Multi-Season Reproduction and Pastoralist Production Strategies: New Approaches to Birth Seasonality from the South Caucasus Region

Current debates about pastoralists' role in the development of complex forms of political organization in the ancient Near East and the Caucasus revolve around questions about pastoralist production and mobility. This study investigates sheep birth seasonality at Late Bronze Age (1500-1100 B.C.) sites in the Tsaghkahovit Plain, Armenia, using delta O-18 data from the incremental analysis of tooth enamel and zooarchaeological age at death data. Incorporating age at death data in sampling and analysis, and analyzing larger datasets, makes it possible to use birth seasonality data to examine the organization of pastoralist production, labor, and mobility. Analysis reveals that sheep were born across multiple seasons (80% of the annual cycle) in the Tsaghkahovit Plain and that there are significant differences in the birth seasonality of sheep slaughtered at different ages. The data suggest that herders in the Tsaghkahovit Plain were actively manipulating sheep reproduction by both constraining and expanding it.

Automated summary

This study investigates the seasonality of sheep birth in the Late Bronze Age sites in the Tsaghkahovit Plain, Armenia, using delta O-18 data and zooarchaeological age at death data. The analysis reveals that sheep were born across multiple seasons and there are significant differences in birth seasonality of sheep slaughtered at different ages, suggesting active manipulation of sheep reproduction by herders in the region.