Revisiting Neolithic Caprine Exploitation at Suberde, Turkey

Abstract

This paper addresses the nature of sheep and goat exploitation at the Aceramic Neolithic site of Suberde, Turkey. Although previously interpreted as a Neolithic hunters' village, new demographic and measurement data indicate that the sheep and probably goats at Suberde represent the earliest appearance of managed populations in the Beyşehir region of central Anatolia. Kill-off data indicate that the caprines were carefully selected for slaughter within a narrow age range, while measurement data provide evidence for size diminution, a feature commonly seen in domestic populations. There is no evidence, however, to indicate that caprine management included the intensive culling of young males, a feature which is often considered to be characteristic of herding economies. This divergence from the expectations of various ethnographic models of pastoral management may represent highly localized “experimental” caprine management strategies in the earliest Neolithic settlements of central Anatolia.