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    PublicationOpen Access
    Archaeogenetic analysis of Neolithic sheep from Anatolia suggests a complex demographic history since domestication
    (Nature Portfolio, 2021) Yurtman, Erinç; Özer, Onur; Yüncü, Eren; Dağtaş, Nihan Dilşad; Koptekin, Dilek; Çakan, Yasin Gökhan; Özkan, Mustafa; Akbaba, Ali; Kaptan, Damla; Atağ, Gözde; Vural, Kıvılcım Başak; Gündem, Can Yümni; Martin, Louise; Kılınç, Gülşah Merve; Ghalichi, Ayshin; Açan, Sinan Can; Yaka, Reyhan; Sağlıcan, Ekin; Lagerholm, Vendela Kempe; Krzewinska, Maja; Gunther, Torsten; Miranda, Pedro Morell; Pişkin, Evangelia; Sevketoğlu, Müge; Bilgin, C. Can; Atakuman, Ciğdem; Erdal, Yılmaz Selim; Sürer, Elif; Altınışık, N. Ezgi; Lenstra, Johannes A.; Yorulmaz, Sevgi; Abazari, Mohammad Foad; Hoseinzadeh, Javad; Baird, Douglas; Bıcakcı, Erhan; Çevik, Özlem; Gerritsen, Fokke; Gotherstrom, Anders; Somel, Mehmet; Togan, İnci; Özer, Füsun; Department of Archeology and History of Art; Özbal, Rana; Faculty Member; Department of Archeology and History of Art; College of Social Sciences and Humanities; 55583
    Sheep were among the first domesticated animals, but their demographic history is little understood. Here we analyzed nuclear polymorphism and mitochondrial data (mtDNA) from ancient central and west Anatolian sheep dating from Epipaleolithic to late Neolithic, comparatively with modern-day breeds and central Asian Neolithic/Bronze Age sheep (OBI). Analyzing ancient nuclear data, we found that Anatolian Neolithic sheep (ANS) are genetically closest to present-day European breeds relative to Asian breeds, a conclusion supported by mtDNA haplogroup frequencies. In contrast, OBI showed higher genetic affinity to present-day Asian breeds. These results suggest that the east-west genetic structure observed in present-day breeds had already emerged by 6000 BCE, hinting at multiple sheep domestication episodes or early wild introgression in southwest Asia. Furthermore, we found that ANS are genetically distinct from all modern breeds. Our results suggest that European and Anatolian domestic sheep gene pools have been strongly remolded since the Neolithic.
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    Publication
    From bowls to pots: the dairying revolution in northwest Turkey, a view from Barcın Höyük, 6600 to 6000 BCE
    (Public Library Science, 2024) Ozbal, Hadi; Thissen, Laurens; Gerritsen, Fokke; van den Bos, Elisha; Galik, Alfred; Doğan, Turhan; Cergel, Muhiddin; Şimşek, Adnan; Turkekul, Ayla; Department of Archeology and History of Art; Breu, Adria; Özbal, Rana; Department of Archeology and History of Art;  ; College of Social Sciences and Humanities;  
    Research has identified Northwest Turkey as a key region for the development of dairying in the seventh millennium BCE, yet little is known about how this practice began or evolved there. This research studies Barc and imath;n H and ouml;y and uuml;k, a site located in Bursa's Yeni and scedil;ehir Valley, which ranges chronologically from 6600 BCE, when the first evidence of settled life appears in the Marmara Region, to 6000 BCE, when Neolithic habitation at the site ceases. Using pottery sherds diagnostic by vessel category and type, this paper aims at identifying which ones may have been primarily used to store, process, or consume dairy products. Organic residue analysis of selected samples helped address the process of adoption and intensification of milk processing in this region over time. The lipid residue data discussed in this paper derive from 143 isotopic results subsampled from 173 organic residues obtained from 805 Neolithic potsherds and suggest that bowls and four-lugged pots may have been preferred containers for processing milk. The discovery of abundant milk residues even among the earliest ceramics indicates that the pioneer farmers arrived in the region already with the knowhow of dairying and milk processing. In fact, these skills and the reliance on secondary products may have given them one of the necessary tools to successfully venture into the unfarmed lands of Northwest Anatolia in the first place.
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    PublicationOpen Access
    Pigs in sight: Late Bronze Age pig husbandries in the Aegean and Anatolia
    (Taylor _ Francis, 2020) Slim, Francesca G.; Çakırlar, Canan; Department of Archeology and History of Art; Roosevelt, Christopher Havemeyer; Faculty Member; Department of Archeology and History of Art; Koç University Research Center for Anatolian Civilizations (ANAMED) / Anadolu Medeniyetleri Araştırma Merkezi (ANAMED); College of Social Sciences and Humanities; 235115
    This paper explores pig husbandry across the Aegean and Anatolia based on zooarchaeological data and ancient texts. The western Anatolian citadel of Kaymakci is the departure point for discussion, as it sits in the Mycenaean-Hittite interaction zone and provides a uniquely large assemblage of pig bones. NISP, mortality, and biometric data from 38 additional sites across Greece and Anatolia allows observation of intra- and interregional variation in the role of pigs in subsistence economies, pig management, and pig size characteristics. Results show that, first, pig abundance at Kaymakci matches Mycenaean and northern Aegean sites more closely than central, southern, and southeastern Anatolian sites; second, pig mortality data and biometry suggest multiple husbandry strategies and pig populations at Kaymakci, but other explanations cannot yet be excluded; and, third, for the Aegean and Anatolia during the Late Bronze Age more generally, pig data suggests pluriformity, which challenges the use of "pig principles" in this region.
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    Pottery spilled the beans: patterns in the processing and consumption of dietary lipids in Central Germany from the Early Neolithic to the Bronze Age
    (Public Library of Science, 2024) Risch, Roberto; Molina, Elena; Friederich, Susanne; Meller, Harald; Knoll, Franziska; Department of Archeology and History of Art; Breu, Adria; Department of Archeology and History of Art; College of Social Sciences and Humanities
    The need to better understand economic change and the social uses of long-ago established pottery types to prepare and consume food has led to the study of 124 distinct ceramic vessels from 17 settlement and funerary sites in Central Germany (present day Saxony-Anhalt). These, dated from the Early Neolithic (from 5450 cal. BCE onwards) to the Late Bronze Age (1300-750 cal. BCE;youngest sample ca. 1000 BCE), include vessels from the Linear Pottery (LBK), Schiepzig/Sch & ouml;ningen groups (SCHIP), Baalberge (BAC), Corded Ware (CWC), Bell Beaker (BBC), and & Uacute;n & ecaron;tice (UC) archaeological cultures. Organic residue analyses performed on this assemblage determined the presence of vessel contents surviving as lipid residues in 109 cases. These were studied in relation to the changing use of settlement and funerary pottery types and, in the case of burials, to the funerary contexts in which the vessels had been placed. The obtained results confirmed a marked increase in the consumption of dairy products linked to innovations in pottery types (e.g., small cups) during the Funnel Beaker related Baalberge Culture of the 4th millennium BCE. Although the intensive use of dairy products may have continued into the 3rd millennium BCE, especially amongst Bell Beaker populations, Corded Ware vessels found in funerary contexts suggest an increase in the importance of non-ruminant products, which may be linked to the production of specific vessel shapes and decoration. In the Early Bronze Age circum-Harz & Uacute;n & ecaron;tice group (ca. 2200-1550 BCE), which saw the emergence of a highly hierarchical society, a greater variety of animal and plant derived products was detected in a much more standardised but, surprisingly, more multifunctional pottery assemblage. This long-term study of lipid residues from a concise region in Central Europe thus reveals the complex relationships that prehistoric populations established between food resources and the main means to prepare, store, and consume them.
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    PublicationOpen Access
    Wild Goat style ceramics at Troy and the impact of Archaic period colonisation on the Troad
    (Cambridge University Press (CUP), 2013) Pernicka, Ernst; Department of Archeology and History of Art; Aslan, Carolyn Chabot; Faculty Member; Department of Archeology and History of Art; College of Social Sciences and Humanities; 57663
    The establishment of colonies along the Hellespont by inhabitants of Ionia, Athens and Lesbos is well-known from historical texts. Recently, stratified contexts at Troy as well as other surveys and excavations have yielded new information about the chronology and material markers of Archaic period settlements in the Troad and the Gallipoli peninsula. The archaeological evidence for colonisation in this region is not clearly seen until the late seventh to early sixth century BC when there is a dramatic change in the material culture. Destruction evidence from Troy indicates that the new settlers probably entered a weakened and depopulated region in the second half of the seventh century BC. The Ionian colonists transplanted their pottery traditions and started production of East Greek style ceramics in the Troad. Neutron Activation Analysis of Wild Goat style ceramics found at Troy offers further confirmation for the existence of Hellespontine Wild Goat style ceramic production centres. The Wild Goat style examples from Troy help to define the characteristics of the Hellespontine group, as well as the chronology and impact of colonisation in this area.