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Growing reliance on animal and plant domestication in the Near East and beyond during the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB) (the ninth to eighth millennium BC) has often been associated with a “revolutionary” social transformation from mobility toward more sedentary lifestyles. We are able to yield nuanced insights into the process of the Neolithization in the Near East based on a bioarchaeological approach integrating isotopic and archaeogenetic analyses on the bone remains recovered from Nevalı Çori, a site occupied from the early PPNB in Turkey where some of the earliest evidence of animal and plant domestication emerged, and from Ba'ja, a typical late PPNB site in Jordan. In addition, we present the archaeological sequence of Nevalı Çori together with newly generated radiocarbon dates. Our results are based on strontium ( 87 Sr/ 86 Sr), carbon, and oxygen (δ 18 O and δ 13 C carb ) isotopic analyses conducted on 28 human and 29 animal individuals from the site of Nevalı Çori. 87 Sr/ 86 Sr results indicate mobility and connection with the contemporaneous surrounding sites during the earlier PPNB prior to an apparent decline in this mobility at a time of growing reliance on domesticates. Genome-wide data from six human individuals from Nevalı Çori and Ba'ja demonstrate a diverse gene pool at Nevalı Çori that supports connectedness within the Fertile Crescent during the earlier phases of Neolithization and evidence of consanguineous union in the PPNB Ba'ja and the Iron Age Nevalı Çori.

Southeast Anatolia is home to some of the earliest and most spectacular Neolithic sites associated with the beginning of cultivation and herding in the Old World. In this article we present new archaeobotanical and zooarchaeological data from Gusir Höyük, an aceramic Neolithic habitation dating to the 12th-late 11th millennia cal BP. Our results show selective use of legume crop progenitors and nuts during the earlier part of this period, followed by the management of cereal and legume crop progenitors from the mid-11th millennium cal BP. This contrasts with data available from other Anatolian habitations indicating broad spectrum plant use with low crop progenitor inputs. Early aceramic Neolithic Anatolian plant and animal exploitation strategies were site-specific, reflecting distinctive identities and culinary choices rather than environmental constraints. A multivariate evaluation of wheat grain metrics alongside botanical and radiometric data indicate that early wheat domestication in southeast Anatolia occurred at a faster pace than predicted by current hypotheses for a protracted transition to farming in Southwest Asia. We argue that this phenomenon is best explained as a corollary of the increasing importance of cereals in feasting at southeast Anatolian sites characterised by increasing architectural complexity and elaboration during the 11th millennium cal BP.

This study presents a meta‐analysis of radiocarbon ages for the environs of Göbekli Tepe – one of the oldest monumental structures worldwide – using cumulative probability functions to diachronically assess phases of geomorphodynamic activity as controlled by natural or anthropogenic drivers. We employ sediment cascades as a heuristic framework to study the complex responses of the geomorphological system to various triggers at local to supra‐regional scales. Possible triggers include climatic variability as documented by supra‐regional hydroclimatic proxy data, regional demographic trends, and local to regional socioeconomic developments such as the emergence of sedentism or the introduction and dispersal of livestock herding. Our results show that phases of intensified geomorphodynamic activity occurred between ca. 7.4–7.0 and 5.8–3.3 ka BP. These phases roughly coincide with phases of population growth in southern Turkey and climatic variations in Turkey and the Levant. The phase between ca. 5.8–3.3 ka BP also corresponds to the time when organized agriculture and the seeder plough were introduced. Also, the identified phases are in agreement with the general trend of varying geomorphodynamic activity in the Eastern Mediterranean as driven by human impact and climatic change. However, neither the Younger Dryas–Holocene transition nor the development of herding during the Pre‐Pottery Neolithic left a clear signature. We demonstrate how the different depositional environments in the studied landscape compartments vary with respect to their spatiotemporal coverage and discuss challenges when trying to understand processes that once shaped landscapes of past societies. © 2020 The Authors. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Geomorphodynamic activity in the surroundings of the Early Neolithic hilltop site Göbekli Tepe is significantly intensified between ca. 7.4–7.0 and 5.8–3.3 ka BP, reflecting demographic, sociocultural, and climatic variations. The studied landscape compartments form a sediment cascade whose different depositional environments vary with respect to their spatiotemporal coverage. Preservation of colluvial deposits in upland catchments represents a key challenge when studying ancient hilltop sites such as Göbekli Tepe in semi‐arid environments like southeastern Anatolia.

Traditional methods for estimating age-at-death of caprines are based on dental and epiphyseal fusion data and known to produce rather wide age intervals. In order to better interpret prenatal to early infantile mortality of sheep in prehistoric assemblages more precise age predictions are needed. We address this issue using a Generalized Additive Model (GAM) developed on humerus measurements of unborn and very young sheep of known age housed in modern collections. We then verify the resulting prediction model with the aid of a pregnant ewe and her foetus (Ovis aries) excavated in the Ptolemaic-Roman animal cemetery at Syene (modern Aswan, Egypt). Her condition illustrates that both the mother and her mature foetus must have died during birthing. Subsequently, we apply the model to humeri of very young archaeological sheep (Ovis orientalis/O. aries) unearthed at early Neolithic Aşıklı Höyük (Central Turkey). Both study cases underscore the practicality of our approach whilst illustrating the cultural and historical importance of precise age determinations in foetal, newborn and infantile sheep. Finally, we discuss the possible causes for foetal and neonatal mortality in sheep at Aşıklı Höyük., We most gratefully acknowledge funding in the frame of the DFG long-term project, ‘The Prehistoric Societies of Upper Mesopotamia and their Subsistence’ by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft under Grants PE 424/10-1,2,3,4 (J. P.) and of the DFG project ‘Die Tempelherde und ihr Bestattungsplatz im ptolemäisch-römischen Syene aus archäozoologischer, archäologischer und religionshistorischer Perspektive’ under Grant PE424/14-1 (J. P.). Research at Aşıklı Höyük would not have been possible without the support of the General Directorate of Cultural Assets and Museums, Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Turkey, and the Aksaray Museum.

From the very beginning sheep keepers (un-)consciously selected animals with traits amenable to life and reproduction in an anthropogenic environment. Over the millennia sheep lineages developed which were adapted to the diverse landscapes and climates currently inhabited by the species. With time, human selection also fostered desired traits, such as docility, higher average milk production, abundant fleece or excessive fat depots, amongst others. However, verifying their appearance in the archaeological record is quite difficult applying standard archaeozoological methods. Here we present a Geometric Morphometric (GMM) approach that can shed light on these developments. Our study compares astragali of three wild and five domestic sheep populations. They come from prehistoric contexts in SW Asia dating to the Early Neolithic, Middle Chalcolithic and Late Bronze Age as well as modern reference series housed in natural history collections. We observe that ancient and modern wild sheep share the same astragalar morphology. Moreover, domestic sheep from Middle Chalcolithic Central Anatolia still resemble closely their Neolithic SE Anatolian wild relatives. Modern sheep populations from the United Kingdom and NW Germany form a distinct cluster, whereas sheep populations from Late Bronze Age Syria and particularly modern Karakul sheep clearly position away from all of the aforementioned groups, underscoring their distinct morphology. We conclude that the phenotypes preserved in the astragalar size and shape are at the same time a reflection of the respective population's geography, chronology and genetics.

A carpometacarpus recovered during archaeological excavations in the town of Quaregnon is the western most find ever reported in Europe of a Ural Owl (Strix uralensis), and the first occurrence for Belgium. Both the morphology of the skeletal element and its measurements rule out an identification as any of the other Strigiformes from the Western Palearctic. The provenance of this specimen, that dates to the medieval period (10th-12th centuries AD), is discussed. It is hypothesized that the bird was a wild animal, but the available evidence does not unequivocally determine whether it belonged to a local, breeding population that went extinct or if it came from a more distant population. However, a survey of other zooarchaeological finds of Ural Owl in Europe shows that the species occurred farther west in the past, outside the present natural breeding range. This suggests that Ural Owl may have found suitable nesting biotopes in Belgium and northern France during the medieval period. ispartof: Belgian Journal of Zoology vol:146 issue:1 pages:33-43 status: published

An aurochs right humerus with a fragment of an embedded projectile point was discovered during excavations at early Neolithic Gobekli Tepe in south-eastern Turkey. Evidence for hunting trauma in bones is extremely rare in the prehistoric record from the Near East and Africa, while the dataset from Europe is much larger. In this contribution a hunting lesion from Gobekli Tepe and its context will be described and discussed against the background of data on similar hunting lesions found in Europe, the Near East and Africa. Communal hunting is identified as one strategy to hunt down large game like aurochs, which, in the case of Gobekli Tepe, will be placed in the socio-cultural context of large scale gatherings.

Seventeen thousand six hundred and forty-five faunal remains from recent excavations at the pre-Napatan and Napatan fortress Gala Abu Ahmed, about 110 km west of the Nile in the lower Wadi Howar, have been identified. The results are described in detail as they represent the first large dataset for the period and region and can therefore serve as a benchmark for future studies. They are also informative for the organisation of life at outposts. Overall, there is not much that distinguishes the fauna from Gala Abu Ahmed from ordinary settlement waste. The presence of many very young caprines suggests that one building may have been used by higher status individuals. Another one, where many cowrie shells were recorded, seems to have had a ritual function. Mainly locally available animal resources were consumed, predominantly goat and sheep. However, some resources must have been brought in from the Nile Valley as well, including cattle. The environment around Gala Abu Ahmed appears to have been an arid desert area, but thanks to wells, livestock could be kept. The fauna did not yield any particular evidence that may be related to one of its presumed main functions, that of a trade post. Other outposts in north-eastern Africa are younger than Gala Abu Ahmed, and the diversity of their fauna reflects the diversity in their specific function, organisation and the people occupying them.

Analysis of spatio-temporal variation in patterns of animal exploitation helps our understanding of the transition from hunting to husbandry of Ovis, Capra, Sus, and Bos in Pre-Pottery Neolithic Anatolia (c.9500–7000 bce). Despite interaction with humans since the final Pleistocene, domestication of Sus in southeastern Anatolia is only evidenced after 8500 bce. This timing coincides with efforts to exert cultural control over Ovis, Capra, and Bos. Applying a broad methodological spectrum, it is shown that in southeastern Anatolia, the Neolithic ‘package’ was in place at the end of the ninth millennium bce, whereas in contemporaneous central Anatolia, livestock husbandry only included sheep and goat. Initially, animal management practices may have focused on a single species, but after 8000 bce, herding strategies comprised at least two species, likely a risk-reducing strategy. Conceivably, large-scale social gatherings, e.g. at Göbekli Tepe, promoted the spread of practices associated with ungulate management and domestication.

With its impressive megalithic architecture dating to the tenth to ninth millennium cal. bc, the site of Gobekli Tepe (south-east Anatolia) is singular in the cultural history of mankind. Excavations at this ritual centre produced a rich archaeofaunal assemblage dominated by skeletal remains of Persian gazelle (Gazella subgutturosa). In order to trace relevant features of this species' behaviour in early Neolithic times relating to its dietary demands, catchment area and annual round, zooarchaeological analysis was complemented by stable isotope analysis of carbon, oxygen and strontium in tooth enamel and bone apatite. Demographic profiles and stable isotope results are consistent with a seasonal presence and hence migratory behaviour in gazelle. Conceivably working events, feasting and performing rituals at Gobekli Tepe coincided with high game density in the southern Anti-Taurus piedmont.

The results of the interdisciplinary project ACACIA support the assumption of a more humid climate at Djara, on the Egyptian Limestone Plateau, which is a hyper-arid desert today, during the early and mid-Holocene. The ancient plant and animal inventories give new impetus for the suggestion of an interfingering of two climatic regimes, the winter rains from the north and west and the summer monsoonal rains from the south, on the latitude of Djara. A playa sediment sequence, the composition of plant and animal taxa as well as the reconstructed settlement patterns indicate a semi-arid climate with alternating more humid and drier conditions. The concentration of prehistoric sites in the Djara depression points to locally favourable conditions in contrast to the surrounding plateau surface. The widespread catchment and a distinct system of palaeochannels offered fresh water over a period of time due to the run-off from the plateau surface after rain events. Although the ecological conditions were better during the Holocene humid phase than they are today, a sedentary way of life was improbable. The hydrological constraints require altogether highly mobile subsistence strategies. Shells of the Nile bivalve Aspatharia sp. ( Spathopsis sp.) give evidence for contacts between Djara and the Nile Valley, which remains beside the Egyptian oases an important retreat area with perennially available water. The decrease of radiocarbon dates and related archaeological sites around 6300 BP (c. 5300 cal BC) indicate the depopulation of the Djara region as a consequence of the drying trend. While the drop off of the 14 C-dates can also be observed in other desert research areas of the ACACIA-project, we date the end of the Holocene humid phase about 300 years earlier than previously suggested.

Aşıklı Höyük is the earliest known preceramic Neolithic mound site in Central Anatolia. The oldest Levels, 4 and 5, spanning 8,200 to approximately 9,000 cal B.C., associate with round-house architecture and arguably represent the birth of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic in the region. Results from upper Level 4, reported here, indicate a broad meat diet that consisted of diverse wild ungulate and small animal species. The meat diet shifted gradually over just a few centuries to an exceptional emphasis on caprines (mainly sheep). Age-sex distributions of the caprines in upper Level 4 indicate selective manipulation by humans by or before 8,200 cal B.C. Primary dung accumulations between the structures demonstrate that ruminants were held captive inside the settlement at this time. Taken together, the zooarchaeological and geoarchaeological evidence demonstrate an emergent process of caprine management that was highly experimental in nature and oriented to quick returns. Stabling was one of the early mechanisms of caprine population isolation, a precondition to domestication.

This study presents the results of a major data integration project bringing together primary archaeozoological data for over 200,000 faunal specimens excavated from seventeen sites in Turkey spanning the Epipaleolithic through Chalcolithic periods, c. 18,000-4,000 cal BC, in order to document the initial westward spread of domestic livestock across Neolithic central and western Turkey. From these shared datasets we demonstrate that the westward expansion of Neolithic subsistence technologies combined multiple routes and pulses but did not involve a set ‘package’ comprising all four livestock species including sheep, goat, cattle and pig. Instead, Neolithic animal economies in the study regions are shown to be more diverse than deduced previously using quantitatively more limited datasets. Moreover, during the transition to agro-pastoral economies interactions between domestic stock and local wild fauna continued. Through publication of datasets with Open Context (opencontext.org), this project emphasizes the benefits of data sharing and web-based dissemination of large primary data sets for exploring major questions in archaeology (Alternative Language Abstract S1).