Reconstruction of Landscape Conditions of Livestock Breeding in Western Transbaikalia during the Xiongnu Era Based on the Isotopic Composition of Animal Bonesстатья
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Аннотация:The species composition and isotopic characteristics of bone and dental tissues from zooarchaeologicalcollections of Xiongnu sites (Early Iron Age) in Western Transbaikalia have been studied. The presenceof bones of small ruminants, cattle, and horses among sacred burial utensils indicates a high proportion of thenomadic way of life in the life of the Xiongnu. At the same time, the remains of domestic pigs, wild animals, andfish are evidence of elements of a sedentary lifestyle, hunting, and fishing. It is revealed that the difference in theisotopic composition of carbon and nitrogen of the bones and teeth of the remains of small ruminants and cattlefrom the composition of the remains of horses suggests a differentiation in the conditions of their breeding. It isfound that cattle were grazed in dry steppe conditions, while horse pastures covered steppe and foreststeppe/forest landscapes. The heavier carbon isotope composition of the remains of pigs and dogs indicates thepresence of C4-type plants (probably millet) in their diet. Based on a comparison of the values of the isotopicratios of carbon and nitrogen in the bones and teeth of fossil ungulates and modern ecosystems, it is concludedthat, during the Xiongnu era, dry steppes dominated in the intermountain depressions of the southern part ofWestern Transbaikalia, and open landscapes were somewhat more widespread than at present. The Xiongnusites in Western Transbaikalia (4th century BC to the 1st century AD) date to the decline of the Xiongnunomadic empire and are associated with the time of the climatic shift in Northern Mongolia and Transbaikaliatowards aridity, which occurred at the beginning of the Subatlantic period 2500–1900 years ago.