Exploitation animale à l’Ancien Empire : les apports d’Ayn Asil (Oasis de Dakhla).

International audienceAt the end of the Old Kingdom in Egypt, food production relies on a dense agriculture in the Delta and the Nile valley as well as on livestock herding and fishing. The situation is however different in the Western Desert which undergoes a strong aridification. Archaeozoological remains coming from the governorate palace of Ayn Asil in the Dakhla Oasis bring many evidence to understand animal’s exploitation and consumption practices in this arid and limited-resources environment. Analysis of bones fragments excavated in different sectors of the site show that livestock such as cattle, sheep and goats are highly dominant. Hunting practices supply also complementary food resources which are probably essential in this dry landscape. Wild species include mainly dorcas gazelle, oryx and barbary sheep. Herding is directed toward the production of meat with a secondary use of milk. Animal’s products such as bones and shells are also used for craft production. Associated with textual evidence, these results fit well with the general picture of food production during the Old Kingdom, with, however, characteristics peculiar to this oasis province.À la fin de l’Ancien Empire (env. 2700-2140 av. J.-C.) en Égypte, l’économie alimentaire est caractérisée par une agriculture dense dans le delta et la vallée du Nil, ainsi que par un élevage centré sur les bovins, les caprinés et les porcs, accompagné par une importante pêche fluviale. La situation est cependant très différente dans le désert occidental, alors marqué par une forte aridification. Les restes fauniques issus de la résidence des gouverneurs d’Ayn Asil dans l’oasis de Dakhla apportent de nombreux éléments pour comprendre les stratégies d’exploitation animale et les pratiques de consommation dans un environnement semi-désertique aux ressources limitées. L’analyse de ces vestiges provenant de différents secteurs du site montre que les animaux d’élevage, notamment les bœufs, moutons et chèvres sont largement majoritaires. Les activités cynégétiques fournissent toutefois des compléments alimentaires probablement essentiels dans cette région aride. Cette faune sauvage comprend essentiellement de la gazelle dorcas, de l’oryx et du mouflon à manchette. Les pratiques d’élevage attestent d’une consommation de la viande mais aussi du lait, ainsi qu’une utilisation importante des matières dures animales, telles que les os et coquillages, pour l’artisanat local. Associés aux sources textuelles, ces résultats sont proches de ceux des autres sites de l’époque avec toutefois des spécificités propres à cette province oasienn

Les bovins de la fosse médiévale de Tiya (Ethiopie): dépôt rituel ou banquet funéraire?

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A novel lineage of the Capra genus discovered in the Taurus Mountains of Turkey using ancient genomics

Direkli Cave, located in the Taurus Mountains of southern Turkey, was occupied by Late Epipaleolithic hunters-gatherers for the seasonal hunting and processing of game including large numbers of wild goats. We report genomic data from new and published Capra specimens from Direkli Cave and, supplemented with historic genomes from multiple Capra species, find a novel lineage best represented by a ~14,000 year old 2.59 X genome sequenced from specimen Direkli4. This newly discovered Capra lineage is a sister clade to the Caucasian tur species (Capra cylindricornis and Capra caucasica), both now limited to the Caucasus region. We identify genomic regions introgressed in domestic goats with high affinity to Direkli4, and find that West Eurasian domestic goats in the past, but not those today, appear enriched for Direkli4-specific alleles at a genome-wide level. This forgotten 'Taurasian tur' likely survived Late Pleistocene climatic change in a Taurus Mountain refuge and its genomic fate is unknown

Correction to: The Transition from Hunting–Gathering to Food Production in the Gamo Highlands of Southern Ethiopia

The article The Transition from Hunting–Gathering to Food Production in the Gamo Highlands of Southern Ethiopi

Ancient pigs reveal a near-complete genomic turnover following their introduction to Europe

Archaeological evidence indicates that pig domestication had begun by ~10,500 y before the present (BP) in the Near East, and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) suggests that pigs arrived in Europe alongside farmers ~8,500 y BP. A few thousand years after the introduction of Near Eastern pigs into Europe, however, their characteristic mtDNA signature disappeared and was replaced by haplotypes associated with European wild boars. This turnover could be accounted for by substantial gene flow from local Euro-pean wild boars, although it is also possible that European wild boars were domesticated independently without any genetic con-tribution from the Near East. To test these hypotheses, we obtained mtDNA sequences from 2,099 modern and ancient pig samples and 63 nuclear ancient genomes from Near Eastern and European pigs. Our analyses revealed that European domestic pigs dating from 7,100 to 6,000 y BP possessed both Near Eastern and European nuclear ancestry, while later pigs possessed no more than 4% Near Eastern ancestry, indicating that gene flow from European wild boars resulted in a near-complete disappearance of Near East ancestry. In addition, we demonstrate that a variant at a locus encoding black coat color likely originated in the Near East and persisted in European pigs. Altogether, our results indicate that while pigs were not independently domesticated in Europe, the vast majority of human-mediated selection over the past 5,000 y focused on the genomic fraction derived from the European wild boars, and not on the fraction that was selected by early Neolithic farmers over the first 2,500 y of the domestication process

Ethnoarchéozoologie sur le travail du cuir : l'exemple de deux maisons de tanneurs dans le Konso (Éthiopie)

International audienceThe southern Ethiopian highlands are one of the last remaining places where stone tools, in form of scrapers, are still made and used on a regular basis to process hides. An ethnoarchaeological project was led between 2001 and 2003 in the Konso region to undertake detailed life-cycle studies to the hide process, carry out ethnographic research on past and present Kono hide workers and excavate historic and recently abandoned hide workers households. In this project I have conducted the archaeozoological study of all the faunal evidence found in two abandoned household: Gotcha-Chirayo and Gotcha-Ayenna. These sites have offered a large number of faunal remains (79 970 for both sites). Cattle and caprines are highly dominant in both faunal spectrums; only few bones of chicken and wild bovids complete collections. The use of animals seems to be linked to diet and craft. Thus, skeleton parts frequencies as well as the distribution of cutting marks and the bones concentrations near hearths, testify consumption with a complete or partial provision of animals on the sites. Moreover, these results associated with the large number of stone scrapers found on both sites attest to hides tanning. These data confirm the double status of bovines and caprines (consumption and hideworking) already established by ethnographical sources and bring new information on the evolution of animal?s uses during the history of those two hide workers households.Les hauts plateaux du sud de l’Éthiopie sont un des derniers endroits au monde où des outils en pierre, sous forme de grattoirs, sont encore taillés et utilisés régulièrement pour tanner les peaux. Un projet ethnoarchéologique a été conduit entre 2001 et 2003 dans la région Konso pour étudier en détail les processus de tannage, mener des recherches ethnographiques sur les tanneurs konsos passés et actuels et fouiller des maisons historiques récemment abandonnées par des tanneurs. Au cours de ce projet nous avons réalisé les analyses archéozoologiques des assemblages osseux provenant de deux maisons fouillées : Goctha-Chirayo et Gotcha-Ayenna.Ces sites ont livré un grand de restes fauniques (près de 79 970 sur les deux sites). Les bovins et les caprinés sont prédominants dans les deux spectres de faune ; seuls quelques restes de volailles et de bovidés sauvages complètent les assemblages. L’utilisation des animaux est liée à la consommation et au tannage. Ainsi, la fréquence des parties squelettiques ainsi que la distribution des marques de découpe et la concentration des vestiges près des foyers témoigne de la consommation complète ou partielle des animaux sur les sites. Par ailleurs, ces résultats associés au grand nombre de grattoirs présents sur les sites attestent du tannage des peaux.Ces données confirment le double statut des bovins et des caprinés (consommation et tannage) établi par les données ethnographiques et apportent de nouvelles informations sur l’évolution de l’utilisation animale au cours de l’histoire de ces deux maisons de tanneurs

Des animaux et des hommes en Égypte au Néolithique et Prédynastique : les apports de l’archéozoologie

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Exploitation animale à l'Ancien Empire en Égypte: les apports d'Ayn Asil (oasis de Dakhla)

Lesur, Joséphine (2015): Exploitation animale à l'Ancien Empire en Égypte: les apports d'Ayn Asil (oasis de Dakhla). Anthropozoologica 50 (1): 33-47, DOI: 10.5252/az2015n1a

Du bétail dans les déserts africains : exemples croisés de l’adaptation des premiers pasteurs dans le Sahara oriental et l’Afar

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La domestication : où, quand, comment, pourquoi ?

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