This volume ranges from Anatolia and the Caucasus to East Africa and covers stable isotope analysis of oxygen (δ18O), carbon (δ13C), nitrogen (δ15N), and strontium (87Sr/86Sr) ratios in pursuit of identifying and characterising pastoralist lifestyles through time. Fourth in the ‘Themes in Contemporary Archaeology’ series produced by the European Association of Archaeologists, it is a solid contribution to the bookshelves of anyone interested in learning more about ways of reconstructing past seasonal mobility.
Throughout each of the 10 chapters, multi-scalar approaches are employed to address a diverse range of research questions. It is a well-balanced volume, with some chapters more extensively reviewing relevant literature, model-building using modern data or presenting archaeological case studies. It should prove a useful reference volume for the libraries of those working in related research areas. The book itself is of high-quality production, with clear figures and comprehensive bibliographies. Perhaps one of the few criticisms is that the volume is not longer!
In the first chapter, the editors (Ventresca Miller and Makarewicz) offer a broad overview of isotopic approaches to pastoralism in prehistory. They start by defining pastoralism as it is understood in archaeology, as a pivotal mode of food production. Due to the sparse zooarchaeological and archaeobotanical records associated with pastoralism, interpretation of this lifestyle from the archaeological record alone has been difficult. It is in part due to this scant evidence that ethnoarchaeology has played such a pivotal role in the development of research to date. Now, stable isotope analysis has offered an additional pathway to understanding both social and environmental dimensions of pastoral economies. Studies in the volume include stable isotope analyses of both human and animal skeletal remains, modern plants and water, and both modelled and empirical data, to reconstruct varying modes along the spectrum of mobility. Importantly, the editors point out that there is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach; spatial as well as temporal variation is important, especially when it comes to the patterning of isotopic ratios in the environment related to climatic and physiogeographic factors. The development of baselines and isoscapes—spatial predictions of isotope ratios—is an emergent research area that will necessarily continue to grow. Finally, the editors also provide an essential review of the context of the application of δ18O, δ13C, δ15N and 87Sr/86Sr in archaeology, before introducing the contributions to the volume.
Chapter 2 grapples with the perennial challenge of ephemerality in the archaeology of pastoralism. In particular, the author (Boles) considers ethnographic information based on long-term studies of the Maasai, and sets expectations for the results of the analysis of cattle tooth enamel on samples from the savannah environment of East Africa. Cattle are also the focus species of Chapter 3, in which Winter-Shuh uses δ13C of tooth enamel to reconstruct vegetative communities in continental Europe during the medieval period in order to make interpretations about the seasonal mobility of herders and livestock. Continuing the theme of prioritising the characterisation of environmental isotopes and their variability through time and space in order to interpret mobility, Ventresca Miller (in Chapter 4) evaluates baseline data for δ18O in water using human-derived samples. Chapter 5 (Hermes et al.) focuses on vertical- rather than lateral-based environmental variability in order to understand seasonal transhumance; the authors make a point of discussing the importance of understanding the shape of the data curve, rather than amplitude, as an indicator in interpretation.
These first five chapters showcase the diversity of approaches and applications now being performed in archaeology concerning the reconstruction of sub-annual mobility, and particularly highlight the need for baseline data. The next half of the book focuses on case studies from archaeology that emphasise more traditionally characterised pastoralist lifestyles where isotopic data is being used to enhance that understanding.
In Chapter 6, Meiggs et al. turn to data from sheep and goats in Turkey, and use strontium values to create a map for interpretation of mobility during the Chalcolithic, with relevance for future studies, and indeed potential application to additional species. Chapter 7 (Chazin) moves to the Late Bronze Age in Armenia, and focuses not just on characterising the nature of pastoralism, but also on detecting intensification related to social factors, as well as considering differences in herd management between species. Chapter 8 (Makarawicz et al.) takes us back to Chalcolithic Turkey and its sheep and goats, this time for a discussion of foddering. Chapter 9 (Knipper et al.) returns to the Caucasus during the Bronze and Early Iron Ages for a discussion of the incorporation of cereals into pastoralist diets, yet again another example of the diversity of research questions and topics to be explored using stable isotope methods. Each standalone chapter offers a unique perspective and application of these techniques.
Finally, whereas Chapter 1 is more about contextualising the basics of isotope research for the reader, Chapter 10 (Makarewicz) serves as a concluding effort, drawing out how the analyses, which are necessarily scientific, relate to the socioeconomic dimensions of pastoralism in archaeology. It would have been nice to see an even broader range of case studies included in the volume, both geographically and temporally, but as it is, Isotopic investigations of pastoralism in prehistory presents a coherent example of the range of techniques, approaches and research questions being employed in isotopic investigations of pastoralism in prehistory.
