Investigating the scale of herding in Chalcolithic pastoral communities settled along the Danube River in the 5th millennium BC: A case study at Bordus¸ ani-Popinna and Harsova-tell (Romania)

This study focuses on the neighbouring tell sites of Hârşova-tell and Borduşani-Popină in South-eastern Romania. Both sites are located 20 km apart, respectively on a errace on the right bank of the Danube River, and on the sland of Balta Ialomiţei. They delivered occupations from he Gumelniţa culture, dated to the second half of 5th illennium cal BC. Palaeoenvironmental reconstructions on Balta Ialomiţei depict a mosaic landscape of riparian forests, coppices, meadows and marshes, while the most elevated non-floodable riverbanks hold a strong forest component. These Chalcolithic communities subsisted on a diversified economy, focused to a large extent on aquatic resources but depending also heavily on stock rearing and agriculture. Evidence for agriculture was recovered at both sites, including cultivation of cereals and pulses, while the animal domestic economy involved cattle, caprines and pig husbandry. The main questions addressed in this study deal with stock rearing practices, more specifically the role of riverbanks resources in herding strategies and the extant to which the island of Balta Ialomiţei may have sustained domestic animal stocks. This was addressed through stable isotope analysis of animal skeleton remains. At both sites, results revealed an unexpectedly high contribution of C4 plants to the diet of cattle and caprines, while no contribution was observed in wild herbivores. This is interpreted as reflecting local occurrence of ruderal C4 plants, which would have been more abundant around the settlements as well as in cultivated fields. No significant contribution of pulses could be detected in the diet of cattle, caprines and pigs. Domestic pigs had a higher trophic status than their wild counterparts, possibly due to the feeding on aquatic resources largely exploited by the human communities. This would therefore suggest their maintenance by the village. These findings suggest a great proximity of domestic stocks to the settlements and corroborate the scheme described from archaeobotany, also describing a local agriculture. However, no direct relationship could be securely advanced between local stock rearing and agriculture. All together these results may help for a better definition of the occupation of territory by Gumelniţa communities and the scale of the pastoral system. Gumelniţa tell sites have been described as being part of larger pastoral systems including other places with complementary functions. Although functional complementarity in time was not made explicit in this model, at least our results are not arguing in favour of large-scale seasonal mobility.

Jaar van publicatie:2017

BOF-keylabel:ja

IOF-keylabel:ja

BOF-publication weight:1

CSS-citation score:1

Auteurs:International

Authors from:Higher Education

Toegankelijkheid:Open