Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia 44 (3) 2016   DOI: 10.17746/1563-0110.2016.44.3.037-046

Annotation:  The Middle Paleolithic of the Levant Faunal Remains from the Early Complexes of the Sagan-Zaba II Multilayered Habitation Site (9120–7880 Wooden Saddle-Trees from Yaloman II in the Altai: An Interdisciplinary Analysis A Scythian Age Sword from the Forest-Steppe Altai Above-Ground Frame Buildings in Western Siberia: Archaeological and Ethnographic Parallels New Evidence on the Early Saka Horse Harness from Eastern Kazakhstan “Caster’s Cache” from Tartas-1, Late Krotovo (Cherno-Ozerye) Culture, Baraba Forest-Steppe Modeling the Deformation of Bone Points: Archaeological and Experimental Data Woven, Knitted, and Wattled 17th–18th Century Textiles from Tara Fortress, Western Siberia Ceramics from Novoilyinka III, a Chalcolithic Site in Kulunda, Western Siberia Shatra and Jurt: The “Return Address” in the Altaian Ritual The Distribution of Bashkir Tribes Before and During their Integration into the Russian State Mythological Characters of the Domestic Space in Russian Folk Beliefs: Lexicographic and Ethnographi Dental Anthropology of the Mesolithic and Neolithic Populations of the Eastern European Forest-Stepp An Upper Paleolithic Human Mandible and a First Cervical Vertebra from Afontova Gora II   

Faunal Remains from the Early Complexes
of the Sagan-Zaba II Multilayered Habitation Site
(9120–7880 cal BP) in the Cis-Baikal:
Planigraphy, Subsistence Patterns, and Seasonality

T.Y. Nomokonova¹, O.I. Goriunova², R.J. Losey³, A.G. Novikov², and A.W. Weber^{3, 4}

¹University of British Columbia, 1147 Research Road, V1V 1V7, Kelowna, Okanagan, BC, Canada

²Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Pr. Akademika Lavrentieva 17, Novosibirsk, 630090, Russia Irkutsk State University, K. Marksa 1, Irkutsk, 664003, Russia

³University of Alberta, 13-15 HM Tory Building, T6G 2H4, Edmonton, AB, Canada

⁴Aix-Marseille University, 5 rue du Chateau de l’Horloge – B.P. 647, 13094 Aix-en-Provence Cedex 2, France

This article is the fi rst publication to analyze faunal remains from early complexes (layers VII and VI) at the multilayered settlement of Sagan-Zaba II, situated on the western shore of Lake Baikal. We discuss species composition of fauna from the site, as well as associated radiocarbon dates, age and sex determinations, spatial distribution, and their overall selection as it relates to site seasonality. We address the previously described potential offset between uncalibrated dates from remains of ungulates and Baikal seals at the site, relating to the problem of “old” carbon in Lake Baikal. For layer VII, this offset is 682 years on average, and for layer VI it is 509 years. Taking the offset from Baikal seal bones into account, layers VII and VI now appear to date to the period between 9120 and 7880 cal BP. An analysis of faunal materials from the early complexes of Sagan-Zaba II indicates that inhabitants of this site hunted Baikal seals, ungulates, and other mammals, as well as birds and fi sh, demonstrating a wide use of natural resources. Most likely, sites feature d short-term, seasonal occupations, as indicated by the distribution of hearths and other materials, the thickness of hearth-features, and the absence of specialized production areas. The results of an analysis of dentine layers from thin-sections of Baikal seal teeth, and also the presence of bones from fauna that are only available du ring the warm months of the year in the Cis-Baikal region, are consistent with a model of spring and summer site use.

Keywords: Zooarchaeology, Cis-Baikal, Holocene, subsistence, radiocarbon dating.

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