Pastoral subsistence and mounted fighting in the Eastern Tianshan Mountain region: New insights from the Shirenzigou worked bone assemblage

Situated at a geographic crossroads, the eastern Tianshan Mountain region in northwest China is crucial to understanding various economic, social, and cultural developments on the Eurasian Steppes. One promising way to gain a better knowledge of ancient subsistence economy, craft production, and social change in the eastern Tianshan Mountain region is to study the artifact assemblages from archaeological contexts. Here, we present an analysis of 488 worked animal bones from the large site of Shirenzigou (ca. 1300–1 BCE), to date the largest assemblage of this kind uncovered in the eastern Tianshan Mountain region. We classified these worked bones into six categories, including “ritual objects”, “ornaments”, “tools”, “worked astragali”, “warfare and mobility”, and “indeterminate”. The identification of animal species and skeletal elements indicates that worked bones from Shirenzigou are characterized by a predominance of caprine products, particularly worked astragali, which is consistent with the large proportion of caprine fragments found in animal remains associated with food consumption. This demonstrates the contribution of caprine pastoralism to bone working activities at Shirenzigou. The making of most worked bones does not appear to have required advanced or specialized skills. Considering the absence of dedicated bone working space, alongside the variability in raw material selection and in dimensions of certain types of artifacts, we infer that worked bone production at Shirenzigou was not standardized. In terms of raw material selection and mode of production, Shirenzigou differed from their settled, farming counterparts in the Yellow River valley of northern China. In addition, along with the evidence for violence and horseback riding, the increasing use of bone artifacts associated with warfare and mobility during the late occupation phase of Shirenzigou reflects growing social instability and implies the likely emergence of single mounted horsemen, equipped with light armors, in the region during the late first millennium BCE. Our results provide new insights into animal resource exploitation and changing lifeways of early pastoral societies in the eastern Tianshan Mountain region, expanding our knowledge of the economic, social, and political milieu of late Bronze Age and early Iron Age eastern Eurasia.

Late Medieval Bone and Antler Working at the Residence of the Archbishop of Esztergom (Northern Hungary)

A relatively small worked bone and antler assemblage including 28 finished objects and 104 remains representing blanks and waste material was identified during the zooarchaeological analysis of the bone material found at the recently excavated site of Esztergom-Várhegy-Kőbánya (Esztergom-Castle Hill-Quarry). According to archaeological investigations, the complete animal bone assemblage deposited in several successive layers on the Castle Hill of Esztergom represents the kitchen refuse of the bishopric residence. Despite the religious context of the settlement, rosary beads or other artefacts usually produced in greater numbers are missing in our material. Common objects such as pins, handles and toys as well as the fine worked decorative items were poorly represented. Contrary, the details for crossbow and the antler debris dominated the assemblage linked to manufacturing. All these would suggest the presence of a workshop in the archbishop’s palace specialised for the quick production and reparation of details for crossbow. Although the small quantity of both the finished objects and production waste point to a small – maybe only seasonally operating – workshop, the involvement of a skilled bone-worker and possibly a lathe is suggested.

SIGNS AND GEOMETRIC IMAGES ON WORKED BONE ITEMS FROM THE THIRD DWELLING OBJECT AT KOSTENKI 11, LAYER 1A: CONTEXT, TECHNIQUE, STYLISTICS

В работе представлены результаты анализа контекста, технологии изготовления и особенностей различных знаков и символов на предметах искусства из раскопок 2014-2018 гг. верхнепалеолитической стоянки Костенки 11, 1а культурный слой. Два предмета с декоративными рисунками выполнены из бивня мамонта - это изделия с двусторонне скошенным концом (мотыги). Два других декорированных предмета представляют собой фрагменты ребер мамонта. Во всех случаях наблюдаются полосы, состоящие из гравированных линий. Используемые технологические приемы для основных деталей рисунков на изделиях едины. Но форма, сочетание с другими элементами рисунка и отдельными знаками различаются. Мы полагаем, что разнообразие технологических приемов, возникающее при декорировании изделий, непосредственно связано с их семантикой. И это сильно отличает такие предметы от других изделий данной коллекции обработанной кости. The paper presents the results of analysis of the context, technological methods of manufacturing and features of the ornamentation on pieces of art from excavations at the Kostenki 11 Upper Palaeolithic site (occupation layer 1a) during 2014-2018. Two items were made from mammoth tusk, these are ornamented hoes with two-sided beveled ends. The other two items are fragments of ornamented mammoth ribs. All items exhibit ornamentation bands made of engraved lines. The same production techniques were used to make main elements of the ornament and the pattern on all objects of art. However, forms, combination of bands with other decorative elements and semantic signs are different. We believe that diversity of technological methods applied to manufacture ornamented items, is directly linked to their semantic nature. This factor makes these items look very different from other artifacts from this collection of worked bone.

An examination of the worked bone and antler assemblage at Uğurlu (Gökçeada, Turkey)

Worked bone and antler tools were regularly used by prehistoric societies in northwest and western Anatolia to create and maintain everyday items. Uğurlu, one of the most important pre­historic sites in the north east Aegean, shows extensive evidence of bone and antler tool manufac­ture. This article examines the Uğurlu osseous assemblage from its inception during the Early Neo­lithic (6800 cal BC) to the middle Chalcolithic (4300 cal BC). A typology is established which labels the 534 items uncovered thus far, supported by contextual information. A comparison with other bone tool assemblages in the region is also presented, highlighting group similarities and type differences. The results show that few bone tools were found in the Early Neolithic Phase VI (6800– 6600 cal BC), while pointed tools dominate Phase V (6600–5900 cal BC). The established Neolithic Phase IV (5900–5600 cal BC) witnesses a dramatic growth in the number of bone tools produced, which is steadily adapted with the advent of the Chalcolithic Phase III (5500–4900 cal BC). During this transition between the Neolithic and Chalcolithic, certain tool types decline in number and manufacturing style changes. In the middle Chalcolithic Phase II (4500–4300 cal BC), bone objects seem to be crudely made, possibly reflecting the emergence of local traditions.