OccupationalHistories,Settlements, and SubsistenceinWesternIndia: WhatBonesand Genescantell us about the Originsand SpreadofPastoralism AjitaK.PATEL PeabodyMuseum,HarvardUniversity 11 Divinity Avenue,Cambridge,MA02138(U.S.A.) [email protected] Patel A.K.2009. –OccupationalHistories,Settlements,and SubsistenceinWesternIndia: WhatBonesand Genescantell us about the Originsand SpreadofPastoralism. Anthropo- zoologica 44(1):173-188. ABSTRACT Byatleast 7000 calBC,hunter-gatherers wereencamped upon stabilized sand dunesin steppicandsemi-aridareasofnorthwesternSouthAsia.Within 4500 years,pastoralcamps,agriculturalsettlements,andeventheoccasional urbancomplexcouldbefoundoverpartsofthissamelandscape.Investigation ofanimalboneremainsfrom afewofthesesites,togetherwithconsideration ofrecentstudiesofanimalgenetics,provide abasisforunderstanding some oftheprocessesinvolved in thisprehistorictransformation. Discussion in thispaperfocuseson thedune-top siteofLoteshwarin NorthGujarat, forwhichastrategicdating programhasgenerated aseriesofAMS C14 determinationsspanning fivemillenniaoffirst hunter-gathererandthen pastoraloccupations.Archaeofaunalremainsdemonstrateachangein animal usefrom anexclusivefocus on wildanimalstotheexploitationofdomestic KEYWORDS cattle.Theevidence forbothwildanddomesticcattleatLoteshwarindicates South Asia, North Gujarat, thatNorthGujaratisanimportantarea toinvestigateasoneofthemultiple Loteshwar, centers forzebu( Bos indicus )domestication thataresuggested bygenetic site formation processes, Bosindicus, researchonmodernforms.Incontrast,becauseoftheabsence ofanyevidence cattle domestication, fortheirwildrelativeshaving beenintheregion,itisclearthatdomestic pastoralism, sheepandgoatwerebroughtintotheNorthGujaratregion,probablyfrom Microlithic, Chalcolithic, animal genetics. areastotheNorthwest. RÉSUMÉ Occupations,peuplementsetsubsistance enInde occidentale:apportsde l’ostéologie etde lagénétiqueàlarecherchesurlesoriginesetladiffusion dupastoralisme Dès7000 av.J.-C.aumoins,deschasseurs-cueilleurs campaientsur des dunesde sablestabilisées,danslesrégionssteppiquesetsemi-aridesdunord- ouest de l’AsieduSud.En4500 ans,sesuccèdent,sur certainespartiesde cesmêmespaysages,descampements de pasteurs,desoccupationsagricoles ANTHROPOZOOLOGICA •2009•44 (1) ©PublicationsScientifiquesduMuséumnationald’Histoirenaturelle,Paris. 173 PatelA.K. etmêmeoccasionnellementuncomplexeurbain. L’examende vestiges osseux animaux provenantde quelques-unsde cessites,associéàlapriseen comptederécentesétudessur lagénétiqueanimale, fournissentunebase pour lacompréhension de quelques-unsdesprocessus impliquésdanscette transformation préhistorique.Cetarticleest centrésur lesitedeLoteshwar, quisetrouveausommetd’unedune, danslenordduGujaratetpour lequel unprogrammestratégiquededatation afourni unesériededéterminations enAMS 14C,s’étendantsur cinqmillénaires,d’occupationsd’abordde chasseurs-cueilleurs puisde pasteurs.Lesvestigesde faunedémontrentun changementdansl’utilisation desanimaux,quipassed’unintérêtexclusif MOTS CLÉS pour lafaunesauvageàl’exploitation de bétail domestique.Laprésence de AsieduSud, nordduGujarat, bovinssauvagesaussibienquedomestiquesàLoteshwarindiquequelenord Loteshwar, duGujaratest unezoneimportanteàexplorer,entantquel’undesmultiples processus de formation dessites, Bos indicus , centrespour ladomestication duzébu( Bos indicus ),cequesuggèrentles domestication dubétail, recherchesgénétiquessur lesformesmodernes.Enrevanche, enraison de pastoralisme, l’absence de formessauvagesde moutonsetchèvresdanslarégion,il est Microlithique, Chalcolithique, clairquelesformesdomestiquesontétéimportéesdanslenordduGujarat, génétiqueanimale. probablementdeszonesdunord-ouest. INTRODUCTION domesticcattle(bulls,cows,bullocks),goats,sheep, waterbuffalo,camels,and/orequidsisconsidered Throughout most regionsoftheOldWorldanimal apastoralist,whateverthenumberofanimalshus- exploitationhaschanged from themoreimmediate banded andwhereveron thecontinuumofsedentary returnsofhunting andscavenging tothemore tomobilethelifestylefalls.Pastoralpracticescanbe delayed returnsofanimalhusbandry andpastoralism. combined withoneormoreofhunting,gathering, Howdidthischangetakeplace?Whathappened cultivation,andplantagriculture, thedegree towhich tothehunter-gatherers? Didpastoralismspread eachoftheseactivitiescontributestothelivelihood through interaction betweenpeoples,orthrough ofapopulation being subjecttoinvestigation. population replacementresulting from immigra- Some9000 calendaryears ago,populationsof tion,orthrough societaltransformation?Orwas hunter-gatherers occupied thetopsofstabilized thesituation morecomplex,involving various mixes sanddunesin steppicandsemi-aridareasofnorth- ofthethree during thedevelopmentofherding westernSouthAsia.Within 4500 years,agricultural andfarmingandthecoming ofurbanism?This settlements andpastoralcampswerespread over paperrepresents part oftheprocess ofaddressing thissamelandscape, andscattered urbancomplexes theseissuesfornorthwesternSouthAsiawhere, in covered areasofuptoasquarekilometereach. landscapesthatareless disturbed bymodernactivi- Zooarchaeologicalinvestigationsofafewsitesin ties,archaeologicalinvestigationshaverevealed the NorthGujaratandKutch(Fig. 1),combined with remainsofhunter-gathererandpastoralactivities, consideration oftheimplicationsofgeneticstudies sometimesbothonthesamesite(Sankalia1946, ofanimals,provideaframeworkforunderstanding 1965,1974;Allchin &Allchin1982,Possehl & someoftheprocessesinvolved in thismajorchange Rissman1992,Ajithprasad &Sonawane1993). ofhuman-animalrelationshipsin thepast.This “Pastoralism”asused in thispaperrefers tothe paperparticularlyfocuseson thedune-top site breeding,raising,andmanaging ofdomesticated ofLoteshwarin NorthGujaratwhereastrategic, ungulatesbymembers ofahumansociety ( e.g. , site-formation-specificdating programgenerated Meadow1992,Patel1997,Meadow&Patel2003). aseriesofAMS C14 dates.Whilethesedatesshow IntheSouthAsiancontext,anyperson who keeps along occupationalhistory forthesitespanning 174 ANTHROPOZOOLOGICA •2009•44 (1) OccupationalHistories,Settlements,andSubsistence in WesternIndia ofanyevidence forwildrelativesin theregion,itis evidentthatdomesticsheepandgoatwerebrought intoNorthGujaratregion,probablyfrom areasto theNorthwest (Meadow&Patel2003; Patel2008). ARCHAEOLOGICALBACKGROUND AND TERMINOLOGY ThearchaeologicallandscapeofnorthwesternSouth Asiaisrepresented byaculturalmosaic, which includessitescharacterized byMicrolithic, Chalco- lithic, and/orHarappancomponents.Microlithic settlements arethoseoftencalled “Mesolithic”in theliteratureandcandateanywherefrom theearly Holocenetothehistoricperiod( e.g. ,Sankalia1946, 1965,1987; Misra1985,1996). Deposits atsome ofthesesiteshaveonlymicrolithictoolsandbones, whiledeposits atothersiteshaveyielded ceramics andevenmetalstogetherwiththemicrolithics. Atsiteswithevidence formultipleoccupations, aso-called “Mesolithic”maybe defined belowa Chalcolithic, in turnbelowanIron Age, andso on. Considering thelong timespanandvaried natureofsuchdeposits,Iprefertousetheterm “Microlithic”onlyasaneutraldescriptorreferring tothestonetool industryin ordertoavoidany chronological,cultural,andeconomicovertones (Patel2008: footnote4). Chalcolithicsettlements aredominated byceramics togetherwithsomemetalandstoneobjects.These havevarying degreesofHarappanaffiliation that isjudged on thebasisofthequantity andqua- F IG.1.—Mapshowing locationsof archaeologicalsitesin lity ofclassicHarappanparaphernalia, including northwesternSouthAsia. ceramics,whichhavebecomethehallmarksofthe Indus civilization (ca.2600–1800 calBC). These fivemillennia, theyalsohelp us tounderstandthe sitesalsovary in size, natureoftheremains,and uniquenatureofthehunter-gathererandpastoral sitefunction.Siteslocated on thefossil sanddunes settlements in theregion. Inaddition,theyserve ofNorthGujaratthatweresurveyed andexcavated tohighlightnotablechangesin animalusefrom an in the1980s and1990s belong tothiscategory exclusivefocus on wildfaunatotheincorporation of (Hegde &Sonawane1986; Hegde etal. 1988, domesticanimalsparticularlycattle.Theevidence for IndianArchaeology –AReview(hereafter“IAR ”) bothwildanddomesticcattleatLoteshwarsuggests 1982to1995) (Fig. 1). thatNorthGujaratisanimportantarea toinvesti- Thedevelopmentandexpression oftheHarappan gateasapossiblelocalcenterofzebu( Bos indicus ) phenomenonandoftheChalcolithicin thediffe- domestication,apossibility thathasrecentlybeen rentpartsofnorthwesternSouthAsiaarevariable. supported bygeneticresearch(Magee, Mannen& Thisvariabilityisclearlyreflectedin thedifferent Bradley2007). Incontrast,becauseoftheabsence ceramictraditionsfoundthroughout theregion. ANTHROPOZOOLOGICA •2009•44 (1) 175 PatelA.K. F IG.2.—Drawing of stratigraphicsection atLoteshwar:Northsection of TrenchI. Theceramicsfrom theChalcolithicdeposits at oneconventionalradiocarbon daterunonchar- manysitesin NorthGujarathavebeendefined as red bonefrom PeriodIatLoteshwar(PRL-1567). belonging toadistinctregionalpottery tradition, Thiscalibratestoamedianprobability of4703 BC called “Anarta”(Ajithprasad &Sonawane1993). andisdiscussed in moredetail below.(Notethat Thebeginning ofthistradition isdated asearlyas medianprobability calibrated BC datesarecited thefourthmillenniumBC,whichisamillennium in thetext; uncalibrated determinations,both1- beforethedevelopmentoftheHarappanpheno- and2-sigmacalibrated rangesBC,andthemedian menon in theregion. Anartaceramicscontinue probability calBC arepresented in Table1and through thethirdandintothesecondmillennium displayed in Fig. 3). BC