Montane Ecoclines in Ancient Central Asia: A Preliminary Study of Agropastoral Economies in Juuku, Kyrgyzstan

Claudia Chang (), Sergei S. Ivanov, Robert N. Spengler, Basira Mir-Makhamad and Perry A. Tourtellotte
Additional contact information
Claudia Chang: Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, New York University, New York, NY 10028, USA
Sergei S. Ivanov: International Relations and Oriental Studies Department, Kyrgyz National University, 547 Frunze Street, Bishkek 720033, Kyrgyzstan
Robert N. Spengler: Domestication and Anthropogenic Evolution Research Group, Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, Department of Archaeology, 07745 Jena, Germany
Basira Mir-Makhamad: Domestication and Anthropogenic Evolution Research Group, Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, Department of Archaeology, 07745 Jena, Germany
Perry A. Tourtellotte: Independent Researcher, Syracuse, NY 13210, USA

Land, 2023, vol. 12, issue 7, 1-30

Abstract: In this paper, we use preliminary archaeological data spanning the Iron Age through Medieval periods (ca. 800 BCE to 1200 CE) in the Juuku Valley in Kyrgyzstan on the south side of Lake Issyk-Kul to model land use across vertical mountain zones. We have (1) established a radiometric chronology; (2) conducted test excavations of an Iron Age settlement at 2100 m asl and a Turkic period burial at 1934 m asl; (3) undertaken preliminary archaeobotanical research; and (4) performed pedestrian surveys. Archaeobotanical remains of wheat ( Triticum aestivum ), barley ( Hordeum vulgare ), broomcorn millet ( Panicum milaceum ), foxtail millet ( Setaria italica ), and legumes were recovered in very small quantities from both sites. We compare these preliminary archaeobotanical results with previously published data from Talgar Iron Age settlements on the north side of the Tian Shan Mountain range in Kazakhstan. A small assemblage of faunal remains found at the Turkic period kurgan and from a profile at the upland Iron Age settlement demonstrates the practice of herding sheep/goats, cattle, and horses in the Juuku Valley. The goal of this study was to test the hypothesis that pastoral transhumance and agropastoralism were interchangeable economic strategies used by peoples in the Iron Age through Medieval periods in mountain-river valleys between 600 m to 2100 m asl. These economic strategies combined the pasturing of sheep, goats, cattle, and horses with the cultivation of cereals in a system that was adapted to different vegetational zones along a vertical gradient. This paper is based on preliminary research using survey data and test excavations and initiates a long-term research study of four millennia of settlements that appear to have ranged from pastoral transhumance and combined mountain agriculture.

Keywords: agropastoralism; central Asia; archaeology; archaeobotany; Turkic burial mound; iron age settlement; ecotones; mountainous ecoclines (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/12/7/1406/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/12/7/1406/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jlands:v:12:y:2023:i:7:p:1406-:d:1193010

Access Statistics for this article

Land is currently edited by Ms. Carol Ma

More articles in Land from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().