschiedene ethnologische Untersuchungen erlauben uns ein chronologisch differenziertes Modell zur Deutung der Leopardenknochen des Çukuriçi Höyük zu postulieren. So schlagen wir für den Leopardenrest in einer Grube des späten 7. Jahrtausends eine Deponierung vor, die den Schlussakt eines rituellen Prozesses einer frühen bäuerlichen Gesellschaft darstellt. Die sehr häufigen Darstellungen in dieser Periode stehen auffallend wenig erbeuteten Tieren gegenüber und lassen einen kultischen Hintergrund in verschiedenen Facetten erkennen. Die für Çatalhüyük diskutierte These einer bewusst konstruierten Bezugnahme einer neolithischen Gesellschaft auf diese besonders gefährlichen und möglicherweise tabuisierten Tiere meinen wir auch im Befund des Çukuriçi Höyük zu erkennen, wenn auch in eine andere Form transformiert. Für die Leopardenknochen des frühen 3. Jahrtausends schlagen wir eine profane Deutung vor, die sich auch an der veränderten Symbolik seiner Darstellung mit Bezug zu besonderen Personengruppen in anderen Kulturräumen erahnen lässt. Die für den Vorderen Orient und Mesopotamien rekonstruierte elitäre Leopardenjagd ließe sich nach dieser Deutung auch mit anderen fremden Elementen auf dem Çukuriçi Höyük in der beginnenden Bronzezeit verbinden, die damit ein weiteres Glied in einer längeren Indizienkette zum Einfluss des orientalisch-mesopotamischen Kreises bis zur westanatolischen Ägäisküste darstellen. Abstract: Les ossements de léopards de Çukuriçi Höyük en Anatolie occidentale constituent le point de départ de cette étude sur la signification de ce félin pour l’homme préhistorique. Sa distribution au Pléistocène et à l’Holocène, les ossements conservés en contexte archéologique, l’élaboration de différentes formes de représentation figurée du léopard, les témoignages écrits ainsi que différentes études ethnologiques permettent de postuler un modèle d’interprétation des ossements de léopards de Çukuriçi Höyük différencié dans le temps. Ainsi, nous voyons dans les restes d’un léopard trouvés dans une fosse de la fin du 7e millénaire un dépôt effectué par les membres d’une des premières sociétés paysannes à la fin d’un processus rituel. A cette époque, la fréquence très élevée de représentations face aux bêtes tuées permet d’identifier un contexte cultuel comportant différentes facettes. La thèse débattue dans le cas de Çatal Höyük, selon laquelle une société néolithique établit consciemment une relation avec ces animaux particulièrement dangereux, et peut-être tabous, nous semble aussi être valable dans le contexte de Çukuriçi Höyük, mais réadaptée. Pour les ossements d’un léopard du début du 3e millénaire, nous proposons une interprétation profane que l’on peut deviner à travers la nouvelle symbolique des représentations de ce félin en rapport à certaines communautés appartenant à d’autres zones culturelles. La chasse du léopard reconstituée pour le Proche-Orient et la Mésopotamie, réservée à une élite, pourrait selon cette interprétation se rattacher à d’autres éléments étrangers de Çukuriçi Höyük au début de l’âge du Bronze, qui formeraient ainsi un maillon supplémentaire dans la chaîne d’indices d’une influence des traditions orientale et mésopotamienne atteignant la côte orientale de la mer Égée. Abstract: The leopard bones of Çukuriçi Höyük in Western Anatolia are the point of departure for this study on this big cat’s significance to prehistoric man. The Pleistocene and Holocene distribution of the bones as well as their archaeological context, the development of different ways of depicting leopards, written evidence and various ethnological investigations all allow us to postulate a chronologically differentiated model for interpreting the leopard bones of Çukuriçi Höyük. Hence, in the case of the leopard remains in a late 7th millennium pit, we suggest this was the final act in a ritual by an early farming society. The very frequent depictions in this period are starkly contrasted by the very few animals captured, suggesting a cultic background in various facets. We believe that the thesis which has been discussed for Çatalhüyük – that of a Neolithic society’s consciously constructed reference to an especially dangerous and possibly taboo animal – may also apply to the find at Çukuriçi Höyük, though in a different form. We propose a profane interpretation for the leopard bones of the early 3rd millennium, suggested also by the changed symbolism of the leopard’s depiction with reference to special groups of people in other cultural regions. According to this interpretation, the elite leopard hunt which has been reconstructed for the Near East and Mesopotamia may also be connected with other foreign elements at Çukuriçi Höyük in the Early Bronze Age, which represent a further link in a long chain of indications that the influence of the Oriental-Mesopotamian region reached as far as the Aegean coast in Western Anatolia.

EOL Computational Data Challenge: Primary Zooarchaeology Dataset

This table contains data originating from different projects and collections. These different projects may have worked under different assumptions and methodologies which may complicate comparisons. This may be the case even if projects and collections used the same descriptive terminology. In working with these data, you should exercise your best critical judgment as a researcher and examine available dataset documentation and related publications to help inform your interpretations.