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.

第7次副本（SP）7的主要目标是更好地了解动物在中世纪蒙古生存中的作用。主要的信息来源以及历史旅行社是波恩大学进行的karakorum广泛的归档发掘。尽管对动植物材料的首次分析表明，绵羊和牛是肉类和脂肪的主要来源，但许多问题仍在徘徊。与Karakorum一起，将在该项目的框架中分析来自两个其他站点（Khar Khul Khany Balgas和Bayan Gol）的动物材料。通过比较具有可能不同过去环境的不同地点之间的动物数据，我们打算在蒙古帝国期间阐明游牧民族的牧群管理，适应策略，牲畜物种的来源及其基因组成。将在该地区最全面的方法中评估畜牧业在蒙古高原的城市环境发展中的贡献。卡拉科鲁姆（Karakorum）的考古图将作为解决蒙古中部中世纪动物剥削和畜牧业的基础。感谢经过修订的按时间顺序排列的计划，我们可以以更高的分辨率解决历时性动物的发展。此外，还将采用新颖的方法来提高我们对牙齿擦伤，羔羊死亡率和绵羊笔在外壳中的影响所反映的囊crine管理的理解。 karakorum动物区系的结果将与Bayan Gol和Khar Khul Khul Khaany Balgas的古迹形成对比。我们希望在蒙古时期对不同环境中的历史动物剥削和饲养做法有新颖的见解。尤其是卡拉科姆（Karakorum）是一个吸引不同种族的“熔炉”，因此所需的动物分类单元或其产品的进口可以帮助识别这些群体并同时显示贸易网络的程度。绵羊的供应可能涉及当地和独特的牛群。我们将使用几何形态计量学（GMM）测试是否在karakorum和其他部位进行表型不同的绵羊种群形状的肉类供应。稳定的同位素分析（C，O，SR）和大多数古代DNA工作将在II阶段进行。一个关键问题是牛磺酸牛，牛和它们的混合动力车的区别，名为khainag（хх儿）。 Khainag特别适合寒冷的山区环境，这是一个何时以及为什么繁殖和/或引入这种混合动力车的空旷的问题。因此，我们的项目将使用现代参考资料更加仔细地研究这种混合动力及其父母的骨学。对选定标本的古老DNA分析将有助于我们确认混合状态并详细介绍Khainag的遗传组成。最后，由于蒙古帝国与欧洲的黑死亡相吻合，因此我们打算为耶尔森尼亚和其他病原体筛选可能的水库分类单元。