1. Archaeobotanical investigations at the earliest horse herder site of Botai in Kazakhstan
- Author
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S. Zakharov, V. F. Zaibert, Martin K. Jones, A. K. Outram, Emma Lightfoot, Jérémy Jacob, Xinyi Liu, Giedre Motuzaite Matuzeviciute, Lithuanian Institute of History, McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge [UK] (CAM), Washington University in Saint Louis (WUSTL), Géochrononologie Traceurs Archéométrie (GEOTRAC), Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement [Gif-sur-Yvette] (LSCE), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ), University of Exeter, Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), and Al-Farabi Kazakh National University [Almaty] (KazNU)
- Subjects
010506 paleontology ,Archeology ,[SHS.ARCHEO]Humanities and Social Sciences/Archaeology and Prehistory ,Population ,01 natural sciences ,GEOF ,law.invention ,Eurasiansteppe ,Miliacin ,Paleoethnobotany ,Bronze Age ,law ,[SDU.STU.GC]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Geochemistry ,0601 history and archaeology ,Radiocarbon dating ,education ,0105 earth and related environmental sciences ,education.field_of_study ,060102 archaeology ,Eneolithic ,Subsistence agriculture ,Excavation ,Agriculture ,06 humanities and the arts ,Chalcolithic ,15. Life on land ,Archaeology ,Geography ,Anthropology ,[SDU.STU.ST]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Stratigraphy ,Period (geology) ,Archaeobotany - Abstract
International audience; This paper presents new radiocarbon dates and the results of the first archaeobotanical investigations at Eneolithic Botai site, for the first time aiming to explore the plant food component in the diet of Botai population and if the inhabitants of the Botai were a part of an early crop food exchange network. Our excavation of a hut circle and associated radiocarbon dating placed its occupation within a date range commencing around 3550 and 3030 cal BC and ending between 3080 and 2670 cal BC. A separate feature (likely a stove or kiln), excavated in test trench E, would seem to be younger, around 2000 cal BC. The dating of the site thus also indicates a previously unknown later occupation at Botai, opening further discussions on human subsistence and interaction as well as horse management in northern Eurasia from the Eneolithic to the Bronze Age. The archaeobotanical results, derived from systematic sampling and analysis of macrobotanical remains, plant phytoliths, and molecular biomarker analysis show that the Botai populations were not part of any wider crop network. The relatively small seed count would indicate that plant foods did not constitute a substantial component of economic life. On the other hand, the presence of miliacin could suggest possible millet cultivation or consumption in this region at some point in the past, possibly after the main occupation period of Botai.
- Published
- 2019
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