3000 yr-old patterns of mobile pastoralism revealed by multiple isotopes and radiocarbon dating of ancient horses from the Mongolian Altai
Fiche du document
7 mai 2025
- ISIDORE Id: 10670/1.ab9486...
- hal: hal-05060604
- doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0322431
Ce document est lié à :
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0322431
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ , info:eu-repo/semantics/OpenAccess
Mots-clés
Late Bronze Age laser ablation isoscape khirgisuur riteSujets proches
Mobility Internal migrationCiter ce document
Antoine Zazzo et al., « 3000 yr-old patterns of mobile pastoralism revealed by multiple isotopes and radiocarbon dating of ancient horses from the Mongolian Altai », HAL SHS (Sciences de l’Homme et de la Société), ID : 10.1371/journal.pone.0322431
Métriques
Partage / Export
Résumé
Pastoral nomadism is of great cultural and economic importance in several regions of the world today. However, documenting ancient patterns of mobility in societies where pastoralism was central is challenging and requires tailored approaches and methodologies.Here we use strontium, oxygen and carbon isotopic analyses of dental enamel, together with a local strontium isoscape, to reconstruct the mobility patterns of seven domestic horses deposited in a Late Bronze Age grave from western Mongolia. Radiocarbon indicates that the animals were deposited within a short period of time, 3000 years ago. The isotope time series obtained from tooth enamel shows that four of the seven horses exhibited a common pattern characterized by a high frequency of mobility, suggesting that in this area (1) cyclical nomadic mobility dates back at least to the Late Bronze Age and (2) the animals belonged to the same herding family, implying that only a small community was involved in the funerary rite of this structure. The data show that the other three horse individuals had a distinct mobility pattern and that one was not from the local area, pointing to flexibility in mobility patterns over time or circulation of animals between herding groups. These results illustrate the power of the isotopic approach to reconstruct animal biographies and effectively address the archaeology of pastoral nomadism and mobility.
