Antonosyan Mariya, Maurer Gwendoline, Mkrtchyan Satenik, Boxleitner Kseniia, Saribekyan Mariam, Hovhannisyan Anahit, Furquim Laura, Stokes Freg, Davtyan Ruben, Bobokhyan Arsen, Azatyan Karen, Ilgner Jana, Reinhold Sabine, Frahm Ellery, Spengler Robert, Roberts Patrick, Amano Noel, Yepiskoposyan Levon
Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, 07743 Jena, Germany.
Department of Coevolution of Land Use and Urbanisation, Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, 07743 Jena, Germany.
iScience. 2025 May 2;28(6):112544. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2025.112544. eCollection 2025 Jun 20.
Mobile pastoralism is widely evoked when discussing technological developments, resource procurement, -regional interactions, and exchange networks in the South Caucasus. In this study, we conduct a comprehensive multiproxy investigation of faunal and botanical remains from the Middle to Late Chalcolithic in southern Armenia, at the high altitude Yeghegis-1 site, to directly assess herd mobility and human subsistence practices. Our findings indicate that, alongside intensified interregional connectivity, the inhabitants practiced a rather sedentary form of multi-resource pastoralism, while maintaining herds at the site year-round. These results complement and expand upon models of pastoral mobility and its perceived crucial role in sustaining inter- and intra-regional connectivity. We argue that alternative models of increased intra-regional connectivity, focused on exchange between different specialized settled economies, need to be considered and further research is essential to unravel the complex interplay between subsistence, trade, and socio-economic dynamics.
在讨论南高加索地区的技术发展、资源获取、区域间互动和交换网络时,移动畜牧经常被提及。在本研究中,我们对亚美尼亚南部海拔较高的叶盖吉斯 -1 遗址中铜石并用时代中期到晚期的动物和植物遗迹进行了全面的多指标调查,以直接评估畜群的流动性和人类的生存方式。我们的研究结果表明,除了区域间联系的加强,当地居民实行了一种相当定居的多资源畜牧形式,同时全年在该遗址饲养畜群。这些结果补充并扩展了畜牧流动性模型及其在维持区域间和区域内联系方面所被认为的关键作用。我们认为,需要考虑以不同专业化定居经济之间的交换为重点的区域内联系增强的替代模型,并且进一步的研究对于揭示生存、贸易和社会经济动态之间的复杂相互作用至关重要。