Provisioning urbanism: a comparative urban-rural zooarchaeology of ancient Southwest Asia

Historically, urban centres are seen as consumers that draw in labour and resources from their rural hinterlands. Zooarchaeological studies of key urban sites in Southwest Asia demonstrate the movement of livestock, but the region-wide application of these findings has not been tested and the logistics of urban provisioning remain poorly understood. Here, the authors analyse zooarchaeological data from 245 sites in the Levant and Mesopotamia to examine patterns of livestock production and consumption over a 5000-year period. They find that although preferences varied over time and space, urban sites consistently relied on rural satellites to overcome local limitations to support their large and diverse populations

Between the Danube and the Deep Blue Sea : zooarchaeological meta-analysis reveals variability in the spread and development of Neolithic farming across the western Balkans

The first spread of farming practices into Europe in the Neolithic period involves two distinct 'streams', respectively around the Mediterranean littoral and along the Danube corridor to central Europe. In this paper we explore variation in Neolithic animal use practices within and between these streams, focusing on the first region in which they are clearly distinct (and yet still in close proximity): the western Balkans. We employ rigorous and reproducible meta-analysis of all available zooarchaeological data from the region to test hypotheses (a) that each stream featured a coherent 'package' of herding and hunting practices in the earliest Neolithic, and (b) that these subsequently diverged in response to local conditions and changing cultural preferences. The results partially uphold these hypotheses, while underlining that Neolithisation was a complex and varied process. A coherent, stable, caprine-based 'package' is seen in the coastal stream, albeit with some diversification linked to expansion northwards and inland. Accounting for a severe, systematic bias in bone recovery methodology between streams, we show that sheep and goats also played a major role across the continental stream in the earliest Neolithic (c.6100-5800 BC). This was followed by a geographically staggered transition over c.500 years to an economy focused on cattle, with significant levels of hunting in some areas – a pattern we interpret in terms of gradual adaptation to local conditions, perhaps mediated by varying degrees of cultural conservatism. Subsequent westward expansion carried with it elements of this new pattern, which persisted through the middle and late Neolithic

Herding and Hillforts in the Bronze and Iron Age Eastern Adriatic: Results of the 2007- 2010 Excavations at Gradina Rat

Razvoj i uloga brončanodobnih i željeznodobnih gradina na istočnoj obali Jadrana još su uvijek tek donekle poznati. U svrhu proširivanja znanja o tim lokalitetima istražena je fauna srednjodalmatinskoga lokaliteta Rat kako bi se uočile promjene u načinu lova, uzgoja i obradi trupala tijekom faza života tog naselja. Kako bi se rasvijetlile te promjene, obrađen je osteološki materijal iz brončanoga i željeznog doba kroz pet faza nalazišta.The development and function of Bronze and Iron Age hillfort settlements along the eastern Adriatic is still little understood. In the interest of adding to the understanding of these sites, the fauna of the central Dalmatian site of Rat is examined to deduce changes in hunting, husbandry practices and carcass processing over its occupation sequence. Material is compare

Farming data: Testing climatic and palaeoenvironmental effect on Neolithic Adriatic stockbreeding and hunting through zooarchaeological meta-analysis

The possible role of climatic and environmental factors upon the spread and subsequent development of early farming techniques across Europe has long been discussed. We explore the spatial and temporal changes in both animal domestic management techniques and hunting strategies using a meta-analysis of zooarchaeological data from the Neolithic period of the Adriatic Sea (8000–6000 cal. BP). Through a comparison of these patterns with available palaeoenvironmental archives, we conclude that both climatic and environmental factors explain little of the encountered variation and seek for alternative interpretations.</jats:p

Gaining traction on cattle exploitation: zooarchaeological evidence from the Neolithic Western Balkans

AbstractERC Consolidator grant Stg-31371