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SOCIAL ORGANIZATION AND INTERACTION IN BRONZE AGE EURASIA: A Bioarchaeological and Statistical Approach to the Study of Communities by Alicia Ventresca Miller B.A. Anthropology, State University of New York at Buffalo, 1997 M.A. Anthropology, New Mexico State University, 1999 Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Anthropology University of Pittsburgh 2013 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences This dissertation was presented by Alicia Ventresca Miller It was defended on October 18, 2012 and approved by Dr. Katheryn Linduff, Professor, History of Art and Architecture / Anthropology Dr. Margaret Judd, Associate Professor, Anthropology Dr. Michael Rosenmeier, Assistant Professor, Geology and Planetary Science Dissertation Advisor: Dr. Bryan Hanks, Associate Professor, Anthropology ii Copyright © by Alicia Ventresca Miller 2013 iii SOCIAL ORGANIZATION AND INTERACTION IN BRONZE AGE EURASIA: A Bioarchaeological and Statistical Approach to the Study of Communities Alicia Ventresca Miller, PhD University of Pittsburgh, 2013 While it has recently become clear that pastoral groups have varied economies, social systems, and mobilities, current models of interaction have not integrated the variable lifeways of pastoral communities. In the case of north central Eurasia, scholars have focused their attention on sweeping changes that occurred in patterns of settlement and social institutions from the Middle (2100-1700 BC) to Late Bronze Age (1700-1400 BC). Efforts to understand this transition have resulted in models that cover broad expanses of steppe and oversimplify the existing data. In order to construct more convincing models of interaction for the Bronze Age, we must begin with comprehensive datasets of local communities. The research presented here confronts issues of social and biological variation and their role in structuring connectivity and relationships in prehistory. To critically examine theories of interaction associated with posited social and economic developments during the Bronze Age, this dissertation investigates the shifting structure of social organization through an investigation of mortuary behaviors and ritual practices. Through a change in perspective, we re-focus on smaller micro-regional discussions of integration and interaction, addressing the relationship between the local community and the global through comparative analyses of two pastoral communities that span the Middle to Late Bronze Age. These periods are marked by a shift from aggregated to dispersed populations, broader spheres of interaction, and new forms of mortuary ritual. This research draws upon iv statistical analyses of mortuary remains, dietary reconstruction via stable isotopic analyses, and biodistance of dentition to develop a robust picture of changing social identities and organization. The results reveal that subsistence regimes stayed relatively uniform while inequality shifted drastically, evidenced by changes in kin centered wealth and identity signaling. This expands our understandings of social complexities of pastoral societies and adds to the growing body of literature on gender roles, status, and kinship. The Eurasian steppe is a pertinent location for the study of pastoral interactions, but few studies have examined the detailed nature of social and biological communities, or interplay between them. This project is important given that studies of pastoralist societies have infrequently contributed to comparative analyses of complex societies. v TABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE .............................................................................................................................. XXIV 1.0 INTRODUCTION: APPROACHES, PERSPECTIVES AND ANALYSES .......... 1 1.1 APPROACHES TO EURASIAN STEPPE ARCHAEOLOGY ...................... 7 1.2 PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS FOR THE EURASIAN BRONZE AGE: REGIONAL MODELS, SOCIAL COMPLEXITY, AND IDENTITY ........................ 11 1.2.1 Approach: Towards an Athropological Bioarchaeology ......................... 14 1.2.2 Approach: Pathways, Multi-scalar Interaction and Globalization. ....... 16 1.2.3 Analysis: Multidisciplinary Bioarchaeology............................................. 17 1.3 GOALS OF THIS RESEARCH ....................................................................... 25 2.0 LOCAL AND GLOBAL PROCESSES IN EURASIA ........................................... 28 2.1 CONNECTIVITY AND FLOW ....................................................................... 34 2.2 GLOCALIZATION: IDENTIFYING LOCAL WITHIN THE GLOBAL .. 40 2.3 SCALAR ISSUES IN EURASIAN ARCHAEOLOGY: PREVIOUS APPROACHES TO LOCAL AND GLOBAL TRENDS................................................ 45 2.3.1 Micro-regional and Local Community Approaches in Archaeology ..... 45 2.3.2 Micro-regional and Local Community Approaches to the Eurasian Steppe ...................................................................................................................... 48 vi 2.3.3 Supra- and Macro-regional Approaches in Archaeology ....................... 53 2.3.4 Supra- and Macro-regional Approaches to the Eurasian Steppe .......... 58 2.4 CONCLUSION: CONNECTIVITY AND FLOW DURING THE BRONZE AGE……………… ............................................................................................................. 66 3.0 EURASIAN ANTHROPOLOGY: HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES AND CRITICAL ANALYSES ............................................................................................................ 69 3.1 HISTORY OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND ANTHROPOLOGICAL RESEARCH IN EURASIA: THE RISE OF ‘ETHNOS’ ............................................... 71 3.2 THE CHASM BETWEEN ARCHAEOLOGY AND PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY ........................................................................................................... 76 3.3 BUILDING UPON UNSTABLE FOUNDATIONS: CURRENT THEORETICAL PROBLEMS ......................................................................................... 81 3.4 BUILDING STABLE FOUNDATIONS: ETHNOGRAPHIC MODELING AND INTERDISCIPLINARY BIOARCHAEOLOGY .................................................. 86 3.4.1 Ethnography of Identity and Differentiation ........................................... 91 3.4.2 Ethnography of Social Structure and Stratification ................................ 96 3.5 CONCLUSION ................................................................................................ 101 4.0 THE MIDDLE AND LATE BRONZE AGE IN NORTH CENTRAL EURASIA: ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND ANTHROPOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES ......................... 104 4.1 CHRONOLOGY.............................................................................................. 107 4.2 THEORIES ON THE NATURE OF SOCIAL ORGANIZATION IN NORTH CENTRAL EURASIA ...................................................................................... 110 4.2.1 Middle Bronze Age Social Organization................................................. 112 vii 4.2.2 Late Bronze Age Social Organization ..................................................... 119 4.3 THE BRONZE AGE IN NORTH CENTRAL EURASIA ........................... 124 4.4 THE MIDDLE BRONZE AGE: SINTASHTA AND PETROVKA COMPLEX OF CULTURES .......................................................................................... 126 4.4.1 Economy and Diet ..................................................................................... 131 4.4.2 Settlements ................................................................................................. 132 4.4.3 Cemeteries ................................................................................................. 136 4.4.4 Bioarchaeology .......................................................................................... 141 4.4.5 Social Differentiation and Identity .......................................................... 144 4.4.6 Conclusions and Future Prospects .......................................................... 149 4.5 THE LATE BRONZE AGE: THE ANDRONOVO DEVELOPMENT ..... 151 4.5.1 Economy and Diet ..................................................................................... 157 4.5.2 Settlements ................................................................................................. 158 4.5.3 Cemeteries ................................................................................................. 160 4.5.4 Bioarchaeology .......................................................................................... 169 4.5.5 Social Differentiation and Identity .......................................................... 172 4.5.6 Conclusions and Future Prospects .......................................................... 174 4.6 COMPARATIVE DISCUSSION OF BRONZE AGE COMMUNITIES .. 175 5.0 BIOARCHAEOLOGY IN CONTEXT: APPROACHES, METHODS, AND DATA … ... ................................................................................................................................. 182 5.1 BIOARCHAEOLOGICAL APPROACHES ................................................ 183 5.1.1 The Emergence of Bioarchaeology .......................................................... 183 5.1.2 Bioarchaeology in Context: Multi-scalar and Glocalization Theories . 185 viii 5.2 CODING SYSTEMS ....................................................................................... 200 5.2.1 Age and Sex ..............................................................................................
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