Tamsagbulag: New Center of Cattle Domestication in East Asia?

Summary

This is an abstract from the "New Directions in Mongolian Archaeology" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Tamsagbulag, in the far eastern steppe, is the only known example of high-density site occupation in Mongolia that predates the Iron Age. Based on the frequency and treatment of cattle remains, mid-twentieth-century excavators interpreted Tamsagbulag as an agropastoralist community. New excavations in 2018 revealed several hundred years of multiseason occupation dating through 8500–7000 cal BP—more than 2,000 years prior to the introduction of domesticated cattle. Here, I contextualize potential evidence for aurochs management in East Asia, briefly summarize findings from our 2018 excavations, and present preliminary zooarchaeological data as it relates to local resource management.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 86th Annual Meeting, Online (2021)   •
• New Directions in Mongolian Archaeology

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 32181