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Pastoral Mobility and the Formation of Complex Settlement in the Middle Bronze Age Şərur Valley, Azerbaijan

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Pastoral Mobility and the Formation of Complex Settlement in the Middle Bronze Age Şərur Valley, Azerbaijan Pastoral Mobility and the Formation of Complex Settlement in the Middle Bronze Age Şərur Valley, Azerbaijan Dissertation Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Selin Elizabeth Nugent, B.A., B.Sc., M.A. Graduate Program in Anthropology The Ohio State University 2017 Dissertation Committee: Professor Clark Spencer Larsen, Advisor Professor Robert Cook Professor Hilary Gopnik Professor Mark Hubbe Professor Joy McCorriston . Copyright by Selin Elizabeth Nugent 2017 . ABSTRACT What degree of authority do mobile pastoralists demonstrate during the emergence of complex settlement systems? Archaeology has historically marginalized mobile populations or ignored their contribution to the development of social complexity. This research employs isotopic analyses on human skeletal remains in context with mortuary practice to explain how mobile pastoralists integrated into the emerging urban centers of the Middle Bronze Age (2400-1500BC) South Caucasus in the Şǝrur Valley of Naxçıvan, Azerbaijan. Small, fragmentary groups of mobile pastoralists and trace evidence of small- scale settlements characterize the Middle Bronze Age (2400-1500BC) in the South Caucasus (Smith, 2005a). However, at the Qızqala settlement complex in the Aras River Valley of Naxçıvan, Azerbaijan, the Middle Bronze Age features major political transformations and dense settlements on a scale that precedes traditional chronologies of the emergence of complex settlements in the Late Bronze Age (1500-1150 B.C) (Ristvet et al., 2012; Smith, 2012). Unlike most emergent Near Eastern urban societies, where the development of states and urban centers was predicated on control of agricultural production and sedentism, this region presents a case where the development of sociopolitical complexity relied on a regional population hypothesized as depending primarily on mobile pastoral subsistence (Smith, 2003). While the lack of long-term settlement across most the region supports seasonal and recurrent mobility patterns ii during the Middle Bronze Age, little is known about the specific modes of mobile subsistence in the earliest fortified complex settlements and how mobility functioned in emergent complex settlement contexts. How the administrative system of the fortress and these mobile populations negotiated space and power is thus a key consideration in unraveling the development of polities in the South Caucasus and expanding on traditional models of social complexity (Arbuckle, 2012; Frachetti, 2012; Honeychurch, 2014; McCorriston, 2013; Porter, 2012; Szuchman, 2009). How do pastoralists engage in mobility in emerging polities? How did changing mortuary practices generate and/or reflect negotiations of mobile people in a new political landscape? This dissertation tests the hypotheses of seasonal highland mobility and dynamic negotiations between mobile and sedentary factions at the Qızqala cemetery to investigate how mobile pastoral mobility, mortuary space construction and funerary ritual changed in this region during the emergence of complex polities. Strontium (87Sr/86Sr), oxygen (δ18O), and carbon (δ13C) isotopic analyses on sequentially sampled human dental enamel provide data on seasonal diet and water sourcing behaviors over dental development to track degree of individual mobility across the regional landscape and shifting dietary habits. The heterogeneity in intra-individual and intra-tooth isotopic values for all isotopes studies supports the hypothesized intensive pastoral mobility that characterizes the Middle Bronze Age populations of the South Caucasus. Results reveal a range of residential and seasonal mobility patterns, which support that the Qızqala population continued reliance on nomadic lifeways even during the emergence of complex settlement. Most individuals fluctuate between lowland and iii highland zones, which correspond to periods of increased C4 millet consumption, a highland summer crop. This dissertation examines how individual mobility behaviors relate to local and individual expressions of funerary ritual in order to reflect on how pastoralist communities shaped their political landscape through reproducing, transforming, and/or resisting political and economic conditions of power through manipulations of funerary objects and spaces. The location, orientation, style, and elaboration of each individual’s burial context provide data to examine distribution of economic resources available to mobile pastoralists in emerging complex settlement systems. Results suggest mobility patterns closely relate to placement in the cemetery, supporting the importance of mobility in maintaining social cohesion around elite individuals. By taking a bioarchaeological approach that includes details from the human skeleton as well as mortuary archaeology, this dissertation offers an encompassing perspective on interactions between mobile pastoralists and political institutions, elucidating the subject’s perspective on mobility and power that has otherwise been overlooked. iv DEDICATION This dissertation is dedicated to my parents, James and Güliz Nugent, for their continuous support of my education and for instilling a life-long love for my heritage. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This dissertation was made possible with the support of a number of scholars, mentors, colleagues, and friends. I would first like to extend my appreciation to my advisor Clark Spencer Larsen for his guidance throughout my graduate career. I am also grateful for the contributions of my committee members, Mark Hubbe, Rob Cooke, and Joy McCorriston, who offered guidance and a critical eye from the inception of this project through its completion. This project would not be possible without the hospitality and generosity of the directors of the Naxçıvan Archaeological Project, Hilary Gopnik, Emily Hammer, and Lauren Ristvet. I am eternally grateful that they took a chance on a wide-eyed undergraduate with no camping experience and introduced me to rural Naxçıvan. Special thanks to my Azerbaijani collaborators, Veli Bakhshaliyev and Bəhlul Ibrahimli who supported my project through access to archaeological materials, offering their deep knowledge of the local environment and history, and by so kindly welcoming and hosting me in Naxçıvan. Veli Müellim ve Bəhlul Müellim sizin qonaqpərvərliyə və Naxçıvanda mənim tədqiqat yardım üçün çox təşəkkür edirəm. Isotopic analysis was significantly improved by the support and insights of Kelly Knudson, and Gwyn Gordon at Arizona State University as well as David Dettman at the University of Arizona. I am appreciative of their generosity in allowing me to use their lab space and equipment as well as for discussions that vastly improved my research. vi Many thanks also to Allisen Dahlstedt for opening her home, taking time out of her busy schedule to train me, and for her friendship during my stay in Tempe. Financial support of this project was provided by a number of organizations. International travel to Azerbaijan was made possible by the Wenner-Gren Foundation Dissertation Fieldwork Grant, the American Schools for Oriental Research Heritage Fellowship, and The Ohio State University Larsen Travel Award. Sample preparation and analysis were supported by the Wenner-Gren Foundation Dissertation Fieldwork Grant and the National Science Foundation Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant (BSC 1545697). I am also thankful for the friends who supported and inspired me over the course of planning, development, research, and writing this dissertation. Thank you to Susannah Fishman, Kellen Hope, Robert Bryant, Hannah Lau, Jen Swerida, Lucas Proctor, Sara McGuire, Abby Buffington, Kathryn Marklein, and Katie Downey. Most of all, thank you to my family, Phillip Grudzina, Hermes, and Lisa for the consistent emotional support and understanding during my many months spent abroad as well as those spent glued to a computer screen. vii VITA 2008………………………………………Northview High School, Duluth, GA 2012………………………………………B.Sc. Anthropology & Human Biology, Emory University 2012………………………………………B.A. Ancient Mediterranean Studies, Emory University 2013………………………………………M.A. Anthropology, The Ohio State University 2013-2014………………………………...Graduate Teaching Associate, Department of Anthropology, The Ohio State University 2014-2015………………………………...Graduate Research Associate, Department of Anthropology, The Ohio State University 2015-2017………………………………...Graduate Research Assistant, NORC, University of Chicago Fields of Study Major Field: Anthropology Concentration: Biological Anthropology Publications Grimstead, D., Nugent, S. 2017. “Why a Standardization of Strontium Isotope Baseline Environmental Data are Needed and Recommendations for Methodology.” Advances in Archaeological Science 5 (2): 184-195. Baxşəliyev, V., Ristvet, L., Gopnik, H., Nugent, S, Swerida, J. 2016. “Qızqalası Yaşayış Yerində 2015-ci Ildə Aparılan Arxeoloji Araşdırmalar (trans. Archaeological Investigations at the Qızqala Settlement Site, 2015). Azərbaycan MEA-nın viii Xəbərləri. Ictimai elmlər seriyası 2: 178-198. Nugent, S. 2016 “Qızqala Kurganları ve Gömme Gelenekleri (trans. Kurgan Burials and Mortuary Practice at Qızqala).” Naxçıvan qalaları: tarixdə və günümüzdə. Editor: Ismayilova, N. McManus, D. and Nugent, S. 2011. "Blacking Plato’s Eye: Shadows, Puppets, Clowns, and Tragic Comedy." Journal of Drama Studies 5(1): 5-20. Haddow, SD, Sadvari, JW, Knüsel, CJ, Moore SV, Larsen, CS, Nugent, SN. (in press) “Out of Range? Non-normative
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