High-Altitude Agro-Pastoralism in the Kyrgyz Tien Shan: New Excavations of the Chap Farmstead (1065–825 cal b.c.)

ABSTRACT

The highlands of Central Asia posed considerable challenges to early agriculturalists, yet the processes of human subsistence strategies there remain poorly understood. In this paper, we present results from the excavation of the Chap in Kyrgyzstan. The recovery of a rich macrobotanical assemblage consisting of several crop species and crop processing debris, together with skeletal remains of pastoral livestock, indicate a localized agro-pastoral complex at 2000 masl dating to 1065–825 cal b.c. Aerial photogrammetry, magnetometry, and topographic modeling reveal local irrigation systems, while stone artifacts are linked with cultivation and crop processing. Furthermore, the ceramic assemblage reveals a local production tradition and stylistic similarities with communities of neighboring regions. Overall, data from Chap contribute to a new understanding of human ecology and agricultural development in the mountains of Central Asia, suggesting that domesticated plants and animals were integral for the intensive occupation of high-elevation valleys in Central Asia.

KEYWORDS:

• Bronze Age
• Kyrgyzstan
• high altitude
• farming
• irrigation
• Agro-pastoralism
• deforestation

Acknowledgments

This research is funded by the European Social Fund according to the activity “Improvement of researchers” qualification by implementing world-class R&D projects of Measure No. 09.3.3-LMT-K-712.

We would like to thank Aida Abdykanova form the American University of Central Asia in Bishkek for her help during the Chap survey in 2016. We would like to acknowledge ¹⁴Chrono Centre at Queen’s University Belfast for providing radiocarbon dates at a collaborators’ rate.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes on Contributors

Giedre Motuzaite Matuzeviciute (Ph.D. 2010, University of Cambridge) is an associate professor at Vilnius University and the head of the Bioarchaeology research center. Her main area of expertise is in the reconstruction of human dietary behavior using stable isotope and archaeobotanical analysis methodologies. She is currently studying the spread of agriculture and pastoralism across Eurasia from the centers of domestication and human adaptation strategies in the high-altitude regions of Central Asia.

Lynne M. Rouse (Ph.D. 2015, Washington University in St. Louis) is currently a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Eurasia Department of the German Archaeological Institute in Berlin. Her research focuses on landscape archaeology in Central Asia and the effects of cross-cultural interaction on patterns of land use and resource management, as well as transformations in material culture and social complexity.

Taylor Hermes (Ph.D. 2019, Kiel University) is a Postdoctoral researcher on the ERC-funded “ASIAPAST” project at the Institute for Pre- and Protohistoric Archaeology at Kiel University. He investigates subsistence strategies, mobility patterns, and regional interactions of ancient Central Asian communities using isotope analysis and ancient DNA of faunal remains.

Elina Ananyevskaya (M.Sc. 2013, University of Exeter) is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Archaeology, Faculty of History, Vilnius University, and a zooarchaeology specialist at the Center of Bioarchaeology Research. Her interests include Central Asian archaeology, the development of human economies, stable isotope analysis, and zooarchaeology.

Mindaugas Grikpedis (M.S. 2013, Vilnius University) is a Ph.D. student at the Department of Archaeology, Vilnius University. He is specializing in archaeobotaninal analysis methods. His dissertation project is about the appearance and use of cultural plants in Lithuania, spanning the Neolithic to the Middle Ages.

Elise Luneau (Ph.D. 2010, University Paris Sorbonne) is currently a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Eurasia Department of the German Archaeological Institute in Berlin. She studies pottery technology, function, and ceramic petrography from Central Asia and the Near East.

Kubatbek Tabaldiev (Ph.D. 1994, Novosibirsk State University) is currently a Professor at Kyrgyz-Turkish Manas University. He studies ancient populations of central Tian Shan with a particular focus on the Bronze Age and Turkic periods.

Inga Merkyte (Ph.D. 2009, University of Aarhus) is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Copenhagen and Vilnius University. Her research interests include European and African Prehistory, geophysics and remote sensing, DNA studies, and heritage studies.

ORCID

Giedre Motuzaite Matuzeviciute http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9069-1551

Kubatbek Tabaldiev http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6679-8030

Taylor Hermes http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8377-468X

Elina Ananyevskaya http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1189-0339

Mindaugas Grikpedis http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0580-7685

Elise Luneau http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3738-0142

Lynne M. Rouse http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2354-0099