Abstract
While classic models for the emergence of pastoral groups in Inner Asia describe mounted, horse-borne herders sweeping across the Eurasian Steppes during the Early or Middle Bronze Age (ca. 3000–1500 BCE), the actual economic basis of many early pastoral societies in the region is poorly characterized. In this paper, we use collagen mass fingerprinting and ancient DNA analysis of some of the first stratified and directly dated archaeofaunal assemblages from Mongolia’s early pastoral cultures to undertake species identifications of this rare and highly fragmented material. Our results provide evidence for livestock-based, herding subsistence in Mongolia during the late 3rd and early 2nd millennia BCE. We observe no evidence for dietary exploitation of horses prior to the late Bronze Age, ca. 1200 BCE – at which point horses come to dominate ritual assemblages, play a key role in pastoral diets, and greatly influence pastoral mobility. In combination with the broader archaeofaunal record of Inner Asia, our analysis supports models for widespread changes in herding ecology linked to the innovation of horseback riding in Central Asia in the final 2nd millennium BCE. Such a framework can explain key broad-scale patterns in the movement of people, ideas, and material culture in Eurasian prehistory.
Highlights
While classic models for the emergence of pastoral groups in Inner Asia describe mounted, horse-borne herders sweeping across the Eurasian Steppes during the Early or Middle Bronze Age, the actual economic basis of many early pastoral societies in the region is poorly characterized
With links emerging between the emergence of horse transport and major changes to the structure of Bronze Age pastoral and hunter-gatherer economies in the Eastern Steppes of Eurasia, the broad-scale changes in the frequency of horses in faunal assemblages in western Central Asia appear to be an ecological response to innovations in horse transport
Bronze Age economies across much of Central Asia, patterns that appear replicated in the first direct insights into coeval Mongolian economies
Summary
While classic models for the emergence of pastoral groups in Inner Asia describe mounted, horse-borne herders sweeping across the Eurasian Steppes during the Early or Middle Bronze Age (ca. 3000–1500 BCE), the actual economic basis of many early pastoral societies in the region is poorly characterized. In combination with the broader archaeofaunal record of Inner Asia, our analysis supports models for widespread changes in herding ecology linked to the innovation of horseback riding in Central Asia in the final 2nd millennium BCE Such a framework can explain key broad-scale patterns in the movement of people, ideas, and material culture in Eurasian prehistory. Like cattle, require high daily water intake and grazing over a limited spatial range, while others, like horse, move frequently over larger ranges to meet their energetic and nutritional needs[8] These differences in animal ecology underlie differences in the prevalence of specific domestic taxa, the degree of residential mobility practiced, and the role of other subsistence inputs (like grains and agriculture) in regional economies. In some areas of Central Asia, the dry and relatively inhospitable Eastern Steppes of Mongolia, horses today form an essential part of pastoral lifeways[14]
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