Wool They, Won't They: Untangling the Zooarchaeological Evidence for Intensive Wool Production in Northern Mesopotamia C. 4500-1500 Cal. Bc

Abstract

Wool was of central importance in ancient Mesopotamia. Texts document the large-scale production, processing, and exchange of wool. It has long been thought that, in the Chalcolithic or Bronze Age, caprine husbandry was reorganized to support the burgeoning wool industry. Zooarchaeologists have devised a number of methods to test this hypothesis. Here, we critically examine two key methods (kill-off patterns and biometrics) and their application to Chalcolithic through Middle Bronze Age (c. 4500-1500 BC) northern Mesopotamia. We synthesize existing data and use Bayesian statistical modeling to estimate three indicators of intensive wool production: retention of older animals, male-female ratio, average sheep size. While we confirm previous assessments that show an increase in sheep size in the 4th millennium BC, we find no clear pattern in the ratio of adult males to adult females. Kill-off data show remarkably subtle shifts in the slaughter of older caprines at a regional level rather than a dramatic shift toward intensive wool production. However, an in-depth analysis of an urban network in the Karababa Basin of SE Turkey in the 3rd millennium BC is consistent with intensive wool production. The ambiguous results highlight the need for excavations and zooarchaeological analysis of non-urban settlements.

Keywords: Wool, Northern Mesopotamia, Secondary Production Revolution, urbanism, Pastoralism, Zooarchaeology