New Findings Shed Light on Bronze Age Life in the Caucasus 4,500 Years Ago

Kura–Araxes ceramics and selected shapes from Qaraçinar. Credit: Maxime Rageot / CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

New probe shows that the Bronze Age Caucasus fare was acold much varied than antecedently documented, with communities consuming dairy, fruit-based foods, and grape beverages astir 4,500 years ago.

The study, published successful the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, examined past pottery from a colony successful present-day Azerbaijan to reconstruct the nutrient habits of the Kura-Araxes culture.

Maxime Rageot of the Bonn Center for ArchaeoSciences astatine the University of Bonn led the probe team. Researchers analyzed 52 ceramic vessels from Qaraçinar, a colony connected the eastbound slopes of the Lesser Caucasus occupied betwixt astir 2900 and 2600 BC. Organic residues survived successful 38 of those vessels, an unusually precocious preservation complaint that allowed elaborate analysis.

Azerbaijan pottery yields archetypal nonstop grape grounds successful Kura-Araxes

Grape-derived products featured intelligibly successful the findings. Markers pointing to ripe grape products, which could see wine, vinegar, oregon syrup, appeared successful six vessels. Three of those were Red-Black Burnished Ware jars, a decorative pottery benignant agelong considered a defining awesome of Kura-Araxes identity.

Rageot and colleagues described this arsenic nonstop biomolecular grounds of grape depletion wrong a Kura-Araxes community, the archetypal of its kind. Grape pips recovered from the tract further suggest that grapevines grew adjacent the settlement.

Grape seed, red-black, and black-polished vessels from Qaraçinar, Azerbaijan. Credit: A. Decaix, ANR SWEED and the Mission “Boyuk Kesik” & ANR KUR(A)GAN

Dairy products were the astir consistently detected substance crossed the assemblage, appearing successful astatine slightest 17 vessels. Ruminant carcass abdominous showed up successful six more. The carnal remains from the tract aligned intimately with these results. Sheep, goats, and cattle made up 90% of the identified mammal bones.

Bronze Age Caucasus fare centered connected cattle, sheep, and dairy

When measured by bony weight, cattle unsocial accounted for astir 60% of the carnal products consumed astatine the site. Kill-off patterns for sheep pointed to a deliberate accent connected dairy accumulation alongside meat.

Researchers besides detected traces of malic acid-rich fruits, including cherries, raspberries, and blackberries, crossed aggregate vessels. Signs of conifer resin, apt pine-derived, appeared successful 10 containers.

Since neither conifer nor spruce appeared successful the section wood charcoal record, researchers concluded the resin was imported done determination proviso networks. It whitethorn person served arsenic a preservative, a sealant, oregon a flavoring cause successful nutrient and drink.

A wide functional disagreement betwixt 2 pottery types emerged from the data. Monochrome Ware, the astir communal benignant astatine the site, served arsenic a general-purpose cooking vas utilized straight implicit occurrence to hole meat, dairy, and works ingredients. Red-Black Burnished Ware showed astir nary occurrence vulnerability and was consistently linked to grape products and unheated dairy.

Unexpected millet find points to imaginable aboriginal commercialized networks

Rageot and the squad argued that this reflects codified taste behaviors astir nutrient and portion that were straight expressed done pottery. One unexpected effect was a hint of millet successful a azygous Red-Black Burnished jar.

Millet had not antecedently appeared successful Early Bronze Age records from this region, making its beingness a notable and inactive unconfirmed uncovering that researchers accidental warrants further investigation.