The Development of Nomadism in Northern Syria in the 3rd Millennium B.C.

Programme

On the background of urban settlement in the Syrian-Mesopotamian region between the 4th and the 1st millennium BC, this projects wants to study, by means of scientific methods, in how far domestic animals (sheep, goat, pig) have remained in the vicinity of settlements or whether pastoral nomadism was practiced. The examination will be based on the bio-chemical analyis of tooth and bone material from domestic animals, originating from excavations in Syria and Iraq. The share of isotopes of carbon, nitrogen and strontium give information about nutrition and the soils on which the animals had been moving. For comparison, the analysis will include tooth and bone material from recent animals the living conditions of which are known.

The project will generate important results to the question of animal husbandry. Also, it will provide a method applicable to all problems of small cattle nomadism under prehistoric conditions. Thus, insights will be possible which are beyond the presently given array of methods. Focus will not be put on the nomadic human so much as on the animal by which he makes his living in a symbiotic way and which constitutes his centre of reference.

Publications

Prof. em. Dr. Winfried Orthmann

withE. Rova: Gräber des 3. Jahrtausends im syrischen Euphrattal II: Das Gräberfeld von Wreide. Saarbrücken 1991.

Halawa 1980–1986 .Bonn 1989.

with H. Klein, F.Lüth: Tell Chuera in Nordost-Syrien 1982–1983. Berlin 1986.

with I. Kampschulte: Gräber des 3. Jahrtausends im syrischen Euphrattal I: Ausgrabungen bei Tawi 1975 und 1978. Bonn 1984.

with others: Halawa 1977–1979. Bonn 1981.

Der Alte Orient. Berlin 1975 (Propyläen-Kunstgeschichte 14).

Untersuchungen zur späthethitischen Kunst. Bonn 1971.

Die Keramik der Frühen Bronzezeit aus Inneranatolien. Berlin 1963.

Prof. Dr. Felix Blocher

with E. Vila: Archaeometrical Methods for Tracking Ancient Bedouins. A Pilot Project in Northern Mesopotamia from IVth to Ist Millennia B.C. In: Mitteilungen des SFB "Differenz und Integration" 4/1 (2003), 1–20.

Biochemistry for Tracing the Ancient "Nomads". An Isotopic Research on the Origins of Vertical Transhumance in the Zagros Region. In: Nomadic People. Im Druck.

with K. Abdi: Archaeozoology and the Question of Nomadic Camp-sites. The Case of Tuwah Khoshkeh (Kermanshah, Iran). In: H. Buitenhuis/A.M. Choyke/M.Mashkour/A. H. Al Shyab (ed.): Archaeozoology of the Near East V. Groningen 2002 (ARC Publications 62), 211–227.

with M. Fontugne/C. Hatté: Investigations on the Evolution of Subsistence Economy in the Qazvin Plain (Iran) from the Neolithic to the Iron Age. In: Antiquity 73 (1999), 65–76.

Chasse et élevage au Nord du Plateau central iranien entre le Néolithique et l'âge du Fer. In: Paléorient 28 (2002), 27–42.

Chasse et élevage du Néolithique à l'Âge du Fer dans la plaine de Qazvin (Iran). Etude archéozoologique des sites de Zagheh, Qabrestan et Sagzabad. Diss. Université de Paris I–Sorbonne 2001.

with H. Buitenhuis/A. Choyke/Poplin F. (ed.): Archaeozoology of the Near East IV. 2 Bde. Groningen 2000 (ARC Publication 32).

with J.-D. Vigne (Koord.): Les débuts de l'élevage au Proche-Orient. In: Paléorient 25 (1999).

Dr. Marjan Mashkour

Biochemistry for Tracing the Ancient "Nomads". An Isotopic Research on the Origins of Vertical Transhumance in the Zagros Region. In: Nomadic People. Im Druck.

with M. Fontugne/C. Hatté: Investigations on the Evolution of Subsistence Economy in the Qazvin Plain (Iran) from the Neolithic to the Iron Age. In: Antiquity 73 (1999), 65–76.

Chasse et élevage au Nord du Plateau central iranien entre le Néolithique et l'âge du Fer. In: Paléorient 28 (2002), 27–42.

Chasse et élevage du Néolithique à l'Âge du Fer dans la plaine de Qazvin (Iran). Etude archéozoologique des sites de Zagheh, Qabrestan et Sagzabad. Diss. Université de Paris I–Sorbonne 2001.

with H. Buitenhuis/A. Choyke/Poplin F. (ed.): Archaeozoology of the Near East IV. 2 Bde. Groningen 2000 (ARC Publication 32).

with J.-D. Vigne (coord.): Les débuts de l'élevage au Proche-Orient. In: Paléorient 25 (1999).

Dr. Emmanuelle Vila

with M. Mashkour: Archaeometrical Methods for Tracking Ancient Bedouins. A Pilot Project in Northern Mesopotamia from IVth to Ist Millennia B.C. In: Mitteilungen des SFB "Differenz und Integration" 4/1 (2003), 1–20.

L'évolution de la taille du mouton dans le nord de la Mésopotamie. Les faits et leurs causes. In: L. Bodson (ed.): D'os, d'image et de mots. Contribution à la réflexion sur les sources de l'histoire des connaissances zoologiques. Colloques d'histoire des connaissances zoologiques 13. Journée d'étude 17 mars 2001. Université de Liège 2002, 47–79.

Les vestiges de chevilles osseuses de gazelles du secteur F de Tell Chuera (Syrie, Bronze ancien). In: H. Buitenhuis (ed.): Archaeozoology of the Near East 5. Groningen 2002, 241–250.

Interpreting the Faunal Remains of El Kowm 2 – Caracol (IVth Millenium BC, Syria). In: H. Buitenhuis/L. Bartosiewicz/A. M. Choyke (ed.): Archaeozoology of the Near East 3. Groningen 1998, 120–129.

L'exploitation des animaux en Mésopotamie au IVème et IIIème millénaires avant J.-C. Paris 1998 (Monographies du C. R. A. 21).

Bemerkungen zu den Funden von Hornzapfen von Auerochsen im Bereich von Steinbau I. In: Winfried Orthmann: Ausgrabungen in Tell Chuera in Nordost-Syrien 1. Vorbericht über die Grabungskampagnen 1986 bis 1992. Saarbrücken 1995 (Vorderasiatische Forschungen der Max-Freiherr-von-Oppenheim-Stiftung 2), 259–264.