Pastoral economy of the Bronze Age population in Northern Kazakhstan (based on materials of the Shagalaly II settlement)

Shagirbayev M. Sakenov S.
2023 Margulan Institute of Archaeology

Kazakhstan Archeology
2023 #2023 Issue 2 212 - 242 pp.

In the article, for the first time, the results of archaeozoological analysis of osteological materials from the settlement of Shagalaly II are entered into scientific discourse. The purpose of the research is to determine and to analyze the species composition of animals in the farms of the Bronze Age population of Northern Kazakhstan. During the study of the osteological collection the main objectives were to determine the species composition of the paleofauna, skeletal elements, age characteristics and external characteristics. As a result, a total of 2351 animal bones were examined, of which 1883 bones were identified to the species. Domestic animals dominate among osteological materials (77.8%), bones of wild animals (2.2%) and birds are also found. The share of sheep and goats among the identified bones of domestic animals is 46.9%. The second place is taken by the bones of cattle (42.9%), and in the third place are horses’ bones (8.1%). Camel and dog bones are also present in small quantity. The structure of the bone material and fragmentation indices show that sheep were slaughtered more between 2 and 4 years of age, and cattle were used for meat from 2.5 years of age. Most of the horses are slaughtered in adulthood and old age. Domestic animals were slaughtered and butchered on the territory of the settlement. The results of the study serve as a source of information about animal husbandry among the Bronze Age population of the region.

archaeology , archaeozoology , Bronze Age , Northern Kazakhstan , Shagalaly II settlement

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Margulan Institute of Archaeology, Almaty, Kazakhstan

Margulan Institute of Archaeology

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