TY - JOUR
T1 - Analyzing the process of domestication
T2 - Hagoshrim as a case study
AU - Haber, Annat
AU - Dayan, Tamar
N1 - Funding Information:
We thank N. Getzov of the Israeli Antiquities Authority for a productive collaboration; S. Davis for allowing us to use his unpublished data and for invaluable help and advice; D. Wool for statistical advice; T. Shariv of the Tel-Aviv University Zoological Museum and R. Rabinovitch of the Department of Evolution, Systematics, and Ecology, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, for their help with the reference collections under their care; and I. Hershkovitz, L. Horwitz and G. Bar-Oz for fruitful discussions and helpful advice. This research was supported by the Israeli Antiquities Authority. The first author is a Rami Levin fellow.
PY - 2004/11
Y1 - 2004/11
N2 - Recent excavations at the Neolithic site of Hagoshrim, northern Israel, have yielded a large assemblage of skeletal fragments, representing mostly caprines, cattle and pigs. The three layers of the site's occupation span approximately 2000 years of a crucial period in the domestication of these taxa in the southern Levant, including Pre-Pottery Neolithic C (Layer 6, 7562 ± 85 BP and 7735 ± 55 BP) and the Pottery Neolithic cultures, Jericho IX (Layer 5, 6725 ± 120 BP) and Wadi Raba (Layer 4, 6505 ± 120 BP). Therefore, this site provides an outstanding opportunity to study the process of domestication in a comparative manner, both across taxa and through time. We used kill-off patterns, size reduction and changes in body proportions, and introduced statistical methods to discern the different stages of the domestication process for each taxon. Pig remains reflect simultaneous changes at the end of the 7th millennium BP: Kill-off patterns, size and proportions of cranial and post-cranial elements all change between Layer 5 and 4 with no significant changes between Layer 6 and 5. Gradual changes-both between Layer 6 and 5 and between Layer 5 and 4-were found only for cattle, while caprine remains exhibit no changes throughout the site's occupation. These results can be explained in light of the differences between the taxa in terms of their life history strategies, among other things, that can be viewed as pre-adaptations to domestication.
AB - Recent excavations at the Neolithic site of Hagoshrim, northern Israel, have yielded a large assemblage of skeletal fragments, representing mostly caprines, cattle and pigs. The three layers of the site's occupation span approximately 2000 years of a crucial period in the domestication of these taxa in the southern Levant, including Pre-Pottery Neolithic C (Layer 6, 7562 ± 85 BP and 7735 ± 55 BP) and the Pottery Neolithic cultures, Jericho IX (Layer 5, 6725 ± 120 BP) and Wadi Raba (Layer 4, 6505 ± 120 BP). Therefore, this site provides an outstanding opportunity to study the process of domestication in a comparative manner, both across taxa and through time. We used kill-off patterns, size reduction and changes in body proportions, and introduced statistical methods to discern the different stages of the domestication process for each taxon. Pig remains reflect simultaneous changes at the end of the 7th millennium BP: Kill-off patterns, size and proportions of cranial and post-cranial elements all change between Layer 5 and 4 with no significant changes between Layer 6 and 5. Gradual changes-both between Layer 6 and 5 and between Layer 5 and 4-were found only for cattle, while caprine remains exhibit no changes throughout the site's occupation. These results can be explained in light of the differences between the taxa in terms of their life history strategies, among other things, that can be viewed as pre-adaptations to domestication.
KW - Cattle
KW - Domestication
KW - Goats
KW - Israel
KW - Kill-off patterns
KW - Levant
KW - Morphometrics
KW - Neolith
KW - Pigs
KW - Sheep
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=4444361439&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jas.2004.04.001
DO - 10.1016/j.jas.2004.04.001
M3 - מאמר
AN - SCOPUS:4444361439
VL - 31
SP - 1587
EP - 1601
JO - Journal of Archaeological Science
JF - Journal of Archaeological Science
SN - 0305-4403
IS - 11
ER -