Faune et flore des niveaux profonds de Shahi-Tump (Balochistan, Pakistan). Premiers résultats

Abstract

At Shahi-Tump, a site excavated by the French Archaeological Mission to Makran (district of Kech-Makran, Baluchistan, Pakistan), the oldest occupational levels belong to an aceramic neolithic horizon. The first results obtained by the analysis of archaeozoological and archaeobotanical remains suggest nevertheless that we deal here with a phase immediately preceding the introduction of ceramics into this western part of Baluchistan. The exploitation of wild resources was of minor importance and the subsistence economy seems to have been mainly based on a limited number of domestic animal and plant species. This model is uncommon in the vast region stretching from eastern Iran to the Indus. The only other site that has provided remains of domestic animals and plants associated with aceramic neolithic levels is Mehrgarh. However, at this site, situated in a quite different biogeographical zone, wild animals constituted a significant part of the diet, while hunting never played an important role in the subsistence economy at Shahi-Tump. The rarity of aceramic deposits across this region justifi es the publication of the first results from Shahi-Tump even though this paper does not contain detailed information, most particularly morphometric data. These will be presented at length in a future monograph dedicated to the site.