Economic and symbolic role of animals during the Late Chalcolithic period of Areni-1 Cave, Armenia

Abstract

Areni-1 Cave in Armenia is a special-purpose site that provides a unique window into human-animal interactions in the Chalcolithic period (ca. 5200–3400 BCE) of the southern Caucasus. Areni-1 is known for its extensive funerary and votive practices characterised by exceptional preservation. But the people who used the cave also engaged in animal exploitation for subsistence-related purposes. We use contextual taphonomy to explore differences in the depositional history of bones in areas of the cave where symbolic ritual activities and domestic activities were most concentrated. Our contextual taphonomic analyses as well relative abundance measures confirm field observations about the ritual nature of activities deep inside the cave. We show that wild animals, such as canids and possibly wild cattle, were more common in these ritual contexts, and that bones from these contexts were buried relatively faster than in the areas of mixed domestic-ritual activities at the mouth of the cave. We also demonstrate that people who used the cave herded a mix of sheep, goat, and cattle for a range of their primary and secondary products. Finally, craft production activities inside the cave included manufacturing leather shoes from the hide of pigs and/or boars; but caprines, cattle, and possibly foxes were also skinned and processed for their hide and hair.