My honors thesis research is investigating the development of herd management strategies during the fourth millennium BCE at the site of Tepe Farukhabad, located in modern-day southwest Iran in what was formerly the fringes of Mesopotamia. Coinciding with the spread of urbanism and Uruk material culture, excavations at Tepe Farukhabad in the 1960s discovered a decline in hunted faunal remains compared to domesticates in the Uruk period, indicating the development of alternate subsistence strategies to support a growing population (Wright 1981). One such method observed in Mesopotamia during this period was the standardization of herd management strategies in order to maximize the productivity of herds. These standardizations included foddering, altered landscape use, and manipulation of natural reproductive cycles in order to make milk available throughout the year. Presently, little is known about how these standardizations were practiced at Tepe Farukhabad, if at all. To investigate to what extent herding standardizations were implemented at Tepe Farukhabad, my thesis will use sequential carbon and oxygen stable isotope values of sheep and goat molars to reconstruct the diet and landscape use of herded ruminants. Variation in sequential isotopic values between the Early and Late Uruk periods will reveal the extent to which an increased reliance on domesticates for subsistence manifested in standardizations of herd management at Tepe Farukhabad.
Nineteen caprine mandibular molars were selected from the archaeological layers dating to the Early, Middle, and Late Uruk periods. Of the nineteen, fifteen were identified to be from the sheep and the remaining four were from goats. As enamel develops over the lifespan, the teeth were sampled sequentially in order to investigate changes in environment and diet over the period of a year. Sample preparation was conducted at the Ancient Protein and Isotope Laboratory at the University of Michigan. Prior to sampling, the surfaces of the teeth were cleaned with a hand drill for removal of surface contaminants. Tooth enamel carbonate samples were then prepared following the sequential sampling protocol outlined in Ventresca Miller et al.(2018). Using a Dremel drill equipped with a diamond-coated drill bit, a series of 1-2 mm wide horizontal bands were drilled incrementally along the buccal surface of the tooth from the root to the crown. The resulting powdered enamel was collected on weighing paper, transferred to a 1.5mL Eppendorf tube, and weighed, ideally falling between 5 and 8 mg. Samples were then rinsed with acetic acid and water before being transported to the mass spectrometer.
Though I am anticipating my results to arrive in the next few weeks, this process has so far been very interesting and rewarding. I have enjoyed seeing the research process through from beginning to end, and I look forward to interpreting my results and discussing the implications of my research.
