3000 yr-old patterns of mobile pastoralism revealed by multiple isotopes and radiocarbon dating of ancient horses from the Mongolian Altai
Pastoral nomadism is of great cultural and economic importance in several regions of the world today. However, documenting ancient patterns of mobility in societies where pastoralism was central is challenging and requires tailored approaches and methodologies. Here we use strontium, oxygen and carbon isotopic analyses of dental enamel, together with a local strontium isoscape, to reconstruct the mobility patterns of seven domestic horses deposited in a Late Bronze Age grave from western Mongolia. Radiocarbon indicates that the animals were deposited within a short period of time, 3000 years ago. The isotope time series obtained from tooth enamel shows that four of the seven horses exhibited a common pattern characterized by a high frequency of mobility, suggesting that in this area (1) cyclical pastoral mobility dates back at least to the Late Bronze Age and (2) the animals belonged to the same herding family, implying that only a small community was involved in the funerary rite of this structure. The data show that the other three horse individuals had a distinct mobility pattern and that one was not from the local area, pointing to flexibility in mobility patterns over time or circulation of animals between herding groups. These results illustrate the power of the isotopic approach to reconstruct animal biographies and effectively address the archaeology of pastoral nomadism and mobility.
Authors
- Antoine Zazzo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7608-2207)
- Tsagaan Turbat (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6606-8516)
- Philippe Télouk (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6627-2947)
- Noost Bayarkhuu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6144-3014)
- François Thil (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1421-5742)
- Nicolas Lazzerini (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3811-935X)
- Michel Lemoine
- Mathilde Cervel
- Vincent Balter (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9236-4834)
- Charlotte Marchina (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3776-9967)
- Maël Le Corre (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2374-2050)
- Denis Fiorillo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7196-5673)
- Dominique Joly (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8000-4308)
- Sébastien Lepetz (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9504-4871)
- Aurélie Coulon (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0309-2214)
- Bernard Vincent (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6635-8174)
Institutions
- Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 (FR)
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
- École Pratique des Hautes Études (FR)
- Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales (FR)
- Institut Universitaire de France (FR)
- Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (FR)
- Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique et aux Énergies Alternatives (FR)
- Sorbonne Université (FR)
- Centre d'Écologie Fonctionnelle et Évolutive (FR)
- Centre d'Écologie et des Sciences de la Conservation (FR)
- Institut de Recherche sur les ArchéoMATériaux (FR)
- Les Hôpitaux de Chartres (FR)
- Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (FR)
- Amt für Archäologie (CH)
- Archéologie et Philologie d’Orient et d’Occident (FR)
- Laboratoire de Géologie de Lyon : Terre, Planètes et Environnement (FR)
- Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (FR)
- Centre de Recherche en Archéologie, Archéosciences, Histoire (FR)
- National University of Mongolia (MN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- PLoS ONE
- Published
- 2025-05-07
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0322431
- Citations
- 2
- Primary Topic
- Archaeology and ancient environmental studies
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 8.66
Funders
- Agence Nationale de la Recherche
- Ministère des Affaires Etrangères
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique