Using Proteomics to Identify Ancient Pastoralism

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Ancient Pastoralism in a Global Perspective" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Biomolecular analyses (proteins, stable isotopes, lipids, and DNA) have been integral in identifying the economic roles of domesticated animals in archaeological contexts. Materials such as human remains, dental calculus, ceramic matrices, and archaeological residues can provide valuable information on which animals were used for primary and secondary products, as well as determining which tissues were specifically used or consumed. While protein analysis has been more recently developed than the more well-established lipid and DNA analyses, the method offers newly possible insights. The combination of species and tissue specific information that amino acid sequences provide has been critical in clarifying which animals, and their products, were consumed by archaeological populations. Recovery and analysis of proteins from archaeological materials has been especially useful in contexts that suffer from either a lack of recovered faunal material or poor levels of preservation that makes zooarchaeological identifications challenging. Recently, this method has been used to illuminate the spread of milk use on the Bronze Age Eurasian steppe, to the Tibetan Plateau, and into Eastern and Southern Africa. Here, we will detail several projects that have increased our understanding of ancient dairy pastoralism across these regions as exposed by protein analysis.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Ancient Pastoralism in a Global Perspective   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 38846.0