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Hunting Evidence from Eneolithic Site of Getahovit-2 Cave; Armenia

Received: 22 August 2019     Accepted: 6 September 2019     Published: 20 September 2019
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Abstract

Wildlife in Armenia was always varied due to the different geographic landscapes and biotopes, between the valleys, mountains, forests, and plateaus of the country. A wide range of large mammals inhabited the Southern Caucasus. In Armenia, animal habitat varied through time, both during the Pleistocene and the Holocene and hunting activities were the focus of Paleolithic meat-based subsistence. In 2018, the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography NAS RA carried out the excavations, with the financial support of Ijevan Wine-Brandy Factory 2. Two Chalcolithic period layers were excavated mainly that presented the early phase and which were separated from the previous occupations of the same period by the thick layer of sterile and the muddy sediment full of small stones. During the Chalcolithic period, the groups practicing the transhumance, hunting and gathering seasonally had occupied the cave. Considerable numbers of osteological material imply the existence of hunting and gathering activity around the cave. The present study examines the wild animal remains in addition; backed points, blades and some fragments also exhibit evidence for hunting activities. Those that could be identified to species appear to be Sus scrofa, Vulpes vulpes and mainly Capreolus capreolus. The fracture analysis confirms that the occupation of this small cave was closely related mainly to the hunting activity.

Published in International Journal of Archaeology (Volume 7, Issue 2)
DOI 10.11648/j.ija.20190702.11
Page(s) 24-29
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2019. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Archaeozoology, Armenia, Eneolithic Age, Getahovit-2 Cave, Hunting

References
[1] Smith A, Bagoyan T, Gabrielyan I, Gasparyan B. (2014). Late Chalcolithic and Medieval Archaeobotanical Remains from Areni-1 (Birds’ Cave), Armenia. In book: Stone Age of Armenia, Publisher: Center for Cultural Resource Studies, Kanazawa University, Kanazawa, Japan, Editors: Gasparyan B, Arimura M, 2014: 233-260.
[2] Kalantarian, I, Arimura, M, Hovsepyan, R. and Chataigner, Ch. (2012). The archaeological investigations of Getahovit-2 cave (Armenia) in 2011-2012: the preliminary results. Aramazd: Armenian Journal of Near Eastern Studies, volume 7, issue 2-2012: 7-23.
[3] Driesch, A. (1976). A guide to the measurement of animal bones from archaeological site, Peabody Museum Bulletins, 1esp. 25-86.
[4] Lasota-Moskalewska, A. (1997). Podstawy Archeozoologii. Szcztki ssaków, Witamy w księgarni naukowej PWN Warszawa. Pp. 231 (In polish).
[5] Lasota-Moskalewska, A. (2005). Zwierzêta udomowione w dziejach ludzkoœci, Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego Warszawa. pp. 310 (In polish).
[6] Prehn, N, Feneru, F and Rochester J. () Beginner’s guide to identifying British mammals bones. Angela Marmont Centre for UK Biodiversity (AMC), a Natural History Museum department. Pp. 58.
[7] Mezhlumyan, S. K. (1972). Paleofauna Epokh Eneolita, Bronzy I Zheleza Na Teritorii Armenii. Izdatel’stvo AN Armyanskoi SSR, Yerevan.
[8] Manaseryan, N. (2003). Hunting tackle, animals and objects in rock engravings from Armenia. Archaeofauna 12, 193e201.
[9] Mirzoyan, L., Manaseryan, N. (2010). Animal impact on the economic, religious and cultural aspects of the life of Urartians. In: 11th ICAZ Conference Paris August 2010. www.bonecommons.com (accessed 13.11.14).
[10] Martin, L. (2000). Gazelle (Gazella sp.) behavioural ecology: predicting animal behaviour for prehistoric environments in southwest Asia. Journal of Zoology 250, 13e30.
[11] Merzoug, S., Kherbouche F., Sehil, N., Chelli, R., Hachi, S. (2015). Faunal analysis of the Neolithic units from the Gueldaman Cave GLD1 (Akbou, Algeria) and the shift in sheep/goat husbandry. Quaternary International. Volume 410, Part A, 29 July 2016, Pages 43-49.
[12] Payne, S. (1973). Kill-off patterns in sheep and goats: the mandibles from Aşvan Kale. Anatolian Studies 23: 281-303.
[13] Payne, S. (1985). Morphological distinctions between the mandibular teeth of young sheep, Ovis, and Goats, Capra. Journal of Archaeological Science 12: 139-147.
[14] Payne, S. (1987). Reference codes for Wear Stages in the mandibular cheek teeth of sheep and goats. Journal of Archaeological Science 1 14: 609-614.
[15] Helmer, D. and Vigne, J.-D. (2004). La gestion des cheptels de caprinés au Néolithique dans le midi de la France. In Approches Fonctionnelles en Préhistoire, Actes du XXVème Congrès Préhistorique de France (Nanterre, 2000), eds. P. Bodu and C. Constantin, Paris: Mémoires de la Société Préhistorique Française, Numéro spécial. 397-407.
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  • APA Style

    Zarikian Noushig, Kalantarian Iren. (2019). Hunting Evidence from Eneolithic Site of Getahovit-2 Cave; Armenia. International Journal of Archaeology, 7(2), 24-29. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ija.20190702.11

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    ACS Style

    Zarikian Noushig; Kalantarian Iren. Hunting Evidence from Eneolithic Site of Getahovit-2 Cave; Armenia. Int. J. Archaeol. 2019, 7(2), 24-29. doi: 10.11648/j.ija.20190702.11

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    AMA Style

    Zarikian Noushig, Kalantarian Iren. Hunting Evidence from Eneolithic Site of Getahovit-2 Cave; Armenia. Int J Archaeol. 2019;7(2):24-29. doi: 10.11648/j.ija.20190702.11

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ija.20190702.11,
      author = {Zarikian Noushig and Kalantarian Iren},
      title = {Hunting Evidence from Eneolithic Site of Getahovit-2 Cave; Armenia},
      journal = {International Journal of Archaeology},
      volume = {7},
      number = {2},
      pages = {24-29},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ija.20190702.11},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ija.20190702.11},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ija.20190702.11},
      abstract = {Wildlife in Armenia was always varied due to the different geographic landscapes and biotopes, between the valleys, mountains, forests, and plateaus of the country. A wide range of large mammals inhabited the Southern Caucasus. In Armenia, animal habitat varied through time, both during the Pleistocene and the Holocene and hunting activities were the focus of Paleolithic meat-based subsistence. In 2018, the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography NAS RA carried out the excavations, with the financial support of Ijevan Wine-Brandy Factory 2. Two Chalcolithic period layers were excavated mainly that presented the early phase and which were separated from the previous occupations of the same period by the thick layer of sterile and the muddy sediment full of small stones. During the Chalcolithic period, the groups practicing the transhumance, hunting and gathering seasonally had occupied the cave. Considerable numbers of osteological material imply the existence of hunting and gathering activity around the cave. The present study examines the wild animal remains in addition; backed points, blades and some fragments also exhibit evidence for hunting activities. Those that could be identified to species appear to be Sus scrofa, Vulpes vulpes and mainly Capreolus capreolus. The fracture analysis confirms that the occupation of this small cave was closely related mainly to the hunting activity.},
     year = {2019}
    }
    

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    DO  - 10.11648/j.ija.20190702.11
    T2  - International Journal of Archaeology
    JF  - International Journal of Archaeology
    JO  - International Journal of Archaeology
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    AB  - Wildlife in Armenia was always varied due to the different geographic landscapes and biotopes, between the valleys, mountains, forests, and plateaus of the country. A wide range of large mammals inhabited the Southern Caucasus. In Armenia, animal habitat varied through time, both during the Pleistocene and the Holocene and hunting activities were the focus of Paleolithic meat-based subsistence. In 2018, the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography NAS RA carried out the excavations, with the financial support of Ijevan Wine-Brandy Factory 2. Two Chalcolithic period layers were excavated mainly that presented the early phase and which were separated from the previous occupations of the same period by the thick layer of sterile and the muddy sediment full of small stones. During the Chalcolithic period, the groups practicing the transhumance, hunting and gathering seasonally had occupied the cave. Considerable numbers of osteological material imply the existence of hunting and gathering activity around the cave. The present study examines the wild animal remains in addition; backed points, blades and some fragments also exhibit evidence for hunting activities. Those that could be identified to species appear to be Sus scrofa, Vulpes vulpes and mainly Capreolus capreolus. The fracture analysis confirms that the occupation of this small cave was closely related mainly to the hunting activity.
    VL  - 7
    IS  - 2
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, National Academy of Sciences of Armenia, Yerevan, Republic of Armenia

  • Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, National Academy of Sciences of Armenia, Yerevan, Republic of Armenia

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