Canan Çakirlar

Pig Domestication and Human-Mediated Dispersal in Western Eurasia Revealed through Ancient DNA and Geometric Morphometrics

Zooarcheological evidence suggests that pigs were domesticated in Southwest Asia ∼8,500 BC. They then spread across the Middle and Near East and westward into Europe alongside early agriculturalists. European pigs were either domesticated independently or more likely appeared so as a result of admixture between introduced pigs and European wild boar. As a result, European wild boar mtDNA lineages replaced Near Eastern/Anatolian mtDNA signatures in Europe and subsequently replaced indigenous domestic pig lineages in Anatolia. The specific details of these processes, however, remain unknown. To address questions related to early pig domestication, dispersal, and turnover in the Near East, we analyzed ancient mitochondrial DNA and dental geometric morphometric variation in 393 ancient pig specimens representing 48 archeological sites (from the Pre-Pottery Neolithic to the Medieval period) from Armenia, Cyprus, Georgia, Iran, Syria, and Turkey. Our results reveal the first genetic signatures of early domestic pigs in the Near Eastern Neolithic core zone. We also demonstrate that these early pigs differed genetically from those in western Anatolia that were introduced to Europe during the Neolithic expansion. In addition, we present a significantly more refined chronology for the introduction of European domestic pigs into Asia Minor that took place during the Bronze Age, at least 900 years earlier than previously detected. By the 5th century AD, European signatures completely replaced the endemic lineages possibly coinciding with the widespread demographic and societal changes that occurred during the Anatolian Bronze and Iron Ages.

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 genetic prehistory of domesticated cattle from their origin to the spread across Europe

BackgroundCattle domestication started in the 9th millennium BC in Southwest Asia. Domesticated cattle were then introduced into Europe during the Neolithic transition. However, the scarcity of palaeogenetic data from the first European domesticated cattle still inhibits the accurate reconstruction of their early demography. In this study, mitochondrial DNA from 193 ancient and 597 modern domesticated cattle (Bos taurus) from sites across Europe, Western Anatolia and Iran were analysed to provide insight into the Neolithic dispersal process and the role of the local European aurochs population during cattle domestication.ResultsUsing descriptive summary statistics and serial coalescent simulations paired with approximate Bayesian computation we find: (i) decreasing genetic diversity in a southeast to northwest direction, (ii) strong correlation of genetic and geographical distances, iii) an estimated effective size of the Near Eastern female founder population of 81, iv) that the expansion of cattle from the Near East and Anatolia into Europe does not appear to constitute a significant bottleneck, and that v) there is evidence for gene-flow between the Near Eastern/Anatolian and European cattle populations in the early phases of the European Neolithic, but that it is restricted after 5,000 BCE.ConclusionsThe most plausible scenario to explain these results is a single and regionally restricted domestication process of cattle in the Near East with subsequent migration into Europe during the Neolithic transition without significant maternal interbreeding with the endogenous wild stock. Evidence for gene-flow between cattle populations from Southwestern Asia and Europe during the earlier phases of the European Neolithic points towards intercontinental trade connections between Neolithic farmers.

Neolithic Dairy Technology at the European-Anatolian Frontier: Implications of Archaeozoological Evidence from Ulucak Hoyuk, Izmir, Turkey, ca. 7000-5700 cal. BC

This paper discusses the archaeozoological evidence from Neolithic Ulucak Höyük (İzmir, ca. 7000–5700 cal. BC) in light of current debates on early dairy technologies. The paper aims to add new dimension to the current understanding of the role western Anatolia played in the evolution of early animal husbandry systems towards wider applications of dairy technologies. The evidence from Ulucak can potentially shed important new information on how these technologies were exchanged across the European-Anatolian frontier. To explore the appearance and evolution of milk use at Ulucak, the paper evaluates two main lines of archaeozoological data: mortality profiles — the most tangible archaeozoological evidence to detect the ways in which domestic animals were exploited (Payne 1973; Vigne and Helmer 2007), and diachronic changes in the contribution of cattle to subsistence economy, with reference to Evershed et al. (2008)s proposal about a cattle-dairy link in northwestern Turkey. Results from Neolithic Ulucak are assessed in the context of relevant evidence from neighbouring sites in western Anatolia.

New Palaeolithic and Mesolithic sites in the eastern Aegean: the Karaburun Archaeological Survey Project

Despite ongoing fieldwork focusing on the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic periods of the Aegean, the eastern part of this region, especially western Turkey, remains almost entirely unexplored in terms of early prehistory. There is virtually no evidence from this area that can contribute to broader research themes such as the dispersal of early hominins, the distribution of Early Holocene foragers and early forager-farmer interactions. The primary aim of the Karaburun Archaeological Survey Project is to address this situation by collecting data from the eastern side of the Aegean Sea, thereby contributing to the currently debated issues of Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean prehistory.

Ancient goat genomes reveal mosaic domestication in the Fertile Crescent

How humans got their goats Little is known regarding the location and mode of the early domestication of animals such as goats for husbandry. To investigate the history of the goat, Daly et al. sequenced mitochondrial and nuclear sequences from ancient specimens ranging from hundreds to thousands of years in age. Multiple wild populations contributed to the origin of modern goats during the Neolithic. Over time, one mitochondrial type spread and became dominant worldwide. However, at the whole-genome level, modern goat populations are a mix of goats from different sources and provide evidence for a multilocus process of domestication in the Near East. Furthermore, the patterns described support the idea of multiple dispersal routes out of the Fertile Crescent region by domesticated animals and their human counterparts. Science, this issue p. 85 Ancient goat genomes elucidate a dispersed domestication process across the Near East. Current genetic data are equivocal as to whether goat domestication occurred multiple times or was a singular process. We generated genomic data from 83 ancient goats (51 with genome-wide coverage) from Paleolithic to Medieval contexts throughout the Near East. Our findings demonstrate that multiple divergent ancient wild goat sources were domesticated in a dispersed process that resulted in genetically and geographically distinct Neolithic goat populations, echoing contemporaneous human divergence across the region. These early goat populations contributed differently to modern goats in Asia, Africa, and Europe. We also detect early selection for pigmentation, stature, reproduction, milking, and response to dietary change, providing 8000-year-old evidence for human agency in molding genome variation within a partner species.

‘When elephants battle, the grass suffers.’ Power, ivory and the Syrian elephant

The craftsmanship of the ivory objects in Late Bronze Age and Iron Age Eastern Mediterranean leave no doubt as to their intention to impress. Elephant teeth are an important raw material for the manufacture of these objects. Zooarchaeological research shows that cranial, dental, and postcranial remains of Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) are nearly as ubiquitous as worked ivory across Southwest Asia. This paper attempts to reconstruct the origins, habitat, range, life style and the end of the Syrian elephant. It discusses recent bone and tooth finds of this animal from Kinet Höyük and Tell Atchana in the Hatay in Turkey against the background of previous research on the ‘Syrian elephant’ and ivory production in the Levant. It confirms the proposal that Asian elephants were not endemic to the region and that their arrival was anthropogenic. The Syrian elephant was the product of the power-hungry Bronze Age elite in the region. Having become an ‘evolutionarily significant unit’ for centuries, these elephants died out in the 8th or 7th century BC. Present evidence, including off-site evidence, suggests that while their local extinction was also anthropogenic, elephants themselves were not merely passive victims in the process; they have made an already difficult and degraded environment even more unsustainable for themselves and the human communities in the region. The immense demand for ivory and competition among first commercial, then territorial powers of the Bronze Age Levant, who symbolically associated themselves with elephants, caused the birth of the ‘Syrian elephant’. In their demise, not only the elites, but also non-elite herders and agriculturalists were probably responsible.

Caravans, camel wrestling and cowrie shells : towards a social zooarchaeology of camel hybridization in Anatolia and adjacent regions

Abstract Hybrid camels, intentional crosses between dromedaries and bactrian camels, are prized for their robustness and endurance. They were the prime vehicles of short and long distance caravan trade in a large area between Greece and Mongolia until the whole-scale introduction of motorized transport. This paper proposes a model for the zooarchaeological study of camel hybridization as a culture-historical phenomenon based on ethnographic and ethnohistoric observations of camel wrestling. Camel wrestling spectacles involve large audiences who gather in large arenas to watch first generation male hybrid camels wrestle during the mating season. While Anatolia was chosen as a case region for testing the model, it can be applied to all regions where hybrids are expected to occur in the archaeological record.

A possible Late Pleistocene forager site from the Karaburun Peninsula, western Turkey

The ‘Karaburun Archaeological Survey’ project aims to illuminate the lifeways of Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene foragers in western Anatolia. A recently discovered, lithic-rich site on the Karaburun Peninsula offers new insights into a currently undocumented period of western Anatolian prehistory.

Teaching Open Science: Published Data and Digital Literacy in Archaeology Classrooms

ABSTRACT Digital literacy has been cited as one of the primary challenges to ensuring data reuse and increasing the value placed on open science. Incorporating published data into classrooms and training is at the core of tackling this issue. This article presents case studies in teaching with different published data platforms, in three different countries (the Netherlands, Canada, and the United States), to students at different levels and with differing skill levels. In outlining their approaches, successes, and failures in teaching with open data, it is argued that collaboration with data publishers is critical to improving data reuse and education. Moreover, increased opportunities for digital skills training and scaffolding across program curriculum are necessary for managing the learning curve and teaching students the values of open science. El alfabetismo digital se ha citado como uno de los principales desafíos para la reutilización de datos y una mayor valoración de la ciencia abierta. Elemento clave para abordar esta cuestión es la incorporación de datos publicados en los programas formativos. En este artículo se presentan estudios de caso en el uso de plataformas de datos arqueológicos existentes en tres países (los Países Bajos, Canadá y Estados Unidos) para la enseñanza a estudiantes de diferentes niveles y habilidades. Al delinear planteamientos, éxitos y fracasos en la enseñanza con datos abiertos, se concluye que la colaboración con los editores de datos es fundamental para mejorar la reutilización de datos y la educación sobre los mismos. Además, es necesario aumentar las oportunidades de formación en habilidades digitales y el andamiaje a lo largo de los planes de estudios para administrar la curva de aprendizaje y enseñar el intercambio de datos y la reutilización como práctica arqueológica.