Refuse disposals in the Chalcolithic pits of Ovchular Tepesi (Nakhchivan, Azerbaijan)
Mr Rémi Berthon (Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, Germany and UMR 7209, MNHN, France) Zsófia Kovács (University of Debrecen, Hungary) Wim Van Neer (Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Belgium) George Willcox (CNRS, France) Margareta Tengberg (Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, France) Thomas Cucchi (CNRS, France)
The site of Ovchular Tepesi is located at the top of a natural hill in the valley of the Arpaçay River (Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, Azerbaijan). This settlement is composed of Late Chalcolithic (LC) and Early Bronze Age (EBA) occupations layers. The site has been excavated since 2006 within the frame of a French-Azeri joint project.
The scope of this paper is to present the faunal and botanical material from pits of the earliest Late Chalcolithic occupation layer. This layer is characterized by semi-subterranean houses and associated pits. The houses as well as the pits were dug into the natural deposits of the hill. Occupation layers belonging to this period have been found throughout the excavated area (ca. 1ha). According to 14C dates, this layer is dated between 4360 and 3960 BC (cal.). The pits contain faunal and botanical remains as well as lithic, bone and ceramic artefacts.
The soil excavated in the pits has been floated in order to collect the charred remains. Then the heavy fraction has been sieved through an 8mm, 2mm and 1mm mesh. Up to now, more than 500 liters of pit-soil has been processed, it yielded an important collection of mammal remains (including rodents, mainly mice mus musculus sp.) and fish remains, as well as botanical remains.
The aim of this paper is to investigate, through the study of botanical and faunal remains, the nature of the occupation at this site, the subsistence system, and the relation of this community with its environment.
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Source:
http://7icaane.org/w9animalplant.html
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