Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Winter is coming: seasonality of ancient pastoral nomadic practices revealed in the carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) isotopic record of Xiongnu caprines

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Winter is a challenging time for herders, who must carefully consider both calculable and unpredictable environmental circumstances in order to ensure that their livestock survive the season and retain body condition adequate for the production of offspring and animal products during the rest of the year. Today, pastoral nomads of Inner Asia employ several strategies that serve to alleviate graze shortages associated with the onset of the winter season, including winter pasturing and foddering. However, the emergence of such management strategies in ancient pastoral nomadic communities remains poorly understood. Ancient livestock husbandry practices related to seasonal dietary augmentation are documented here for the first time in an Inner Asian context. Carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) isotopic analyses of incrementally sampled second mandibular molar dentin collagens from caprines recovered from Iron Age Xiongnu (300 bc to 200 ad) contexts in the Gobi Desert, Mongolia, reveal patterned intra-tooth isotopic variation, indicating winter provisioning of animals with a fodder source that included C4 plants and pasturing of livestock on winter pastures enriched in 15N by manure. Inter-individual variation in the shape of carbon and nitrogen isotopic curves suggests differences in the timing and intensity of application of fodder provisioning and winter pasturing by Xiongnu pastoralists to different animals. These isotopic data reveal that herding practices focused on promoting livestock survivorship through the harsh winter months were in use by Xiongnu pastoral nomads over 2000 years ago.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Allard F, Erdenbataar D (2005) Khirigsuurs, ritual and mobility in the Bronze Age of Mongolia. Antiquity 79:547–563

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Amartuvshin C, Honeychurch W (2010) Dundgobi Aimagt hiisen Arkheologiin Sudalgaa: Baga Gazaryn Chuluu [Archaeological research in the middle Gobi: the Baga Gazaryn Chuluu project]. Mongolian Academy of Sciences, Institute of Archaeology, Ulaanbaatar

    Google Scholar 

  • Amundson R, Austin AT, Schuur EAG, Yoo K, Matzek V, Kendall C, Uebersax A, Brenner D, Baisden WT (2003) Global patterns of the isotopic composition of soil and plant nitrogen. Glob Biogeochem Cycles 17:1031

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Aranibar JN, Anderson IC, Epstein CJW, Feral RJ, Swap RJ, Ramontsho J, Macko SA (2008) Nitrogen isotope composition of soils, C3 and C4 plants along land use gradients in southern Africa. J Arid Environ 72:326–337

  • Ayliffe LK, Cerling CE, West AG, Sponheimer M, Passey BH, Hammer J, Roeder B, Dearing MD, Ehleringer JR (2004) Turnover of carbon isotopes in tail hair and breath CO2 of horses fed an isotopically varied diet. Oecologia 139:11–22

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Balasse M, Ambrose S (2005) Distinguishing sheep and goats using dental morphology and stable carbon isotopes in C4 grassland environments. J Archaeol Sci 32:691–702

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Balasse M, Tresset A (2002) Early weaning of Neolithic domestic cattle (Bercy, France) revealed by intra-tooth variation in nitrogen isotope ratios. J Archaeol Sci 29:853–859

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Balasse M, Bocherens H, Mariotti A (2001) Detection of dietary changes by intra-tooth carbon and nitrogen isotopic analysis: an experimental study of dentine collagen of cattle (Bos taurus). J Archaeol Sci 28:235–245

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Balasse M, Smith AB, Ambrose SH, Leigh SR (2003) Determining sheep birth seasonality by analysis of tooth enamel oxygen isotope ratios: the Late Stone Age site of Kasteelberg (South Africa). J Archaeol Sci 29:917–932

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Balasse M, Boury L, Ughetto-Monfrin J, Tresset A (2012) Stable isotope insights (δ18O, δ13C) into cattle and sheep husbandry at Bercy (Paris, France, 4th millennium BC): birth seasonality and winter leaf foddering. Environ Archaeol 17:29–44

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barth F (1961) The nomads of South Persia. Humanities Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Bateman AS, Kelly SD, Jickells TD (2005) Nitrogen isotope relationships between crops and fertilizer: implications for using nitrogen isotope analysis as an indicator of agricultural regime. J Agric Food Chem 53:5760–5765

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bogaard A, Heaton THE, Poulton P, Merbach I (2007) The impact of manuring on nitrogen isotope ratios in cereals: archaeological implications for reconstruction of diet and crop management practices. J Archaeol Sci 34:335–343

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bol R, Ostle NJ, Petzke KJ, Chenu C, Balesdent J (2008) Amino acid 15N in long-term bare fallow soils: influence of annual N fertilizer and manure applications. Eur J Soil Sci 59:617–625

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bruun O (2006) Precious steppe: Mongolian nomadic pastoralists in pursuit of the market. Lexington Books, Maryland

    Google Scholar 

  • Codron J, Codron D, Lee-Thorp JA, Sponheimer M, Bond WJ, de Ruiter D, Grant R (2005) Taxonomic, anatomical, and spatio-temporal variations in the stable carbon and nitrogen isotopic compositions of plants from an African savanna. J Archaeol Sci 32:1757–1772

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dalerum F, Angerbjörn A (2005) Resolving temporal variation in vertebrate diets using naturally occurring stable isotopes. Oecologia 144:647–658

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • DeNiro MJ (1985) Postmortem preservation and alteration of in vivo bone collagen isotope ratios in relation to palaeodietary reconstruction. Nature 317:806–809

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • DeNiro MJ, Epstein S (1981) Influence of diet on the distribution of nitrogen isotopes in animals. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 45:341–351

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Digard J-P (1981) Techniques des Nomades Baxtyâri d’Iran. Éditions de la Maison des Sciences de l’Homme, Paris

    Google Scholar 

  • Dupras TL, Schwarcz HP, Fairgrieve SI (2001) Infant feeding and weaning practices in Roman Egypt. Am J Phys Anthropol 115:204–211

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ehleringer JR (1989) Carbon isotope ratios and physiological processes in aridland plants. In: Rundel PW, Ehleringer JR, Nagy KA (eds) Stable isotopes in ecological research, Heidelberg, pp. 41–54

  • Ehleringer JR (1993) Carbon and water relations in desert plants: an isotopic perspective. In: Ehleringer JR, Hall AE, Farquhar GD (eds) Stable isotopes and plant carbon-water relations. Academic Press, San Diego, pp 155–172

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Eregzen G (2011) Хүннүгийн өв [Treasures of the Xiongnu]. Ulaanbaatar: ShUA-iin Arkheologiin khureelen; Mongolyn Undesnii muzei

  • Evans RD (2007) Soil nitrogen isotope composition. In: Michener R, Lajtha K (eds) Stable isotopes in ecology and environmental science. Blackwell Publishing, Oxford, pp 83–98

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Farquhar GD, Ehleringer JR, Hubrick KT (1989) Carbon isotope discrimination and photosynthesis. Annu Rev Plant Physiol 40:503–537

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fernandez-Gimenez ME (2000) The role of Mongolian nomadic pastoralists’ ecological knowledge in rangeland management. Ecol Appl 10:1318–1326

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fogel ML, Tuross N, Owsley DW (1989) Nitrogen isotope tracers of human lactation in modern and archaeological populations. In annual report of the director: geophysical laboratory, Carnegie Institution, Washington, D.C., pp. 111–117

  • Fraser RA, Grun R, Privat K, Gagan MK (2008) Stable isotope microprofiling of wombat tooth enamel records seasonal changes in vegetation and environmental conditions in eastern Australia. Palaeogeogr Palaeoclimatol Palaeoecol 269:66–77

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fraser RA, Bogaard A, Heaton T, Charles M, Jones G, Christensen BT, Halstead P, Merbach I, Poulton PR, Sparkes D, Styring AK (2011) Manuring and stable nitrogen isotope ratios in cereals and pulses: towards a new archaeobotanical approach to the inference of land use and dietary practices. J Archaeol Sci 38:2790–2804

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gage JP, Francis MJO, Triffit JT (1989) Collagen and dental matrices. Wright, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Halstead O, Collins P, Issakidou V (2002) Sorting the sheep from the goats: morphological distinctions between mandibles and mandibular teeth of adult Ovis and Capra. J Archaeol Sci 29:545–553

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Handley LL, Odee D, Scrimgeour CM (1994) δ15N and δ13C patterns in savanna vegetation: dependence on water availability and disturbance. Function Ecol 8:306–314

  • Heaton T (1987) The 15N/14N ratios of plants in South Africa and Namibia: relationship to climate and coastal/saline environments. Oecologia 74:236–246

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hillson S (1986) Teeth. Cambridge Manuals in Archaeology. Cambridge University Press

  • Högberg P (1997) Tansley review No. 95: 15N natural abundance in soil-plant systems. New Phytol 137:179–203

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Honeychurch W (2012) Thinking political communities: the state and social stratification among ancient nomads of Mongolia. In: Durrenberger EP (ed) The anthropological study of class and consciousness. University of Colorado Press, Boulder, pp 29–63

    Google Scholar 

  • Honeychurch W, Amartuvshin C (2007) Hinterlands, urban centers, and mobile settings. The ‘New’ Old World archaeology from the Eurasian steppe. Asian Perspect 46:36–64

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Honeychurch W, Wright J (2008) Asia north and central: prehistoric cultures of the steppes, deserts, and forests. In: Pearsall D (ed) Encyclopedia of archaeology. Elsevier, London, pp 517–532

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Howland MR, Corr LT, Young SMM, Jones V, Jim S, van der Merwe NJ, Mitchell AD, Evershed RP (2003) Expression of the dietary isotope signal in the compound-specific δ13C values of pig bone lipids and amino acids. Int J Osteoarchaeol 13:54–65

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Iacumin P, Nikolaev V, Ramigini M (2000) C and N stable isotope measurements on Eurasian fossil mammals, 40 000 to 10 000 years BP: herbivore physiologies and paleoenvironmental reconstruction. Palaeogeogr Palaeoclimatol Palaeoecol 163:33–47

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Imetkhenov AB (1997) Priroda perekhodnoi zony na primere Baikalskogo regiona. SO RAN, Novosibirsk

    Google Scholar 

  • Ishjamts N (1994) Nomads in eastern central Asia. In: Harmatta J, Puri BN, Etemadi GF (eds) History of civilizations of central Asia, the development of sedentary and nomadic civilization 700 B.C. to A.D. 250, vol. 2. Unesco, Paris, pp 151–169

    Google Scholar 

  • Kerley SJ, Jarvis CC (1994) Preliminary studies of the impact of excreted N on cycling and uptake of N in pasture systems using natural abundance stable isotopic discrimination. Plant Soil 178:287–294

  • Kirsanow K, Makarewicz C, Tuross N (2008) Stable oxygen (δ18O) and hydrogen (δD) isotopes in ovicaprid dentinal collagen record seasonal variation. J Archaeol Sci 35:3159–3167

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kradin NN (2005) Social and economic structure of the Xiongnu of the Trans-Baikal region. Archaeol Ethnol Anthropol Eurasia 22:79–86

    Google Scholar 

  • Kradin NN (2011) Heterarchy and hierarchy among the ancient Mongolian nomads. Soc Evol Hist 10:187–214

    Google Scholar 

  • Liang C, Michalk DL, Millar GD (2002) The ecology and growth patterns of Cleistogenes species in degraded grasslands in eastern Inner Mongolia, China. J Appl Ecol 39:584–594

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lösch S, Grupe G, Peters J (2006) Stable isotopes and dietary adaptations in humans and animals at pre-pottery Neolithic Nevali Çori, southeast Anatolia. Am J Phys Anthropol 131:181–193

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ma J-Y, Sun W, Liu X-N, Chen F-H (2012) Variation in the stable carbon and nitrogen isotope composition of plants and soil along a precipitation gradient in northern China. PLoS One 7(12):e51894

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Makarewicz C (2010) Zooarchaeological analyses of fauna from the burial complexes at Baga Gazaryn Chulu. In: Amurtushian A (ed) Archaeological survey of the middle Gobi: the Baga Gazaryn Chuluu project. Mongolian Institute of Archaeology, Ulaan Bataar, pp 436–449

    Google Scholar 

  • Makarewicz C (2011) Xiongnu pastoral systems: integrating economies of subsistence and scale. In: Brosseder U, Miller BK (eds). Settlement patterns and domestic economy of the Xiongnu in Khanuy Valley, Mongolia—multidisciplinary perspectives on the First Steppe Empire in Central Asia. Bonn Contributions to Asian Archaeology 5. Vor- und Frühgeschichtliche Archäologie, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn, pp 181–192

  • Makarewicz C (2014) Winter pasturing practices and variable fodder provisioning detected in (δ15N) and carbon (δ13C) isotopes in sheep dentinal collagen. J Archaeol Sci 41:502–510

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Makarewicz C, Tuross N (2006) Foddering by Mongolian pastoralists is recorded in the stable carbon (δ13C). J Archaeol Sci 33:862–870

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Makarewicz C, Tuross N (2012) Finding fodder and tracking transhumance: isotopic detection of goat domestication processes in the Near East. Curr Anthropol 53:495–505

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marshall JD, Brooks JR, Lajtha K (2007) Sources of variation in the stable isotopic composition of plants. In: Michener R, Lajtha K (eds) Stable isotopes in ecology and environmental science. Blackwell Publishing, Oxford, pp 22–50

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Martinelli LA, Piccolo MC, Townsend AR, Vitousek PM, Cueva E, McDowell W, Robertson GP, Santos OC, Tresede K (1999) Nitrogen isotopic composition of leaves and soil: tropical versus temperate forests. Biogeochemistry 45:45–65

    Google Scholar 

  • Miehe G, Schlütz F, Miehe S, Opgenoorth L, Cermak J, Samiya R, Jäger EJ, Wesche K (2007) Mountain forest islands and Holocene environment changes in Central Asia: a case study from the southern Gobi Altay, Mongolia. Palaeogeogr Paleoclimatol Palaeoecol 250:150–166

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Minagawa M, Wada E (1984) Stepwise enrichment of 15N along the food chain: further evidence and the relation between δ15N and age. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 48:1135–1140

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mongolskaya Narodnaya Respoblika Nasionalniya Atlas (1990) Ulaanbaatar

  • Murphy BP, Bowman DMJS, Gagan MK (2007) Sources of carbon isotope variation in kangaroo bone collagen and tooth enamel. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 71:3847–3858

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O’Connell TC, Hedges REM (1999) Investigations into the effect of diet on modern human hair isotopic values. Am J Phys Anthropol 108:409–425

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O’Leary M (1988) Carbon isotopes in photosynthesis. Bioscience 38:328–335

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ode DJ, Tieszen LL, Lerman JC (1980) The seasonal contribution of C3 and C4 plant species to primary production in a mixed prairie. Ecology 61:1304–1311

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Payne S (1973) Kill-off patterns in sheep and goats: the mandibles from Aşvan Kale. Anatol Stud 23:281–305

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Payne S (1987) Reference codes for wear stages in the mandibular cheek teeth of sheep and goats. J Archaeol Sci 14:609–614

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pyankov VI, Gunin PD, Tsoog S, Black CC (2000) C4 plants in the vegetation of Mongolia: their natural occurrence and geographical distribution in relation to climate. Oecologia 123:15–31

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ren H, Schönback P, Wan H, Gierus M, Taube F (2012) Effects of grazing intensity and environmental factors on species composition and diversity in typical steppe of Inner Mongolia, China. PLoS ONE 7(12):e52180

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Richards MP, Mays S, Fuller BT (2002) Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope values of bone and teeth reflect weaning age at the medieval Wharram Percy site, Yorkshire, UK. Am J Phys Anthropol 119:205–210

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rudaya N, Tarasov P, Dorofeyuk N, Solovieva B, Kalugin I, Andreev A, Daryin A, Diekmann B, Riedel F (2009) Holocene environments and climate in the Mongolian Altain reconstructed from the Hoton-Nur pollen and diatom records: a step towards better understanding climate dynamics in Central Asia. Quat Sci Rev 28:540–554

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schlütz F, Dulamsuren C, Wiekowska M, Muhlenberg M, Hauck M (2008) Late Holocene vegetation history suggests natural origins of steppes in the northern Mongolian mountain taiga. Palaeogeogr Palaeoclimatol Palaeoecol 261:203–217

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schmidt S, Stewart GR (2003) δ15N values of tropical savanna and monsoon forest species reflect root specializations and soil nitrogen status. Oecologia 134:569–577

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schoeninger MJ, DeNiro MJ (1984) Nitrogen and carbon isotope composition of bone collagen from marine and terrestrial animals. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 48:625–639

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Senbayram M, Dixon L, Goulding KWT, Bol R (2008) Long-term influence of manure and mineral nitrogen application on plant and soil 15N and 13C values from Broadbalk Wheat Experiment. Rapid Commun Mass Spectrom 22:1735–1740

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shahack-Gross R, Simons A, Ambrose SH (2008) Identification of pastoral sites using stable nitrogen and carbon isotopes from bulk sediment samples: a case study in modern and archaeological pastoral settlements in Kenya. J Archaeol Sci 35:983–990

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sponheimer M, Robinson T, Ayliffe L, Roeder B, Hammer J, Passey B, West A, Cerling T, Dearing D, Ehleringer J (2003) Nitrogen isotopes in mammalian herbivores: hair δ15N values from a controlled feeding study.  Internat J Osteoarchaeol 13:80–89

  • Suttie JM (2005) Grazing management in Mongolia. In: Suttie JM, Reynolds SG, Batello C (eds) Grasslands of the world. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome, pp 265–303

    Google Scholar 

  • Szpak P, Millaire J-F, White CD, Longstaffe FJ (2012) Influence of seabird guano and camelid dung fertilization on the isotopic composition of field-grown maize (Zea mays). J Archaeol Sci 39:3721–3740

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tuross N, Fogel ML, Hare PE (1988) Variability in the preservation of the isotopic composition of collagen from fossil bone. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 52:929–935

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Uerpmann M, Uerpmann HP (1994) Animal bone finds from excavation 520 at Qala'at al-Bahrain. In: Hojlund H, Andersen H (eds) Qala'at al-Bahrain: the northern city wall and the Islamic fortress. Aarhus University Press, Aarhus, pp 417–444

    Google Scholar 

  • Wittmer MHOM, Auerswald K, Schönbach P, Schäufele R, Müller K, Yang H, Bai WF, Susenbeth A, Taube F, Schnyder H (2010) Do grazer hair and faeces reflect the carbon isotope composition of semi-arid C3/C4 grassland? Basic Appl Ecol 11:83–92

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wright J (2007) Organizational principles of Khirigsuur monuments in the lower Egiin Gol valley, Mongolia. J Anthropol Archaeol 26:350–365

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wright J (2012) Temporal perspectives on the monumental constellations of Inner Asia. In: Furholt M, Hinz M, Mischka D (eds) As time goes by? Monumentality, landscapes and the temporal perspective. Verlag Dr. Rudolf Habelt, Bonn, pp 281–304

    Google Scholar 

  • Wright J, Makarewicz C (2014) Perceptions of pasture: the role of skill and networks in maintaining stable pastoral nomadic systems in Inner Asia. In: Kerner S, Dann R, Jensen PB (eds) Ancient society and climate. Museum Tusculanum Press, Copenhagen, pp 263–283

    Google Scholar 

  • Wright J, Honeychurch W, Amartuvshin C (2006) Initial findings of the Baga Gazaryn Chuluu archaeological survey (2003–2006). Antiquity 81: online project gallery, issue 313

  • Wu Y (1990) The Hsiung-nu. In: Sinor D (ed) Cambridge history of early inner Asia. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 118–149

    Google Scholar 

  • Yousfi S, Serret MD, Voltas J, Araus JL (2010) Effect of salinity and water stress during the reproductive stage on growth, ion concentrations, ∆13C, and δ15N of durum wheat and related amphiploids. J Exp Bot 61:3529–3542

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zazzo A, Balasse M, Patterson WP (2006) The reconstruction of mammal individual history: refining high-resolution isotope record in bovine tooth dentine. J Archaeol Sci 33:1177–1187

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zeder M, Pilaar SE (2010) Assessing the reliability of criteria used to identify mandibles and mandibular teeth in sheep, Ovis, and goats, Capra. J Archaeol Sci 37:225–242

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank Joshua Wright, William Honeychurch, and Chuang Amartuvshin for access to archaeological samples from BGC. I also thank Joshua Wright and Dan Contreras for providing insightful comments on this manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Prehistoric and Protohistoric Archaeology, Christian-Albrechts University, Johanna-Mestorf Strasse 2-6, 24098, Kiel, Germany

    Cheryl A. Makarewicz

Authors
  1. Cheryl A. Makarewicz
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Cheryl A. Makarewicz.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Makarewicz, C.A. Winter is coming: seasonality of ancient pastoral nomadic practices revealed in the carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) isotopic record of Xiongnu caprines. Archaeol Anthropol Sci 9, 405–418 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-015-0289-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-015-0289-5

Keywords

Search

Navigation