Paper abstract:

This paper explores shifting patterns of the development of mobile pastoralist practices in prehistoric Central Asia. The tradition of practicing mobile pastoralism in Central Asia’s steppe region stretches back to at least the Bronze Age period (ca. 3500 – 800 BC). The site of Koken, East Kazakhstan is located at the confluence of two distinct cultural and geographic interaction spheres of the Central Eurasian Steppe and the Inner Asian Mountain Corridor (IAMC). Despite its importance as a key zone for the development of economic and cultural connections, East Kazakhstan has not been extensively researched by zooarchaeologists. The multi-period site of Koken (ca. 7300-1100 BC) with its long history of occupation provides an opportunity to document this crucial area in detail.

I analyze a large zooarchaeological assemblage that was obtained during the 2018-2020 field seasons from initial settlement excavations at Koken. Based on the extensive morphological analysis of herd composition, I argue that Koken inhabitants had a sheep/goat (Ovis aries and Capra hircus) dominated economy throughout the Bronze Age period, supported by the gradual intensification of horse breeding (Equus caballus) and only minor use of domestic cows (Bos taurus) in the Late and Final Bronze Age. The presence and intensive utilization of non-locally domesticated south-west Asian taxa (sheep/goat and cow) in the Early Bronze Age domestic context of Koken demonstrate socioeconomic connections of prehistoric East Kazakhstan societies to the earliest Central Asian pastoral communities of Kopet Dag mountains (modern-day Iran and Turkmenistan, ca. 6500-3500 BC). In addition, the intensification of horse utilization at the site shows that Koken inhabitants were open to the adoption and continuous development of pastoral practices related to horse breeding emerging from the area of modern-day North Kazakhstan and presumably the area of the Black Sea, the center(s) of horse domestication.

This research of faunal data from Koken is one of the first comprehensive zooarchaeological analyses of the East Kazakhstan Bronze Age. The zooarchaeological morphological identification analysis of faunal data uncovered at the site of Koken contributes to ongoing research about the economy and social interaction in the Eurasian Bronze Age, as well as to the ongoing discussion on the routes and timing of adoption and dispersal of mobile pastoralism to the Eurasian interior.