mercoledì 20 marzo 2013

INIZIO DELLA COMPLESSITA' SOCIALE


The Emergence of Social Complexity
Changes in Animal Management Strategies between the Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age in the Near East

Posted on March 5, 2013 by jennfitz

by: Austin C. Hill, University of Connecticut, Educational and Cultural Affairs Fellow


The Chalcolithic to Early Bronze Age transition in the southern Levant has long been considered a threshold event in the development of social complexity in the Near East. 

Societies are argued to have shifted from small scale, village-based chiefdoms to true “urban” or city-state level societies. 
Nevertheless, much recent criticism has focused on the accuracy of this long held characterization and the degree of social change that occurred between these periods. Studies of animal economies, however, can offer direct insight into political and social systems, but have rarely been used to look at social change in this key period. 
The types of species raised, how and when animals are slaughtered, and the parts of animals that are consumed are all directly affected by the degree of hierarchically organized production and distribution. 

Rigorous faunal studies, therefore, are a vital line of evidence in studying the emergence of social complexity. 
My research at the Albright focused on extending our understanding of faunal economies in these critical periods by analyzing new material, and synthesizing published material.
As an Educational and Cultural Affairs Fellow, I analyzed the faunal remains from the site of the Palmahim Quarry, excavated by Eliot Braun in the late 1980s and early 1990s as a salvage project. While there is material from the Chalcolithic and Early EBI, most of the recovered material dates to the later EBI. Relatively few faunal assemblages from this period have been analyzed to date. Preliminary examination of the final database suggests that inhabitants of Palmahim Quarry were producing and consuming a range of animals consistent with other Early Bronze Age sites
The majority of the faunal remains are from domestic species, including sheep, goat, cattle, and pig. Only a small percentage of the animal bones in the assemblage come from wild species, though there is a surprising range of wild ungulate species, including gazelle, hartebeest, red deer, and fallow deer. Like most Early Bronze Age sites, equids are present in small numbers, testifying to the growing importance of animal labor for transportation. 
The relatively large percentage of pig bones at the site, and the lack of evidence of secondary products specialization suggests that inhabitants of Palmahim Quarry were not producing large quantities of surplus food, or participating in large-scale production and exchange of animal products such as wool. Instead, the animal economy at Palmahim Quarry was likely part of a relatively small-scale local subsistence system.
These new data will form part of a larger work synthesizing new and previously published plant and animal data from the Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Ages. Although there are interesting problems addressing social continuity between the Chalcolithic period and the Early Bronze Age, there appear to be relatively small changes in the scale of food production. Unlike at Palmahim Quarry, there is an overall trend towards specialization and centralization of food production, as pig use declines and secondary products specialization becomes increasingly important. Plowing, which begins at least as early as the Chalcolithic period, becomes increasingly important and prevalent by the Early Bronze Age. The research begun here will also form part of a collaboration looking at plant and animal production and consumption together in an attempt to view food production in the past holistically.
I greatly enjoyed my time at the Albright as an ECA fellow. I was able to complete my analysis of the Palmahim Quarry material at the National Natural History Collections at the Givat Ram campus of Hebrew University as well as access published material in the Albright library. My research was greatly aided by feedback and discussion with all of this year’s fellows.
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