China-Central Asia "the Belt and Road" Joint Laboratory on Human and Environment Research, Northwest University, Xi'an, China.
Key Laboratory of Cultural Heritage Research and Conservation, School of Culture Heritage, Northwest University, Xi'an, China.
Sci Rep. 2023 Mar 16;13(1):4338. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-31489-9.
Mobile pastoralism was a key lifeway in the Late Bronze and Iron Age of Northwest China and played a crucial role in the regional socio-cultural development, as well as the formation of transregional networks. In this paper we analyse the complete faunal assemblage from House F2 in Shirenzigou, on the Eastern Tianshan Mountains, in combination with radiocarbon dating and spatial analysis, to explore local animal resources exploitation strategies and related socio-economic implications. Our results show an intensive multipurpose caprine management, while the exploitation of other domestic taxa, cattle, horses and dogs, was limited. This pastoral economy was supplemented with some hunting. The differentiated use of space in F2 indicates that basic domestic tasks were carried out in the structure, however its position within the landscape and the predominance of bone tools related to warfare and socialization activities, suggests that it was not an ordinary dwelling, it may also have served as a watch post for the summer encampment within the gully. Our findings constitute an important contribution on the discussion on animal resources exploitation strategies and their relationship with evolving socio-economic complexity in the Eastern Tianshan region in the late first millennium BCE.
游牧是中国西北青铜时代和铁器时代的主要生活方式，在区域社会文化发展以及跨区域网络的形成中发挥了关键作用。本文通过对天山东段石人子沟 F2 房屋的完整动物群进行分析，结合放射性碳测年和空间分析，探讨了当地的动物资源开发策略及其相关的社会经济意义。研究结果表明，该地区对山羊进行了集约化的多用途管理，而对其他家畜（牛、马和狗）的利用则有限。这种畜牧业经济以一定的狩猎为补充。F2 中空间的差异化利用表明，基本的家务劳动是在该结构中进行的，但它在景观中的位置以及与战争和社会化活动相关的骨制工具的优势，表明它不是一个普通的住所，它也可能是沟谷中夏季营地的观察哨。本研究结果为讨论公元前一千年后期天山地区动物资源开发策略及其与社会经济复杂性演变的关系提供了重要贡献。
