Zooarchaeology by Mass Spectrometry (ZooMS) and the emergence of nomadic herding in eastern Central Asia

Summary

Identifying the timing and nature of the emergence of pastoral societies in eastern Central Asia is hampered by many key logistical challenges, including the scarcity of early nomadic habitation sites and the small and fragmented nature of related archaeofaunal assemblages. This study presents faunal identifications of animal bones from two recently discovered Bronze Age habitation sites in northern and western Mongolia using ZooMS (Zooarchaeology by Mass Spectrometry)- a technique that uses mass spectrometry to make taxonomic classifications based on peptide sequences from bone collagen. Results provide a window into diet and husbandry practices in the eastern Eurasian Steppe during the critical transition from hunting to herding societies, and indicate that ZooMS is a powerful tool for the investigation of early pastoral economies.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 19909