What's behind the tell phenomenon? An archaeozoological approach of Eneolithic sites in Romania

Stéphanie Bréhard (1, 2) , Adrian Bălăşescu (2)

1 AASPE - Archéozoologie, archéobotanique : sociétés, pratiques et environnements
2 MNIR

This article is concerned with the Eneolithic period in southeastern Europe, which corresponds to a phase of increasing social complexity. We demonstrate that the development of a new type of settlement, the tell site, which in southeastern Romania fully began with the Gumelniţa culture, was accompanied by changes in the meat component of the diet. The 39 available faunal spectra are processed by correspondence analyses; this shows that the homogeneity that characterized the previous cultures (Hamangia and Boian) was followed by a greater diversity in animal exploitation systems in the Gumelniţa culture. The main change is the important role that large game played for some Gumelniţa communities (the favored species varied). However, variability existed within the domestic species as well. This may result from the interaction between several possible factors (e.g. new husbandry techniques, complex socio-economic relations between the sites, a great social value given to wild mammals). This diversity contrasts with the homogeneity of the pastoral practices developed for sheep (and, to a lesser extent, for cattle) at the Gumelniţa tell sites (reliable kill-off patterns were established for five sites). We also show that sheep exploitation was specialized. Given that this kind of specialized exploitation became the norm from the Gumelniţa period, we propose that the appearance of homogeneous and specialized practices for sheep is linked to the development of tell sites. More generally, certain standardization in pastoral practices during the Gumelniţa period is possible. For three tell sites, it is likely that the youngest sheep and goats died mainly elsewhere; we suggest that these settlements were parts of larger pastoral systems, on a local or regional scale, and that places or sites with complementary functions existed.

Domaines: Archéologie et Préhistoire

Stéphanie Bréhard, Adrian Bălăşescu. What's behind the tell phenomenon? An archaeozoological approach of Eneolithic sites in Romania. Journal of Archaeological Science, 2012, 39 (10), pp.3167-3183. ⟨10.1016/j.jas.2012.04.054⟩. ⟨hal-02361401⟩