Subsistence Economies Among Bronze Age Steppe Communities in the Southeastern Ural Mountains Region, Russia

Summary

The long-standing subsistence model for Bronze Age Steppe Communities in the Southeastern Ural Mountains Region has been defined as a sedentary agro-pastoral strategy with dominant use of livestock. However, based on recent studies, the nature and variability of the subsistence economy, especially wild plant resource exploitation for both humans and livestock, are not well understood. As sedentary pastoral communities, the relationship between increasing livestock productivity and decreasing risk associated with resource sustainability is a continuous process. It is achieved only through control of land for grazing, regulating the composition and size of herds, and the establishment of seasonal herding strategies including foddering. This research undertakes a systematic archaeobotanical and phytogeographical study of subsistence patterns among late prehistoric pastoralist communities during the Middle Bronze Age of north central Eurasia.The multi-disciplinary approach draws productively from ethnographic, anthropological and archaeological evidence, to examine relationships between ancient settlements, local site catchments, and the emergence of new forms of livestock herding that integrated with earlier traditions of hunting, gathering and fishing during the Middle Bronze Age in the Southeastern Urals region of Russia. A combination of detailed macro-botanical study and experimental archaeology will produce a new model for understanding early traditions of multi-resource pastoralism.

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): 22094