ASIAPAST

Led by Prof. Cheryl Makarewicz at Kiel University and funded by the European Research Council, ASIAPAST investigates multi-trajectory pathways to pastoralism in Central Asia and Inner Asia, focusing on the connected regions of Kazakhstan, southern Russia, Mongolia, and Uzbekistan, and explores how regional differences in environment, subsistence strategies, and cultural traditions contributed to the initial spread of pastoralism and its subsequent intensification during the Bronze Age and its further consolidation as a means to political power during the Iron Age... We trace the evolution of ancient pastoralist dietary intake across the steppe using a variety of biomolecular approaches. In particular, we employ bulk nitrogen (δ15N) and carbon (δ15N) isotope analyses of human proteinaceous tissues accompanied by compound-specific C and N isotope analyses of bone collagen in order detect dietary shifts. We also are tracing the contribution of dairy to ancient pastoralist diets through..

Primary location: Kiel Germany