Elizabeth R. Arnold

‘Go(a)t milk?’ New perspectives on the zooarchaeological evidence for the earliest intensification of dairying in south eastern Europe

Abstract The origins of secondary product exploitation for domestic livestock, in particular milking, is a long-standing debate in archaeology. This paper re-analyses zooarchaeological age-at-death data from the central Balkans of south eastern Europe to demonstrate that the earliest intensive milking in this region probably occurred through the exploitation of goats, and not cattle or sheep, and that they were exploited in this manner from the beginning of the Neolithic. The analyses also suggest that there is a change in cattle and sheep exploitation patterns beginning during the Eneolithic, when secondary product exploitation becomes visible in age-at-death patterns, which can be interpreted as an increased scale of secondary products exploitation. This proposal is congruent with the ceramic lipid and zooarchaeological data from the region and has larger implications for understanding and identifying the origins of milking throughout the Old World.

Domestic cattle mobility in early farming villages in southern Africa: harvest profiles and strontium (87Sr/86Sr) isotope analyses from Early Iron Age sites in the lower Thukela River Valley of South Africa

Several researchers have suggested that Early Iron Age (i.e., first millennium ad) farmers in the mountainous valleys along the southeastern seaboard of southern Africa moved their livestock in a transhumant or seasonal fashion between grazing areas in order to take advantage of differentiation in availability of pasture. Until now, there have been no data to systematically test this hypothesis. This study presents new zooarchaeological and preliminary strontium isotope data from the Early Iron Age sites of Ndondondwane, Mamba I and Wosi in the lower Thukela River Valley of South Africa. Harvest profiles of domestic stock suggest that herds were present year-round in the valley bottom, despite the advantages of a transhumant pastoral system. In order to resolve the discrepancy between the harvest profiles and the expected mobility patterns, a pilot isotopic study collected modern baseline strontium data in an effort to establish the local valley signature. The isotopic signatures from the zooarchaeological cattle specimens from the three sites show variation between sites, which is indicative of both limited and variable patterns of mobility throughout the valley. In addition, the strontium data suggest that some cattle may have been moved through social and/or economic exchanges from outside the valley.

Isotopic Evidence for Early Trade in Animals between Old Kingdom Egypt and Canaan

Isotope data from a sacrificial ass and several ovicaprines (sheep/goat) from Early Bronze Age household deposits at Tell es-Safi/Gath, Israel provide direct evidence for the movement of domestic draught/draft and husbandry animals between Old Kingdom Egypt (during the time of the Pyramids) and Early Bronze Age III Canaan (ca. 2900–2500 BCE). Vacillating, bi-directional connections between Egypt and Canaan are known throughout the Early Bronze Age, but here we provide the first concrete evidence of early trade in animals from Egypt to Canaan.

Earliest evidence for equid bit wear in the ancient Near East: The "ass" from Early Bronze Age Tell eṣ-Ṣâfi/Gath, Israel

Analysis of a sacrificed and interred domestic donkey from an Early Bronze Age (EB) IIIB (c. 2800–2600 BCE) domestic residential neighborhood at Tell eṣ-Ṣâfi/Gath, Israel, indicate the presence of bit wear on the Lower Premolar 2 (LPM2). This is the earliest evidence for the use of a bit among early domestic equids, and in particular donkeys, in the Near East. The mesial enamel surfaces on both the right and left LPM2 of the particular donkey in question are slightly worn in a fashion that suggests that a dental bit (metal, bone, wood, etc.) was used to control the animal. Given the secure chronological context of the burial (beneath the floor of an EB IIIB house), it is suggested that this animal provides the earliest evidence for the use of a bit on an early domestic equid from the Near East.

Interregional Trade and Exchange at Early Bronze Age Tell eṣ-Ṣâfi/Gath

There are various strands of evidence to demonstrate that the occupants of Area E participated in an interregional exchange system. Several hippopotamus ivory objects, including an ivory cylinder seal, are likely of exotic origin. Some were shaped and drilled (fig. 1). They are found in almost all of the buildings in Area E, suggesting that they were not limited to elite individuals only. It is not yet clear whether they were made from hippopotamus ivory from the Nile or from local southern Levantine rivers, since hippopotami existed in the coastal plain of Israel until the early Iron Age (Horwitz and Tchernov 1990). To date, sixty-six basalt artifacts have been recovered at Tell es -S âfi/Gath (fig. 2; see Beller, this issue). The absence of suitable basalt sources within the Shephelah suggests that residents of Tell es -S âfi/Gath acquired these basalt commodities from distant sources through exchange. A provenance analysis was performed in order to determine the regions with which residents of Tell es -S âfi/Gath conducted exchange. This analysis involved the generation and comparison of the geochemical profiles of nineteen basalt artifacts, all of which were grinding stones, with those of previously published basalt sources from the southern Levant, Sinai, and Egypt. The results of the provenance analysis demonstrated that fifteen of the nineteen basalt artifacts were chemically consistent, specifically in terms of their total alkali-silica content, with a source or, at minimum, a specific region within the southern Levant. In this manner, four were most consistent with sources around the Sea of Galilee region, one with the Golan, two with the Galilee, three with the Jezreel Valley, and five with the eastern Dead Sea in modern Jordan. Basalt artifacts were transported over distances of 60 km from the eastern Dead Sea region and 100 km from within the Jezreel Valley and around the Sea of Galilee region. It should be noted that no artifacts were linked to more distant sources, such as those in Sinai and Egypt (Beller, Greenfield, Fayek et al. 2016; Beller, Greenfield, Shai et al. 2016). Unfortunately, no basalt ground stone quarry or workshop dating to the EB has been discovered (Milevski 2009: 121). This absence has prohibited insight into the nature of raw material procurement and stymied estimations of the scale of the basalt industry. However, urban centers proximate to basalt sources (e.g., Bet Yerah, Megiddo, Batrawy, Interregional Trade and Exchange at Early Bronze Age Tell es. -S. âfi / Gath

Isotope Analyses of Early Bronze Age Fauna at Tell eṣ-Ṣâfi/Gath

Models of early state formation have identified three key features in their evolution: social stratification, central governance, and economic specialization (Adams 2001; Pournelle and Algaze 2012). Several researchers (Hesse 1986; Stein 1987; Zeder 1991; Hesse and Wapnish 2002) suggest that a key element of the developing specialized economy in early urban centers is whether animals were distributed through these direct or an indirect provisioning systems. Stable carbon and oxygen isotopes and radiogenic strontium are used to examine domestic animal provisioning during the Early Bronze Age (EB, 3600–2400 b.c.e.) at the city of Tell es-Sâfi/Gath. The research seeks to determine whether or not the distribution systems were direct, with suppliers and consumers exchanging directly, or indirectly, whereby third parties such as elite administrators obtained animals or their products from herders and then distributed them to consumers. Each of these arrangements has implications not only for the economic organization of the city but also for the social and political relationships within the city. These questions look not only at animals as food resources but also as key items of trade and exchange and as symbols of wealth and/or status. Stable isotope analyses can determine diet (DeNiro and Epstein 1978, 1981), reconstruct environments (Schoeninger, Kohn, and Valley 2002) including those that has been impacted by humans (Balasse et al. 2003; Makarewicz and Tuross 2006), as well as mobility and trade (Ezzo, Johnson, and Price 1997; Grupe et al. 1997; Hoppe et al. 1999; Price et al. 1994; Price, Manzanilla, and Middleton 2000; Hodell et al. 2004). Isotopes are elements that have the same number of electrons and protons but differ in the number of neutrons (DeNiro 1987). Carbon has three isotopes (12C, 13C, and 14C). The first two isotopes are stable, whereas 14C disintegrates radioactively over time (van der Merwe 1982) and is the basis for radiocarbon dating in archaeology. Carbon isotopes have also been used widely within archaeology to examine diet. Terrestrial plants can be divided into three groups based on differential means of fixing atmospheric CO2. The different photosynthetic pathways result in distinct δ13C values. These differences in the δ13C values of the plants consumed are reflected in the tissues of the animals that consume them (DeNiro and Epstein 1978; Vogel 1978). Carbon isotope analyses will provide data on conditions of the environments within which animals are reared (Balasse and Ambrose 2005). Oxygen isotope composition in the tooth enamel in mammals is directly linked to the isotopic composition of environmental water they consume (Longinelli 1984; d’Angela and Longinelli 1990; Stuart-Williams and Schwarcz 1997) and can be useful for reconstructing both mobility and seasonality. Strontium is a radiogenic isotope with four naturally occurring isotopes. In one pair of them, strontium 87Sr/86Sr, the ratios in nature vary with changes in local bedrock geology. Present-day (or recent) ratios reflect the average Rb/Sr ratios of a rock and the time elapsed since its formation. Older rock will have a higher 87Sr/86Sr ratio than more recently formed rocks (Ericson 1985). Soil and plants are in isotopic equilibrium with local source rock and share similar isotopic ratios for strontium. Animals consuming these plants incorporate strontium in the mineral structure of bones and teeth as these tissues are formed (Ericson 1985, 1989; Sealy et al. 1991; Bentley et al. 2004). Measurement of the strontium ratio will provide a measure of the relative importance of foods from areas of variable geology (Sealy et al. 1991). Strontium isotope analysis has been successfully utilized to trace mobility of both humans (Ezzo, Johnson, and Price 1997; Grupe et al. 1997; Price et al. 1994; Sillen et al. 1998; Bentley et al. 2004; Hodell et al. 2004) and animals (van der Merwe et al. 1990; Vogel et al. 1990; Hoppe et al. 1999). It is possible to analyze both the organic and inorganic components of bones and teeth for isotopic analyses. The earliest studies focused on bone collagen, the organic component of bone that makes up approximately 20–25 percent by weight of fresh bone and is still a very common focus of isotopic research (Sealy et al. 2014). In addition, the inorganic carbonate component of archaeological bone and tooth enamel has also been used as a source for isotope studies (Sullivan and Krueger 1981; Krueger and Sullivan 1984). The inorganic component often survives better in the archaeological record, particularly in very old samples (Lee-Thorp 1989) and in regions where organic preservation is very poor (Krigbaum 2001). It is ideal (if preservation is good) to perform analysis of stable carbon isotopes from both collagen and carbonate because the two tissues reflect different dietary sources. Collagen is formed largely from the protein in the diet while carbonate reflects a picture of the whole diet (Krueger and Sullivan 1984; Ambrose and Norr 1993; Tieszen and Fagre 1993). However, collagen preservation in the excavation area focusing on the EB has been poor. As such, current analyses focus solely on tooth enamel. The most striking result of the isotopic research at EB Tell esSâfi/Gath is the direct evidence for movement and trade of domestic animals between Old Kingdom Egypt and Canaan during the EB III (ca. 2900–2500 b.c.e.). Isotopic analyses of the young, healthy adult female ass (a draft animal) recovered in a sacrificial context (Greenfield, Shai, and Maeir 2012) under the floor of an EB III house indicates that the animal’s early tooth development occurred in the Nile Valley and later migrated to Tell es-Sâfi/ Isotope Analyses of Early Bronze Age Fauna at Tell es. -S. âfi / Gath