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Modeling Socioeconomic Evolution and Continuity in Ancient Egypt: The value and limitations of zooarchaeological analyses
Carol Yokell
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This work examines patterns of taxonomic utilization from a wide range of sites from different geographic regions and through several thousand years in order to contribute to an eventual understanding of the mechanisms by which disparate regional societies were subsumed into the unified Egyptian 'state.' An examination of the relative adaptability of cattle, sheep, goat, and pigs is fundamental to understanding the choices by humans for exploiting a particular species or its products in a given area. A predictive model was developed based on issues of economic and social production among modern societies utilizing these same domesticated taxa under similar environmental conditions. Five strategies were identified: nomadic pastoralism, semi-nomadic pastoralism, transhumance, agro-pastoralism, and ranching. Contrary to previous interpretations, pigs were shown to be well adapted to utilization by sedentary populations in both the southern Valley and northern Delta regions. The methods for the investigationof alternatives of social and economic production and intensification were closely linked to zooarchaeological analysis. However, in addition, faunal inferences were supplemented with evidence such as artistic depictions, Egyptian texts, and literature.
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Front Cover
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Title Page
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Copyright
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Table of Contents
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LIST OF FIGURES
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LIST OF TABLES
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ABSTRACT
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1. INTRODUCTION
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2. EVOLUTIONARY AND SOCIAL PERSPECTIVES OF FOOD PRODUCTION
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3. CLIMATIC AND VEGATATIONAL SETTINGS IN ANCIENT EGYPT
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4. COMPARATIVE ECOLOGY OF FOUR DOMESTICATED SPECIES
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5. CONTRIBUTIONS OF DOMESTICATED ANIMALS TO ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL PRODUCTION
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6. DEVELOPMENT OF THE EGYPTIAN DOMESTICATED ANIMAL COMPLEX
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7. FROM ARCHAEOLOGICAL DATA TO INTERPRETATION
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8. THE VALUE OF ZOOARCHAEOLOGY IN MODELING SOCIO-ECONOMIC EVOLUTION AND CONTINUITY: RETROSPECT AND PROSPECT
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APPENDIX A: Recognizing Domesticated Animals from Archaeological Remains
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APPENDIX B: Zooarchaeological Methods
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APPENDIX C: Key for Standardized Zooarchaeological Anatomical Nomenclature
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APPENDIX D: “Raw” Faunal Data for Sites Presented in the Text
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REFERENCES
Citable Link
Published: 2004
Publisher: BAR Publishing
- 9781841716640 (paperback)
- 9781407327419 (ebook)
BAR Number: S1315