Animal movement on the hoof and on the cart and its implications for understanding exchange within the Indus Civilisation.

Autor: Petrie CA; Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK. cap59@cam.ac.uk., Lightfoot E; Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK., Jones PJ; Menzies Institute for Medical Research, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Australia., Walker JR; Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK., Valentine BT; Department of Anthropology, University of Florida, Gainesville, USA., Krigbaum J; Department of Anthropology, University of Florida, Gainesville, USA., le Roux P; Department of Geological Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa., Joglekar PP; Department of Archaeology, Deccan College, Pune, India., Shinde V; Department of Archaeology, Deccan College, Pune, India., Singh RN; Department of AIHC and Archaeology, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India., O'Connell TC; Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Scientific reports [Sci Rep] 2024 Jan 02; Vol. 14 (1), pp. 158. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Jan 02.
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-50249-3
Abstrakt: Movement of resources was essential to the survival and success of early complex societies. The sources and destinations of goods and the means of transportation - be it by boats, carts and/or foot - can often be inferred, but the logistics of these movements are inherently more difficult to ascertain. Here, we use strontium isotopic analysis to test hypotheses about the role of animal and animal-powered transport in medium and long-distance movement and exchange, using the Indus Civilization as a case study. Across the wide geographical spread of the Indus Civilisation, there is strong evidence for long-distance exchange of raw materials and finished objects and this process is presumed to involve boats and animal-driven transport, although there is little evidence as to the relative importance of each mode of movement. Strontium isotopic analysis of animal remains from four sites analysed for this study combined with results from nine other sites indicates limited long-distance animal movement between different geological zones within the Indus Civilisation. These findings suggest that individual animals primarily moved short- or medium-distances, though there are several significant exceptions seen in some pigs and cattle found at two large urban sites. We infer that long-distance transport of goods, be it raw materials, finished objects, other goods, or the animals themselves, could have occurred through the use of boats and waterways, by traction animals moving over long distances that did not end up in the archaeological record, and/or by different animals participating in many short to medium-distance movements.
(© 2024. The Author(s).)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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