Animal use, husbandry, and herd management in the Mongol Empire

蒙古帝国的动物使用、畜牧业和畜群管理

• 批准号: 512802678
• 负责人: Professor Dr. Joris Peters
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Lehrstuhl für Paläoanatomie, Domestikationsforschung und Geschichte der Tiermedizin
• 依托单位国家: 德国
• 项目类别: Research Units
• 资助国家: 德国
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gepris.dfg.de/gepris/projekt/512802678?language=en
• 关键词: Animal; use; husbandry; herd; management

The main goal of the subproject (SP) 7 is to better understand the role of animals in medieval Mongolian subsistence. Main source of information along with historic travelogues, are the extensive archaeological excavations in Karakorum conducted by the University of Bonn. Although a first analysis of the faunal material revealed a diverse fauna with sheep and cattle being the main source of meat and fat, many questions are still lingering. Along with Karakorum, the faunal material from two additional sites (Khar Khul Khaany Balgas and Bayan Gol), will be analysed in the framework of the project. By comparing the faunal data between different sites with potentially different past environs we intend to elucidate herd management of nomadic pastoralists during the Mongol Empire, the adaptation strategies, the provenance of livestock species and their genetic makeup. The contribution of animal husbandry in the development of urban settlements in the Mongolian plateau will be evaluated in the most comprehensive approach to-date in this region. The archaeofauna from Karakorum will serve as the basis for addressing medieval animal exploitation and husbandry in central Mongolia. Thanks to a revised chronological scheme, we can address the diachronic faunal development in much higher resolution. Additionally, novel approaches will be applied to improve our understanding of caprine management regarding foddering reflected by tooth abrasion, lamb mortality and the effects of penning of sheep in enclosures. Results of the Karakorum fauna will be contrasted with the archaeofaunas from Bayan Gol and Khar Khul Khaany Balgas. We expect novel insights into historic animal exploitation and husbandry practices in distinct environments during the Mongol period. Especially Karakorum was a ‘melting pot’ attracting distinct ethnic groups, therefore imports of desired animal taxa or products thereof can help identify these groups and show at the same time the extent of trade networks. It is likely that supply of urban meat markets with sheep involved local and distant herds. We will test whether phenotypically distinct sheep populations shaped meat provisioning at Karakorum and the other sites using Geometric Morphometrics (GMM). Stable isotope analysis (C, O, Sr) and most of the ancient DNA work will be conducted in Phase II. One key issue is the distinction of taurine cattle, yak, and their hybrid named khainag (хайнаг). Khainag is particularly well adapted to cold, mountainous environments and it is an open question when and why people bred and/or introduced this hybrid. Our project will therefore look more closely into the osteology of this hybrid and its parents using modern references. Ancient DNA analysis of selected specimens will assist us to confirm hybrid status and detail the khainag's genetic make-up. Finally, since the Mongol Empire coincides with the Black Death in Europe, we intend to screen possible reservoir taxa for Yersinia and other pathogens.

子项目 (SP) 7 的主要目标是更好地了解动物在中世纪蒙古人生存中的作用。信息的主要来源以及历史游记是波恩大学在喀喇昆仑进行的广泛考古发掘。动物材料的研究揭示了动物群的多样性，其中羊和牛是肉类和脂肪的主要来源，但许多问题仍然与喀喇昆仑山（来自另外两个地点（Khar Khul）的动物材料一起存在）。 Khaany Balgas 和 Bayan Gol）将在该项目的框架内进行分析，通过比较不同地点与可能不同的过去环境之间的动物数据，我们打算阐明蒙古帝国期间游牧民族的畜群管理、适应策略和起源。畜牧业对蒙古高原城市住区发展的贡献将采用该地区迄今为止最全面的方法进行评估。喀喇昆仑古动物群将成为解决蒙古中部中世纪动物开发和畜牧业问题的基础，得益于修订后的年代学方案，我们可以以更高的分辨率解决历时动物群的发展问题。喀喇昆仑动物群的结果将与巴彦郭勒古动物群的结果进行对比，这些管理通过牙齿磨损、羔羊死亡率和圈养羊的影响来反映。我们期望对蒙古时期不同环境下的历史动物剥削和饲养实践有新的见解，尤其是喀喇昆仑山脉是一个吸引不同民族的“熔炉”，因此进口所需的动物类群或产品可以帮助识别。我们将测试表型不同的羊群是否影响了喀喇昆仑和其他地区的肉类供应。稳定同位素分析（C、O、Sr）和大部分古代 DNA 工作将在第二阶段进行，其中一个关键问题是区分牛磺酸牛、牦牛及其杂交种 khaiag（ Khainag 特别适合寒冷的山区环境，人们何时以及为何培育和/或引入这种杂交品种仍是一个悬而未决的问题，因此我们的项目将更加仔细地研究。使用现代参考文献对这种杂交种及其父母进行骨学分析将有助于我们确认杂交种的状态并详细了解卡伊纳格的基因组成。最后，由于蒙古帝国与欧洲的黑死病同时发生，我们打算筛选耶尔森氏菌和其他病原体的可能储存库分类群。