JOURNAL
OF ANTHROPOLOGICAL
7, l-55 (1988)
ARCHAEOLOGY
Understanding Urban Process through the Study of
Specialized Subsistence Economy in the Near East
MELINDA
A. ZEDER
Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History,
Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. 20560
Received November 4, 1986
The hierarchical regulation of a specialized economy is held to be one of the
central operational features of the state and its spatial expression as a regional
urban system. Projections about the operation of specialized economy in urban
contexts are made and are applied to the study of the operation of a single key
aspect of urban economy in the Near East-animal-based
subsistence economy.
Predictions about the nature of animal management and resource distribution in
early urban contexts in the Near East are evaluated through the examination of
animal bones from the highland Iranian urban center of Tal-e Malyan, 3200-1000
B.C. 8 1988Academic press.hc.
INTRODUCTION:
URBANISM
AND THE STATE
Perhaps because of the immediate relevance to our own cultural setting, the origin of state and urban society has long been a topic of keen
interest and lively debate. Often, however, the search for the causes of
state and urban emergence has been conducted without benefit of clearly
articulated definitions of just what is to be explained. There has been a
general lack of agreement on the identification
of the central distinguishing characteristics of state and urban systems. Furthermore,
there has
rarely been an attempt to demonstrate the linkage between these obviously related phenomena. There are certain themes, however, that can be
traced throughout most of the thinking on states and urbanism.
Within the context of highly industrialized western society, social scientists of the late 19th and early 20th centuries made little attempt to
distinguish between urbanism and the state as distinctive aspects of complex society. The terms were essentially viewed as synonymous expressions of the pinnacle of cultural evolution-“civilization.”
Yet there was
diversity in the factors which social scientists held primary to the existence of state and urban society. Some emphasized the integrative role of
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MELINDA
A. ZEDER
central governmental institutions (Spencer 1967), others the existence of
a surplus economy and unequal access to the fruits of specialized labor
(Morgan 1910; Engels 1891; Childe 1950), and still others stressed social
ramifications of urban life (Durkheim 1933).
The discovery of ancient complex societies lacking the dense population aggregations of modern urban societies is largely responsible for the
more recent recognition of the state and urbanism as distinct components
of complex society. Still, the primary themes of centralized polity, economic specialization,
and social stratification can be found in most approaches to state and urban definition. The state, which has been the
object of the most explicit definitional attempts, has most commonly been
linked either with the existence of centralized, hierarchical, and coercive
governmental institutions (Service 1975; Cohen 1978; Haas 1982; Wright
1969, 1977), or with stratified social organization
(Fried 1967, 1978;
Adams 1972:73).
Through the recent focus on systematic survey has served to broaden
the framework of urban definition to include both the city and its rural
hinterland, this emphasis on spatial manifestations
has contributed to
mechanistic conceptions of urbanism based on the achievement of certain
population levels and degrees of nucleation (Service 1975:28&282), on
the number and proximity of dwellings within a settlement (Rowe 1963:3),
and, with greater cogency, on particular locational arrangements of urban
centers and subsidiary settlements (Crumley 1976). When an attempt is
made to understand the dynamics of urban spatial patterns, the most
commonly discussed generative processes are economic in nature. This is
especially true in Near Eastern urban contexts where productive specialization and control over productive activities are frequently cited as central features of the urban system (Wright 1969; Johnson 1973, 1975; Tosi
1984); sometimes specialized distribution
is highlighted as well (Alden
1979, 1982). The influence of social structure and political organization on
urban spatial arrangements has also been recognized (Smith 1976a; Blanton 1976a). Even when more attention is paid to operative features of
urban process, however, the connection between these processes and the
state is rarely articulated.
The study presented here seeks to come to a better understanding of the
variables which figure so prominently in discussions of state and urban
structure, to examine the nature of their interaction, and to explore the
linkage between the social processes at the core of the state and the
material spatial manifestations associated with urbanism. The conception
of the state offered here holds that the centralized governmental institutions featured in many conceptions of the state stem from the existence of
a distinctive type of specialized decision-making
which, in turn, lies at the
heart of the state structure. Wright’s definition of state-level regulation is
UNDERSTANDING
URBAN
PROCESS
3
adopted which maintains that the state rests upon “u centralized decisionmaking process which is both externally specialized with regard to the
local processes which it regulates, and internally specialized in that the
central process is divisible into separate activities which can be performed in different places at different times” (Wright 1978383, emphasis
added).
I maintain, however, that specialized decision-making
is only one component of the state, albeit perhaps the primary component, and that specialized economy is another vital ingredient of state process-an ingredient which has yet to be adequately specified. By specialized economy I
mean more than simply differentiated productive activities. Specialized
economic relations are found in societies at essentially all levels of cultural complexity. However, these interactions are usually limited to the
differentiation
of discrete sets of economic activity-specialist
potters,
carvers, stone tool makers, healers. Moreover, specialized economic interactions in these societies generally have little impact on the provisioning of the populace as a whole. Specialized production can certainly be
identified in Hawaiian chiefdoms, but Hawaiian redistribution
systems
seem to have served a more political rather than provisioning role (Earle
1977, 1978; Peebles and Kus 1977).
Instead, I am referring to an economy in which there is differentiation
both between and within the full range of economic activities-from
production, to product movement, to distribution. Production of a single item
in the specialized economy often involves several distinct groups responsible for different stages of the productive process. The procurement of
raw materials might be conducted by one group whose activities are removed both spatially and in time from those of another unrelated group
involved in the first stages of production of the raw materials into the
desired item, with yet another distinct group concerned with the final
stages of production. This segregation of activities extends beyond production to product movement and distribution.
Individuals with little or
no involvement in production might specialize in the movement of raw
materials and partially finished products to various sites of manufacture,
while still others specialize in the final distribution
of the item to the
consumer.
This kind of serial specialization of economic interactions is termed
“specialized economy,” which is formally defined as a set of economic
relations in which there is external differentiation
between different economic activities,
and internal differentiation
within related activities
whose conduct is characterized
by segregation in personnel, timing, and
locale.
Specialized economies are not unique to complex state level societies,
however, but may be found on a limited scale within nonstate contexts
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A. ZEDER
where kin and community relations serve to coordinate segregated economic activities. Only when coordinated by the kind of hierarchical regulatory system discussed by Wright can the disparate aspects of specialized economy expand beyond the familial or community level to become
a coherent, multicommunity
regional system. Thus the similarity between
the above definition of specialized economy and Wright’s definition of
state-level specialized decision-making
is more than metaphorical.
Specialized decision-making
makes possible the articulation of the different
aspects of internally specialized production. It also assures that those
involved in the specialized production of certain items can obtain items
produced by another set of specialists. Once the risks of abandoning more
generalized productive strategies are eliminated, individuals, groups, and
even whole communities can turn their efforts to the more efficient production of specific goods and the provision of specific services. Therefore,
linkage with a specialized regulatory system enables productive specialization to expand beyond the rather limited role it plays in the nonstate
contexts and become the primary mode of regional economic integration.
This conception allows a logical, noncircular association between these
two central features of complex state-level society. A concern with specialized decision-making
is a concern with a regulatory apparatus which
patterns information
flow in a distinctive, specialized way. A concern
with specialized economy is a concern with the process by which specialized economic relations that structure material flow in a similar way
become manifested as a regional system. Explanation of the deveiopment
of specialized decision-making
should focus on factors which lead to the
increased regulatory capacity of state level administrative
hierarchies.
Explanation of the emergence of state-level specialized economy should
focus on factors which lead to the increased productivity and provisioning
efficiency of specialized economy on a regional scale. In certain instances
economic pressures may have been sufficient to cause the emergence of
regional specialized economy and concomitant specialized regulation simultaneously, resulting in the coevolution of these central aspects of state
society. In other cases, specialized decision-making
may have developed
in response to an entirely different set of noneconomic factors. Subsequent higher-level manipulation of regional economy would not be related
to the primary causal variables of state emergence.
Yet while specialized decision-making
and specialized economy are
seen a separate phenomena, the existence of each is inextricably tied to
the other. The development of a hierarchically organized regulatory apparatus provides the organizational framework for the developmental
of
a regional specialized economy. The development of specialized economy
provides the material support for the state. It is possible for the state to
exist without a regional economy, though such polities are unlikely to be
UNDERSTANDING
URBAN
PROCESS
5
particularily
extensive or long lived. Conversely, without state-level administration,
specialized economic relations cannot be expressed as coherent regional economic systems.
The regulatory mechanism coordinating state-level specialized economy need not be vested in a centralized state-controlled
redistributive
authority-though
this is likely in early states given the close enabling
relationship
between specialized regulation and specialized economy.
Regulation of economic relations according to a central logic totally outside the arena of state administration
is theoretically
possible in selfregulating market systems. In reality, even the most highly state controlled or market oriented economy contains elements of both private
entrepreneurship and central regulation. While there can be no doubt that
the specific integrating mechanism will have a profound effect on how the
economy functions, this mechanism is not of central concern heremarket or state controlled, both constitute specialized economy. Regardless of the method of articulation, it is the existence of a central, higher
level logic coordinating segregated sets of economic activities which distinguishes state-level economic relations.
The degree to which economic activities become specialized and the
degree to which these activities require higher level coordination varies,
especially in early states. Some aspects of production and distribution
may become quite specialized and require a great deal of coordination.
Others may not change appreciably from unspecialized forms of operation. Finally, a mixture of economic modes is possible. For example,
while procurement of raw materials may proceed without specialization
and higher coordination,
secondary manufacture and distribution of the
finished product may become highly specialized and regulated. Production of an item is expected to become subject to a higher degree of regulation when nonspecialized modes of production fail to meet the larger
demand for the product or when there is conflict between production of
the item and the production of other equally important items. Distribution
of an item is expected to become more specialized and highly regulated
the more removed consumers of the item are from its production.
This wedding of specialized decision making and specialized economy
often results in the concentration of political and economic power in the
hands of a few. Reliance of an interdependent populace on the central
regulation of specialized economy facilitates regulators’ control over the
polity, thereby augmenting political power. Moreover, such a system
allows for the appropriation
of productive surplus for the personal aggrandizement of regulators, thereby augmenting economic power. The
fact that elites usually concentrate both sources of power highlights the
close connection between regulation and economy in complex societies.
Inequalities in access to both political power and economic privilege often
6
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A. ZEDER
find justification
in the ideological systems of state-level societies. Sanctification of social order may in the long run be a more pervasive and
effective means to maintain a stratified society than any coercive force
elites could muster. Promotion of power and privilege certainly contributes to the process of economic and regulatory specialization and may
even play a causal role in the development of the state. However, unlike
other views that hold social stratification a necessary and sufficient condition for the existence of the state, the view presented here sees the
specialization of social roles and concentration of wealth and power in the
hands of a few as a frequent, but esssentially secondary, feature of state
development.
The articulation of a specialized economy by a state-level administrative apparatus is key to the determination
of the structure and scale of
urban spatial arrangements.
Structurally,
both specialized decisionmaking and specialized economy are most likely to find spatial expression
in distinctive nucleated, specialized settlement hierarchies (see especially
Trigger 1972). In certain situations specialized decision making may play
a greater role (as in the urbanization of the Valley of Oaxaca, Blanton
1967a and 1976b); in others specialized economy may be a more dominant
factor (as in the Susiana Plain, Johnson 1973). In most cases considerable
overlap between the roles of administrative and economic forces in influencing settlement distribution is likely.
This interplay between administration
and economy is also key to the
overall scale of the urban system. Resource distribution and diversity are
certainly important in setting urban scale, but I argue that such factors
play more of a permissive than a deterministic role. Rather it is the administrative apparatus’ ability to coordinate diverse productive and distributive activities over space that is the primary delimiter of scale. Improvements in either the organizational efficiency of regulation or in the
facility of information flow can and often do directly result in an increase
in the amount of territory encompassed by the system. This is perhaps
why technological advances in communication
are often associated with
expanding state societies.
Regulation and economy are by no means the only factors which shape
urban spatial arrangements and delimit urban scale. The social distance
between members of a stratified society frequently finds spatial expression in the internal arrangements of single settlements (Fritz 1986), as well
as in the regional distribution of settlements (Smith 1976b). There is also
an increasingly particularistic
array of factors-topography,
resources,
environment,
history of human settlement, for example-which
shapes
individual urban arrangements and sets the parameters of urban growth.
Thus, there is a hierarchy of factors ranging from the most abstract and
general, to increasingly more concrete and particularistic
which shape
each individual urban system.
UNDERSTANDING
URBAN
PROCESS
7
Understanding
the processes by which these various factors are translated into arrangements of human populations in space is fundamental to
the explanation of urbanism. Indeed, there is a well developed body of
geographical theory which encompasses this range of factors from the
most broad to the most specific, and which allows prediction of how
urban process will be manifested in different contexts. If we seek general
explanation of urbanism on a nonparticularistic
basis, we must appeal to
the most general of these factors. We cannot begin with a conception of
urbanism set in particularistic
terms. Our definitional understanding of
urban systems must be broader than simply that they cover so many
square kilometers and contain x numbers of cities, towns, and villages
arranged in a specific way. Rather we must expand our view of urbanism
and focus on those most general features fundamental to all urban expressions. I hold that it is the articulation of a specialized economy by a
state-level administrative
apparatus that lies at the core of urban process,
and that it is in the interaction of these two variables that we can find the
linkage between urbanism and the state.
This brings us to the question of whether or not all spatial expressions
of the state are urban. Some feel more comfortable with keeping the
original classical concept of u&s, city, at the core of their view of urbanism. Therefore, while various arrangements of rural settlements around
an urban center, a city, would all be classified as different kinds of urban
systems, supposed cityless spatial expressions of the state (such as Old
Kingdom Egypt and the classic Maya) would not. In this view urban
spatial arrangements become one class of a variety of spatial expressions
of the state. I have argued eIsewhere (Zeder 1985:26-28) for a more inclusive definition of urbanism which would encompass all spatial expressions of the wedding of specialized decision-making
with specialized
economy. I find this issue one more of personal taste than of substance,
however. Regardless of where one wishes to make a taxonomic distinction between city-focused and cityless settlement systems, one is still
faced with the issue of exploring how fundamental features of complex,
state-level society find expression in such a great diversity of spatial
arrangements.
The taxonomy of state and urban spatial arrangements is not the major
focus of the study presented here, however. Nor will explanation of the
origin of either the state or urbanism be attempted. Rather, I will examine
the single feature of the state, as conceived here, which has the most to
do with translating state process into urban process. Specifically, this
study seeks to assess the utility of the model of specialized, administered
economic relations developed above through its application to the study
of the operation of a single, fundamental aspect of the economy in an
early example of urban development
in the Near East-animal
based
subsistence economy.
8
MELINDA
ANIMAL
MANAGEMENT
A.
ZEDER
AND DISTRIBUTION
URBAN CONTEXTS
IN NEAR
EASTERN
If specialized urban economy actually operates as projected, it should
be possible to predict the effect of urban development on various aspects
of economic activity and in so doing evaluate the utility of the model
offered here. In this section general postulates about the organization of
specialized economy offered above are used in the formulation of a series
of projections about its effect on animal exploitation in Greater Mesopotamia. Later these projections serve to guide an examination of management and distribution of animal resources in a single early urban context
in highland Iran.
Greater Mesopotamia is chosen as the empirical setting for this study
because this region evidences the earliest examples of state and urban
emergence. As one of the oldest and most important elements in Near
Eastern economies, the management and distribution of animal products
is an appropriate economic sphere for the examination of economy in
early urban contexts. Textual data, primarily from Mesopotamia
under
the Third Dynasty of Ur (215&2000 B.C.), are used to help clarify predictions about the nature of animal exploitation
in Near Eastern urban
contexts. The Ur III period is an appropriate starting point because it
represents an undeniably urban context, and because Ur III textual evidence suggests a high degree of bureaucratic regulation of complex
economic relations conducted over a broad region (Deimel 1931; Falkenstein 1954; Kraus 1954; Gelb 1969).
Management
In the above model it was predicted that the production of goods or
resources becomes structured along the lines of specialized economy
when unspecialized
modes of production
fail to produce sufficient
amounts to meet the larger demand, or when the production of a good or
resource significantly and persistently conflicts with the production of
another important item. The production of animal resources (herd management) requires intimate knowledge of the needs of herds and the strategies necessary to meet those needs. Herding is generally not conducive
to higher level mediation by those not closely associated with herding.
Thus, unless demand for animal products outstrips the productive capacity of generalized herd strategies, or there is conflict between animal
management practices and other productive activities, little regulation
over animal management is expected.
This is especially true for sheep and goats, the primary Near Eastern
herd animals. Even in today’s highly specialized, market economy, pas-
UNDERSTANDING
URBAN
PROCESS
9
totalists are usually able to meet extralocal needs for caprid products
without altering subsistence herd strategies (Redding 1981a:31-34). The
rarity with which Ur III economic texts mention caprid management practices, suggests sheep and goat herding was also free from centralized
control during early urban periods. Adams (198 1: 149-15 1) postulates that
Ur III caprid flocks were herded in outlying pastures remote from the
highly settled, cultivated alluvium by specialist groups of semisedentary
herdsmen. The autonomy from state control of pastoral groups in Mesopotamia has been demonstrated by Rowton (1973). Thus while caprid
herding may have been conducted by a specialist subgroup of the population, the regulation of herding seems to have been internal to pastoral
groups and not subject to the dictates of regulators responsible for the
functioning of the Ur III economy as a whole. An exception to this lack
of central involvement in caprid management is found in the production of
wool used in the large, highly regulated textile industry (Jacobsen 1953).
In this case, the demand for wool (a storable product and major trade
commodity)
may have outstripped production capacities of generalized
herd strategies, resulting in a greater degree of regulation over specialized
wool producing herds of sheep (Adams 1981: 148), and perhaps the development of high wool yield breeds of sheep (Bokonyi 1978:188).
Herding cattle, the third most important Near Eastern domesticate, is
likely to have needed a greater degree of regulation. Water and pasture
preferences of cattle require that they be kept within prime areas for
agricultural production, resulting in a greater potential for conflict between agricultural and herding interests. Moreover raising cattle for draft
animals requires that a higher proportion of males live a good deal longer
than is conducive to efficient management for edible resources. Large
scale exploitation of cattle for both labor and food resources is, therefore,
likely to have resulted in conflicts needing higher level arbitration. There
is, in fact, documentation
dating to the pre-Sargonid period that both
names for cattle and management practices employed varied depending
upon whether cattle were used as meat producers, as dairy animals, as
draft animals, or as “war machines” (Kientz and Lambert 1963).
Distribution
It was also predicted above that the less consumers are involved in the
production of an item, the more highly specialized and regulated its distribution is likely to become. With increasing productive specialization, a
significant proportion of Near Eastern urban dwellers probably did not
cultivate their own crops or raise their own animals, but are likely to have
received subsistence resources through more specialized, highly regulated channels. Therefore, it is the distribution of animal resources that is
10
MELINDA
A.
ZEDER
expected to have been most profoundly affected by urban development.
Because of the inevitable lag time between production and distribution of
items, however, highly perishable animal products do not lend themselves
to inclusion in a specialized distribution system. Effective storage technology must exist before a subsistence commodity
can be channeled
through such a distribution system.
As the least perishable, most easily stored caprid animal product and as
a regenerative resource, wool is the most suitable caprid product for
controlled distribution.
Ur III textual documentation
of a high degree of
specialization and regulation in wool production, its manufacture into
textiles, and its distribution has been mentioned above. In contrast, textual evidence for the distribution of another regenerative animal product,
milk, is limited (Gelb 1967:67). Other than drying milk products, there
was no effective means to prevent spoilage of fresh milk products in the
third millennium
B.C. Therefore most dairy products would have been
unsuitable for centralized distribution. Distribution of dairy products may
have been channeled through more direct contacts between consumers
and those managing milk producing animals, requiring little higher level
coordination or administrative
recording.
The use of the living animal as a mobile meat locker solves storage
problems for highly perishable meat products, making meat a suitable
commodity for regulated distribution.
Indeed there is ample textual documentation that the distribution of meat to at least certain segments of the
Ur III population was a highly structured and regulated affair. In particular, illicit excavations at Tell Drehem, near Nippur, yielded a large quantity of texts which document the activities of a major animal redistribution
system (see in particular Jones and Snyder 1961; Kang 1972; Schacht
n.d.; Zeder 1985:33-81). Responsibility
for animals brought to Drehem
from both within and outside southern Sumer was transferred through at
least two and perhaps three levels of administrators.
Individual administrators at each level seem to have specialized in different aspects of related responsibilities.
The majority of animals were channeled out of the
system on-the-hoof to a variety of different institutions and individuals,
with the species, ages, and sexes of animals varying with the nature of
consumers: ewes and oxen to “the troops,” lambs and kids to cultic
functionaries, and donkeys to “the dogs.” The movement of some animals through and out of Drehem took as little time as a 1 day. Other
animals (especially females and young caprids) seem to have been kept in
Drehem controlled “stockyards”
for an indefinite period of time.
For all its complexity, however, the Drehem system was actually quite
limited in the types of products and the consumers it served. The system
focused almost exclusively on the distribution of meat from sheep, goats,
cattle, and to a lesser extent gazelle. Other important Ur III resources like
UNDERSTANDING
URBAN
PROCESS
11
fish (arguably the primary source of protein in the region; Adams
1981:242) and pigs (an important but apparently unregulated product in
urban centers; Mudar 1982; Bokiinyi
1978:189; Zeder 1985:84-85) are
nowhere mentioned.
Most significantly for our purposes, the beneficiaries of the Drehem
system are limited to soldiers, religious personnel, personnel of a few
“houses” of unclear function, a miscellaneous group of titled and untitled
individuals,
and dog kennels. There is no mention of the distribution of
meat to craft specialists, nor any mention of agriculturalists
or even of
herders in these texts-groups
who must have comprised the bulk of the
Ur III population. Separate systems known to have operated out of other
Ur III cities (like Umma; see Jones and Snyder 1961:244-246) may have
served consumers not included in the Drehem system. However, other
documented animal distribution systems are similarly limited in the range
of individuals they serviced. Alternatively,
certain members of the Ur III
population may have received meat through direct unregulated exchanges
between consumers and producers which left no textual documentation.
In fact, projections about specialized economy offered above would lead
one to expect that those removed from Ur III food production activities
received meat through indirect channels of distribution,
while those
whose activities brought them into contact with herds and herders received animal products through more direct channels.
Effects of Distribution
Mode on Meat Products Received
The method by which meat is received-whether
through direct contacts with herds and herders or through indirect, regulated channelsshould affect the both the diversity and the types of meat products received by consumers. Diversity of meat products can be tied to the number of individuals making distribution
decisions; the specific types of
products received should reflect the goals which guide those decisions.
When animals are received through direct consumer/producer
interchange, there are a number of individuals making independent selection
decisions and a greater potential for diversity in the types of interchanges.
For the most part, however, the interest of the herder in promoting herd
security probably exerts the greatest influence on these decisions. When
meat is received by the consumer through indirect, regulated channels,
selection decisions are likely to be a matter of policy, thereby limiting the
potential diversity in selection decisions. Moreover, the goals guiding
these decisions are probably aimed at maximizing
the efficiency with
which distribution requirements are met (see Redding 1981a for a discussion of the effect of different goals of herd security and energy maximization on selection strategy). Variations in the diversity and goals of
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MELINDA
A. ZEDER
selection decisions can, in turn, be used to develop a series of specific
projections about the effect of direct and indirect modes of distribution on
the species, ages, and sexes of animals received, and on the methods of
butchery and meat preparation employed.
Species selection. When provisioning
is through direct contacts between herder and consumer the diversity of animals selected is expected
to be greater because consumers have direct access to a variety of domestic species. Procurement of supplemental wild game is also anticipated. Moreover, selection of animals received through direct channels
will reflect the herder’s interests in perpetuating herd security. Consequently, animals utilized are expected to be those best suited to local
ecological conditions and to the management strategies of the herders. In
particular, animals with high replacement potential should be favored,
even over animals with a greater or better quality meat yield. High reproductive capacities, for example, would make goats the more attractive
of the two caprid species-in
spite of sheep’s generally superior yield of
meat per animal and calories per unit of meat (Flannery 1969:Table 3;
Redding 1981a:79-80, 103).
When provisioning is through indirect channels, selection of animals is
likely to focus on a limited number of species due to reduced access of
consumers to herds and to an interest in limiting the number of sources
from which resources must be procured. There may also be a tendency to
actively discourage direct food procurement in order to promote consumer dependency on a central source of food. When it occurs, procurement of wild resources may serve more as a prestige pastime than a means
of supplementing deficient contributions of meat from domestic stock. In
addition, selection of species distributed through indirect channels is expected to favor species which best meet provisioning requirements, i.e.
those which provide the most or best quality meat per animal. All other
factors being equal, cattle would be favored over sheep which would be
favored over goats. All other factors are not usually equal, however, and
ecological and management considerations are expected to have a major
influence on species selection strategies.
Age and sex selection. Culling caprid herds for direct distribution
is
expected to focus on animals in age and sex classes which least affect the
perpetuation of herds-specifically,
males between the ages of six months
to two years (Redding 1981a:204). However, those receiving animals directly will also have access to both male and female animals on either side
of this age range. Therefore, while an emphasis on 6-month- to a-year-old
males is anticipated, utilization of both sexes from a relatively diverse
range of ages is also expected with direct distribution.
The age and sex of caprids received through indirect channels is likely
to focus on animals which best promote provisioning interests in maxi-
UNDERSTANDING
URBAN
13
PROCESS
mizing meat return-specifically,
males between the ages of 2 and 3
years. Goals other than meat maximization
may influence provisioning
policy; taste considerations, for example, might favor somewhat younger
animals. Whatever the goal, reduced access of consumers to herds and
centralization of selection decisions under provisioners will result in the
utilization of a rather uniform, restricted range of ages and sexes of animals received.
Butchery and meat preparation.
When animals are procured directly,
butchery is likely to occur in the vicinity of the consuming household. As
a result, the skeletal parts deposited in local dumps will occur in proportions similar to those in the complete skeleton. Also, the ways in which
animals are butchered and their meat prepared will be specific either to
the household itself or to the social/ethnic group with which the household is affiliated. Thus, diversity is anticipated between individual consuming households in butchery and preparation practices.
When meat is distributed through indirect channels, butchery and even
meat preparation may become specialized activities conducted some distance from the consuming household. Uneven representation of skeletal
regions is expected in the dumps of areas supplied by indirect networks.
Also, butchery and preparation techniques employed should show a
higher degree of standardization.
Variation is expected between functionally different groups of consumers rather than between individual households. The highest degree of uniformity in part selection and standardization of butchery technique is anticipated where meat serves as rations
for specific services.
Predicted Effects of Urbun Emergence on Animal Management
Distribution
in Early Near Eastern Urban Contexts
and
Summarizing these discussions, the following predictions about animal
exploitation in early Near Eastern urban contexts are offered. The management of animals is likely to have remained unaffected by the development of specialized economy as long as traditional management techniques provided sufficient resources to supply the urban population, and
as long as the management of a species did not conflict with the production of other important resources. In contrast, the distribution of meat is
expected to have been profoundly affected by urban development in a
region. With the emergence of specialized economic relations, a large
segment of the urban population is expected to have become involved in
nonsubsistence specialized activities and to have ceased raising animals
for their own consumption.
The distribution of meat to nonsubsistence
producers is expected to have become itself a specialized activity, subject
to higher level, more centralized control. Those with closer ties to sub-
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MELINDA
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sistence production are, however, more likely to have obtained animal
resources through direct contacts with herders. Regulated indirect channels of meat distribution
differ from unregulated direct channels in the
number of individuals involved in distribution decisions and in the goals
of these individuals. These differences are expected to result in significant, predictable variation in the species, ages, and sexes of animals
consumed, and on the methods of butchery and meat preparation practiced (Table 1).
ANIMAL
Background
EXPLOITATION
AT TAL-E MALYAN,
KUR BASIN, IRAN
and Expectations
The highland center of Tal-e Malyan in the Kur River Basin, Fars
Province, Iran (Fig. 1) is an appropriate setting for the evaluation of the
above predictions about animal exploitation in early Near Eastern urban
contexts for several reasons. First, specialized economic relations can be
shown to have developed in the Kur Basin at the same time, if not somewhat earlier, than more traditional markers of urban society. The beginnings of specialized production and indirect, regulated distribution
of
craft products can be traced to the Early Banesh phase (3300-3200 B.C.)
before the founding of Malyan (Alden 1979, 1982). The settlement system
located in the Kur Basin qualifies as urban under most definitions in the
subsequent Middle Banesh phase (3200-2900) when Malyan emerges as a
50-ha walled settlement, with public buildings, writing, evidence’of craft
production, and long-distance exchange relations. Multiple lines of evidence indicate that Middle Banesh Malyan was the focal point in the
integration
of disparate economic specializations
in craft production
(Blackman 1981, 1982, 1984), agriculture (Miller 1982), and pastoralism
(Zeder 1985: 144-149) in the valley. There is also some direct evidence for
the hierarchical administration
of specialized economic relations within
TABLE
1
EXPECTED PATTERNS OF MEAT DISTRIBUTION
Species
Age and sex
Butchery and
preparation
Direct
Indirect
Greater diversity, higher
reproductive rates
(goats, sheep, cattle)
Greater diversity, males
between 6 months and
2 years
Even part distribution,
greater variation
Less diversity, greater
meat yield (cattle,
sheep, goats)
Less diversity, males
between 2 and 3 years
Selected parts, more
standardization
UNDERSTANDING
.URRAN
LOWER
PROCESS
KUR
RIVER
BASIN
LAKE
URMIA
3
0
TEHRAN
o
ISFAHAN
0 KERMAN
0 Archaeologncal
0 MODERN
.%les
CITIES
FIG.
1. Location
of the Kur
River
Basin.
Malyan (Blackman and Zeder n.d). The development of urbanism in the
region is unquestionable by the late third millennium
B.C. when Malyan
was a 135ha site dominating a multitiered
local settlement hierarchy.
During this period Malyan (ancient Anshan) served with the lowland center of Susa as cocapitals of the far-flung Elamite confederation (Hansmen
1972).
Malyan is also an appropriate context in this study of effect of urban
development on animal exploitation
because the interaction of pastoral
16
MELINDA
A. ZEDER
and sedentary populations have been key to political and economic relations in the valley from the fourth millennium to the present day. Shifting
relations between nomads and settled populations have been linked to
both the origin and decline of the first urban system in the region centered
at Malyan (Sumner 1972, n.d. a, 1986; Jacobs 1980). The subsequent
Achaemenid phase of urban development, centered at Persepolis in the
eastern part of the valley, also had its origins in pastoral nomadism (Sumner 1986). Today’s walled villages are testimony to the relatively recent
hostilities in the Kur Basin between villagers and nomads who still pass
through the modern village of Malyan twice a year on their way to and
from summer pastures.
A third factor that makes Malyan an appropriate setting for this study
is the nature and scope of the excavations conducted at Malyan by the
University of Pennsylvania Museum under the direction of William Sumner. During five seasons of excavation, the Malyan Expedition encountered deposits representing each of three major phases of urban development at Malyan (Fig. 2 and Table 2): the Banesh (3400-2800 B.C.), the
Kaftari (2400-1800 B.C.), and the Qaleh (1600-1000 B.C.). Moreover,
there is remarkable diversity in the range of activities represented in the
Malyan occupation areas, which include elite residences and public buildings, workshops, and more simple domestic structures.
Finally, Malyan is one of the few major urban sites in Greater Mesopotamia whose excavation has provided adequate data to evaluate the
propositions about animal management and distribution
in early urban
contexts. Up to now this discussion has used textual data to clarify urban
modes of animal exploitation.
While the excavations at Malyan yielded
texts which pertain to animals, these data are of limited utility for our
purposes. Even when rare and difficult to decipher texts are recovered
from archaeological sites, they usually pertain only to administered activities and not to the total range of economic relations likely to exist in
urban contexts. In contrast, animal bones are among the most ubiquitous
artifacts recovered from urban sites. Moreover, because all consumers
are likely to discard bone, fauna1 remains are our most direct link to the
total range of economic activities related to the distribution and consumption of meat. The use of fauna1 remains to study the management of living
herds is somewhat more difficult since animal management is removed
from bone disposal by at least two intermediary
steps (distribution and
consumption),
if not more (marketing and secondary fattening). These
problems not withstanding, animal bones are still the most powerful tool
at the archaeologist’s disposal for the study of both the management and
distribution
of animals in ancient urban contexts. The excavations at
Malyan have yielded one of the largest, most carefully collected fauna1
UNDERSTANDING
URBAN PROCESS
FIG. 2. Tal-e Malyan, location of excavations.
assemblages from a Near Eastern urban site. Moreover, close to 100,000
animal bones from Malyan have been studied with the explicit intention of
addressing problems concerning the evolution of specialized urban economy.
Thus Malyan provides an unique opportunity to test predictions developed in the preceding section about the effect or urban emergence on the
management and distribution of animal products. Specifically, as long as
city dwellers’ needs for these products could be met, I would not expect
the development of specialized economic relations in the Kur Basin to
have had a significant impact on the management of herds whose products
serviced the city. Herd management practices in the Kur Basin are examined using the proportions of various species and ages of animals utilized at Tal-e Malyan on a site-wide basis during major periods of urban
18
MELINDA
MAJOR
PERIODS
OF OCCUPATION
A. ZEDER
TABLE
2
AT MALYAN
AND FUNCTIONS
UNITS DISCUSSED
OF EXCAVATION
Banesh (3400-2800 B.C.)-Urban
emergence
TUV-Kitchen/serving
installation
ABC-Elite
residence/public building
Kaftari (2400-1800 B.C.)-Urban
florescence
GHI-Elite
residence/public building
FXlO6-Domestic/craft
area
ABC-Dump
Qaleh (1600-1000 B.C.)-Urban
decline
BB33-Pottery
production center
XX-Residence
?
EDD-Storage/redistribution
facility
development.
Nonfaunal data (i.e., ethnobotanical
data) are also used
when relevant.
In contrast, evidence of specialization and regulation of the distribution
of meat to city dwellers is anticipated. Indirect channels of meat distribution are expected to be most strongly expressed in areas of specialized
craft production and where administrative
activities were conducted.
More direct meat procurement is anticipated in areas with relatively simple domestic architecture and with little or no evidence of the conduct of
specialized production or administrative
activities. Patterns of meat distribution at Malyan are examined by a broad suite of faunal data. As a
lengthy discussion is devoted to analytical procedures in Zeder (1985: 173196), these procedures are only briefly summarized.
To evaluate predictions about the types of animals distributed, percentages of unaltered counts and weights of bones are used. Counts provide
an estimate of species frequency, weights a gauge of meat contribution.
Summary statistics such as MN1 and biomass projections are avoided for
reasons elaborated in Zeder (1985:175-177). In addition to bones which
could be identified to the taxonomic level of subfamily or better, count
and weight tabulations based on the total sample of bones divided into
categories of Large and Medium Mammal are also used. As species diversity at Malyan is extremely limited, Large Mammals can safely be
assumed to be mostly cattle, Medium Mammals are essentially all sheep
and goats.
Two methods are used to evaluate predictions about the age of animals
culled. Survivorship curves based on long bone fusion scores are computed using a formula provided by Redding (1981b:248). In addition, tooth
UNDERSTANDING
URBAN
PROCESS
19
eruption and wear patterns on mandibular caprid teeth are computed
following a system devised by Payne (1973). For a variety of reasons
(Zeder 1985: 178), techniques for sexual discrimination
proved unsatisfactory and projections about the utilization of different sexes are not examined.
Butchery and preparation practices are monitored through skeletal part
distributions.
Medium and Large Mammal part distribution based on the
total assemblage of bones are computed for three general skeletal regions:
head (skull, horn, mandibles, and teeth), axial (vertebra, ribs, and pelvic
bones), and limb (pectoral bones from scapula to phalanges and pelvic
bones from femur to phalanges). These distributions are compared to that
in a complete bovid skeleton to assess whether entire carcasses or only
selected parts were discarded. The distributions of skeletal elements identified as either sheep or goats are also compared to the distribution
of
elements in a complete caprid skeleton to examine more specific patterns
of caprid skeletal distribution. A similar procedure is used to assess variation in the presence of meat and non-meat bearing limb bones. Scarring
frequency on different skeletal regions is also used to study caprid butchery practices. The degree of bone fragmentation (determined by dividing
the weight by the number of bones) was examined, but was found more
useful in evaluating taphonomic factors affecting the sample than ancient
butchery practices (Zeder 1985:444-445).
The mention of sample taphonomy brings the discussion to the last
methodological
issue to be considered before turning to the results of the
study of the Tale Malyan faunal remains. Serious reservations have been
raised in recent years about the ability of archaeologists to address substantive questions on the basis of archaeological data (cf. SchilIer 1972).
In zooarchaeological
research a great deal of useful work has gone into
discovering the sampling and taphonomic biases which complicate our
ability to use faunal data in the study of past cultural phenomena (Payne
1972; Meadow 1978; Gilbert 1979; Binford 1981; Grayson 1984). Thus
before the Malyan fauna1 data could be used to study the nature of animal
exploitation in a developing urban economy, questions of sample size and
taphonomy had to be resolved.
Turning first to sample size, in all but one excavation area at Malyan
over 35% of the total sample of lots yielding bones were analyzed. Moreover, in most areas I analyzed better than 50% of the deposits which could
be most directly linked to the activities of ancient residents of the area.
The one exception is a massive trash dump from the center of the tell
where the 40,000 bones analyzed were deemed a sufficiently large and
representative sample. Biases stemming from variation in sample recovery techniques (screening versus hand-picked samples) and context (sec-
20
MELINDA
A. ZEDER
ondary trash deposits versus tertiary building collapse) were controlled
by determining
the effects of these factors on large samples (lO,OOO20,000 bones) from Malyan (Zeder 1985: 195-230). Data from occupation
areas which might be expected to suffer from either recovery or contextual biases were interpreted in light of the findings of this study. These
considerations are not highlighted here but are incorporated into the results presented below.
In the sections which follow, the Malyan fauna1 data are used to examine animal exploitation over the 2000 years from the emergence of the
first urban system in the Kur Basin to its decline. Primary attention is
devoted to the examination of meat distribution during each major phase
of urban development in the region: the Banesh,-the Kaftari, and the
Qaleh. Specifically, predictions about the kind of distribution mode expected in each occupation area are made on the basis of the architecture
and artifacts from these areas. The predictions are evaluated with the
fauna1 assemblages from these areas according to the procedures outlined
above. Conclusions about the management of herd animals in each period
of urban development in the Kur Basin are presented at the end of each
chronological section.
BANESH
ANIMAL
EXPLOITATION
As discussed above, the Banesh phase (3400-2800 B.C.) marks the
emergence of Malyan as a primary center and the period of urban emergence in the Kur River Basin. The developmental history of settlement in
the Kur Basin, the restricted number and low density of subsidiary
Banesh settlements, and their unusual distribution around the margins of
the valley have been used by Sumner (1986) to argue for the presence of
a sizable population of pastoral nomads during the Banesh. On the basis
of multiple lines of evidence relating to Banesh craft and agricultural
economy, I have argued that Banesh Malyan was a conduit through which
the products of specialized pastoralists were exchanged for agricultural
and craft products produced by settled populations (Zeder 1985: 141-148,
232-233).
If pastoral specialists were as important in Banesh economic relations
as they are postulated to have been, a significant portion of the animals
utilized in the region are likely to have been derived from nomad caprid
flocks; local investment in animal management would have been limited.
Moreover, the increasingly specialized nature of Banesh regional economy leads one to anticipate that Malyan residents, especially those involved in nonsubsistence activities, obtained meat through increasingly
indirect channels, and less through direct contacts between producers and
consumers.
UNDERSTANDING
URBAN
PROCESS
21
Distribution
Distribution
of meat to Malyan residents in the Banesh can be examined at two areas on the mound-Operations
ABC and TUV (Fig. 2).
Operation ABC (Ban&
levels). Four Banesh building levels were encountered in the large ABC exposure located on the central portion of the
mound (Sumner 1974, 1976, 1986). While somewhat different ranges of
activities may have been practiced in the successive Banesh structures at
ABC, the impressive architectural remains and their contents indicate
that throughout this period ABC was occupied by high status individuals
involved in the conduct and administration
of economic activities (Zeder
1985:234-235).
Following the predictions about meat distribution detailed earlier, the
high status residents of the elaborate ABC structures are not expected to
have engaged in the production or direct procurement of meat. Strong
indications of indirect provisioning in the Banesh ABC fauna1 assemblage
can be predicted and are, indeed, found in each of the three measures of
distribution
mode examined. Because of the relatively small sample of
bones from Banesh ABC, and because of the general uniformity in the
occupation of the site over time, the assemblages from the four Banesh
building levels at ABC are presented as a single sample.
Selection of species consumed at ABC focused almost exclusively on
sheep and goats. Caprids contribute over 95% of both number and weight
of identifiable bones (Tables 3 and 4); Medium Mammals contribute 99%
in number and 98% in weight to the total sample of bones (Tables 5 and
6). Contrary to expectations, however, lower meat yield goats outnumber
sheep by 2 to 1 in both number and weight of bones (Table 7).
The ABC long bone survivorship curve shows a dramatic focus on 2- to
3-year-old caprids, the optimal age class for meat yield (Fig. 3); there is a
68% decline in survivorship of caprids in this age group. Though based on
a small sample, the ABC caprid tooth eruption and wear kill-off pattern
echoes this exclusivity in age utilization (Fig. 4).
Medium Mammal part distributions from ABC indicate that whole caprids were butchered at the site, though some preference for meatier limb
elements and selection against head elements is also attested (Table 8).
Caprid part distribution from Banesh ABC shows an emphasis on meat
bearing limb elements (Table 9), especially from the hindlimb haunch
region (Table 10). The frequency of butchery scars on ABC caprid bones
indicates that while most limb joints were disarticulated,
the location of
scarring is restricted to only certain bones (Fig. 5). Standardization
of
butchery practices is indicated.
Operation TUV. Excavations at the small subsidiary TUV mound in the
eastern portion of the site encountered three somewhat more modest
22
MELINDA
A. ZEDER
TABLE
3
COUNTSOF~DENTIFIABLE MAMMAL BONES
Ovis/
Capra
(%)
SW
Bos
m
Equid
(%I
ABC
TUV-Total
+
2
+
1
99
97
Banesh period
+
+
+
-
-
781
3591
TUV-I
TUV-II
TUV-III
+
1
3
1
gg-99
96
+
+
-
-
-
429
1469
1693
GHI
FX106
ABC
5
8
10
1
4
2
94
91
87
+
+
+
+
-
753
759
4261
BB33
xx
EDD
7
12
16
2
4
4
89
83
76
2
+
+
1
2
2
188
230
685
Area
Gazella
m
(%
Kaftari
Canid
m
Camelus
(%I
Total
number
period
+
Qaleh
period
-
Banesh building levels (Nicholas 1980, 1981, n.d.). Artifacts from these
structures indicate that the use of bevel rim bowls and other chaffware
ceramics, food preparation and consumption, storage and disbursement,
and administrative
activity were of particular importance. Production of
small ornamental objects is also evidenced. Elsewhere I have argued that
the excavated portion of the TUV mound can be interpreted as a kind of
“company cafeteria” for TUV occupants, some of whom were involved
in production of nonutilitarian,
ornamental objects (Zeder 1985:247-256).
TUV is seen, then, as a link between subsistence production and final
distribution
and consumption in a Banesh specialized food provisioning
system. Moreover, changes in the architecture and artifactual content of
each of the three building levels at TUV suggest that what began as a
relatively small operation grew in both size and complexity through time.
Evidence for conduct of specialized administered activities in the TUV
kitchen/serving
facility lead one to expect indications of indirect meat
provisioning in the TUV faunal remains. Given the lower status of the
occupants of TUV and their role as a link in a food provisioning chain,
however, indications of indirect distribution may not be as strongly expressed here as they are at the elite ABC structures. Especially in its
earlier phases of operation, the TUV facility may have received animals
directly from herders. Since butchery and consumption of meat are both
UNDERSTANDING
URBAN
23
PROCESS
WEIGHTS
TABLE
OF IDENTIFIABLE
Area
Bos
(%)
Equid
(%I
Ovisl
Capra
(%)
ABC
TUV-Total
2
14
1
2
%
84
+
+
+
-
-
+
1
+
-
-
-
-
SUS
m
Banesh
4
MAMMAL
Gazella
@J)
BONES
Canid
cm
period
-
TUV-I
TUV-II
TUV-III
5
23
1
1
4
99
94
72
GHI
FX106
ABC
13
31
35
6
4
5
81
65
59
+
+
+
+
+
27
29
41
7
12
11
65
59
38
-
1
+
+
+
1
Kaftari
Qaleh
BB33
xx
EDD
Camelus
(%I
-
period
-
period
Note.
All weights
are reported
to the nearest
COUNTS
Large
mammal
(%I
Area
.
Medium
+
2
+
1
5
Kaftari
GHI
FX106
ABC
3
5
8
BB33
xx
EDD
5
12
11
9
4506
24252
2673
8879
12700
4682
4914
52618
1462
2237
8925
gram.
TABLE
5
OF TOTAL SAMPLE
Banesh
ABC
TUV-Total
TUV-I
TUV-II
TUV-III
-
Total
weight
Qaleh
mammal
6%
period
99
94
99
94
91
Unidt.
mammal
cw
-
Total
number
4
+
5
4
8313
31480
4553
14281
12646
period
94
83
82
3
12
10
4813
5202
23223
period
93
86
78
2
2
11
1337
6%
5113
24
MELINDA
WEIGHTS
Large
Area
mammal
(%I
A.
ZEDER
TABLE
6
OF THE TOTAL
Medium
mammal
(So)
Banesh
SAMPLE
Unidt.
mammal
(%I
Total
weight
ABC
TUV-Total
2
13
period
98
86
1
13400
45633
TUV-I
TUV-II
TUV-III
-t
6
22
99
93
71
1
+
1
5153
18287
21593
GHI
FX106
ABC
26
16
39
period
72
83
59
1
+
2
11158
10087
91295
BB33
xx
EDD
19
34
53
period
81
65
45
+
+
2
3938
3938
17303
Kaftari
Qaleh
RATIOS
Area
Goat:Sheep
(counts %)
TABLE
7
OF GOAT TO SHEEP
Goat:Sheep
(weight %)
Banesh
Total
number
Total
weight
ABC
TUV-Total
2.1
2.0
period
2.0
1.9
123
555
1123
5446
TUV-I
TUV-II
TUV-III
1.2
2.1
2.6
0.8
2.3
2.3
100
209
246
972
2348
2126
GHI
FX106
ABC
1.1
1.1
1.2
period
1.3
1.1
0.6
166
109
634
784
650
8650
BB33
xx
EDD
0.8
1.0
1.6
period
0.8
1.0
1.6
36
47
74
301
420
943
Kaftari
Qaleh
UNDERSTANDING
URBAN
PROCESS
FIG. 3. Caprid long bone age distributions for Banesh operations. (ABC sample
bones; TUV sample size, 857 bones.) Bones which comprise age classes are
humerus, proximal radius; B, proximal fist and second phalanges; C, distal tibia;
metapodials; E, proximal femur, distal radius; F, proximal tibia, distal femur,
humerus.
25
size, 245
A, distal
D, distal
proximal
believed to have occurred at this site, the third indicator of distribution
mode (butchery and preparation) is particularily likely to show patterning
expected with direct distribution. However, the growth in size and complexity of the provisi@ning institution at TUV over time may have also
included greater complexity in the ways in which foodstuffs were brought
into the facility. Indications of increasingly indirect and regulated meat
provisioning
at TUV through time can, therefore, be anticipated. Once
again the data generally support these predictions.
As at Banesh ABC, TUV species selection is tightly focused on caprids
(Tables 34, with goats once again twice as common as sheep (Table 7).
In contrast to the ABC assemblage, Large Mammals (primarily cattle)
make a larger contribution to the number and, especially, to the weight of
TUV bones. Though of minimal import at both areas, the contribution of
supplementary
game (gazelle, wild pig, and fowl) is slightly higher at
TUV.
Over time there is a marked decrease in diversity of species at TUV.
Large Mammal contribution drops from 22% of the total weight of bones
in Building Level III to less than 1% in the latest phase of occupation at
TUV. Medium Mammals contribute 99% of both the number and weight
of bones by Building Level I times, with no contribution
from supplementary game indicated in this latest stage of the development of the TUV
26
MELINDA
A. ZEDER
Age
Score
Age
Score
4. Caprid mandibular tooth eruption/wear age distributions for Banesh operations.
(ABC sample size, 7 mandibles; TUV sample size, 69 mandibles.) Age classes are I, O-2
months; II, 2-6 months; III, 6-12 months; IV, 1-2 years; V, 2-3 years; VI, 3-4 years; VII,
4-6 years; VIII, 6-8 years; IX, 8-lO+ years.
FIG.
facility. There is also a shift in goat to sheep ratios toward a more even
representation of these caprid species by Building Level I.
Both caprid long bone and tooth eruption and wear generated age distributions for TUV (Figs. 3 and 4) demonstrate a general emphasis on 2to 3-year-old animals, but also indicate consumption of animals both
younger and older that this optimal age. Over time a tighter focus on a
somewhat younger class of caprids is evident in both the long bone fusion
data (Fig. 6) and in tooth eruption and wear data (Fig. 7).
Medium Mammal part distribution at TUV is more similar to the standard bovid than was the case at the elite ABC structures (Table 8), suggesting less selectivity in part distribution at the TUV facility. This pattern changes through time, however. In Building Level III Medium Mammal part distribution
is essentially the same as it is in the standard
complete bovid. By Building Level I times selection for axial and limb
elements, and against head elements is evident. This pattern is also seen
in the distribution of caprid parts at TUV. There is an increased proportion of meat bearing limb bones (Table 9) and a growing emphasis on cuts
from the shoulder region (Table 10) in each successive level. Butchery
patterns at TUV are generally less standardized than they are at ABC
UNDERSTANDING
URBAN
TABLE
MEDIUM
MAMMAL
27
PROCESS
8
PART
DISTRIBUTIONS
Area
Head
m
Axial
(%)
Limb
(%I
Standard
34
35
31
ABC
TUV-Total
20
30
38
31
42
39
3,989
19,906
TUV-I
TUV-II
TUV-III
10
31
36
46
26
31
44
43
33
3,028
9,085
7,193
GHI
FX106
ABC
26
18
22
period
22
28
33
51
54
45
3,398
3,901
12,742
BB33
xx
EDD
18
22
40
period
20
17
20
62
61
40
Banesh
Kaftari
Qaleh
of Banest Meat Distribution
220
period
(Fig. 5), though once again there is indication
tion in butchery through time (Fig. 8).
Summary
Total
number
1,098
556
1,183
of increasing standardiza-
at Malyan
To summarize,
indirect distribution
of meat is evidenced in both
Banesh areas of the mound sampled. However, the nature of meat procurement seems to have varied between the elite residential area and the
kitchen facility. Evidence for indirect modes of meat distribution
are
strongest in the assemblage from the elite structures at Banesh ABC
where meat distribution focused almost exclusively on 2- to 3-year-old
caprids. While a portion of these caprids came to ABC on-the-hoof or as
whole carcasses, there is some indication of part selectivity and good
evidence of standardized butchery.
There was also a focus on 2- to 3-year-old caprids at the TUV facility,
though species and age selection here was somewhat broader. In addition
there is indication of more regular receipt of whole animals and less
standardization
in butchery. Through time all three indicators of distribution mode point to an increase in indirect provisioning at TUV. While
the institution housed in Building Level III is likely to have procured a
substantial portion of meat resources directly from their own herds or
28
MELINDA
A.
ZEDER
TABLE 9
MEDIUM MAMMAL MEAT AND NON-MEAT BEARING LIMB BONES
Meat bearing
(%I
Non-meat bearing
(%)
Standard
33
61
42
ABC
TUV-Total
84
14
16
26
409
1713
TUV-I
TUV-II
TUV-III
82
77
69
18
23
31
272
730
711
GHI
FX106
ABC
65
53
70
34
44
30
422
401
2638
BB33
xx
EDD
81
70
74
19
30
26
113
97
220
Area
Total number
Banesh period
Kaftari period
Qaleh period
Note. Meat bearing = scapula to raditis/ulna, pelvis to tibia; non-meat bearing = metapodials and phalanges.
from herders, by Building Level I times provisioning
was conducted
through channels almost as removed from meat production as those
which characterized the distribution of meat to elites at ABC.
Management
As mentioned earlier management practices are more difftcult to monitor with fauna1 remains. This is especially true in urban sites where final
deposition of animal remains may be quite removed from initial stock
rearing practices, and where it is difficult to obtain samples large enough
to document site-wide patterns of animal exploitation. Nevertheless there
are some aspects of the Banesh fauna1 remains from Malyan which document some general aspects of animal management in the Kur Basin
during this period.
First, the remarkable exclusivity of species selection in both the ABC
and TUV assemblages (Tables 3 and 4) might be better tied to species
availability than to distribution preferences. Specifically, the strong emphasis on caprids in Banesh Malyan suggests the pool of animals available
for urban consumption consisted primarily of sheep and goats. Such ex-
UNDERSTANDING
URBAN
TABLE
CAPRID
LIMB
10
DISTRIBUTIONS
IN PERCENTAGES
Lower
Area
Shoulder
m
forelimb
m
29
PROCESS
Haunch
(%I
7
Lower
hindlimb
m
Feet
(%I
T3
52
54
26
24
13
22
516
2005
27
21
18
14
20
27
333
850
822
Total
number
Standard
7
21
ABC
TUV-Total
15
24
21
16
TUV-I
TUV-II
TUV-III
29
26
19
11
19
16
GHI
FX106
ABC
22
15
21
14
13
14
Kaftari period
17
18
17
17
14
22
30
40
26
483
441
3107
BB33
xx
EDD
29
25
28
16
12
9
Qaleh period
17
14
22
18
25
16
20
24
25
107
122
235
Banesh period
25
17
19
14
20
Note. Shoulder = scapula, humerus; lower forelimb = radius, ulna, carpals; haunch =
pelvis, femur; lower hindlimb = tibia, tarsals; feet = metapodials, phalanges.
clusivity in the supply of animals might be expected were nomad flocks
the primary source of urban meat stocks. The high proportion of goats
relative to higher meat yielding sheep in all but the latest deposits at TUV,
might also be seen as stemming from the contribution of nomadic flocks
to Malyan meat supplies. While it is difficult to estimate the proportion of
sheep and goats in ancient pastoral flocks in the region, it can be argued
that nomads interested in promoting herd security would favor disposing
of higher proportions of goats than sheep. Redding (1981a:86-87) predicts
that 1.5 more goats than sheep would be available for annual offtake in a
herd composed of equal numbers of ewes and does. Therefore, goats, as
the more quickly regenerating resource, would be more attractive to pastoralists engaged in regular and substantial exchange with settled populations. If one accepts the argument that nomads preferentially
traded
goats to urban dwellers, the fact that species selection reflected herders’
goals more than the goals of provisioners has bearing on the ability of
Malyan provisioners to infhtence selection decisions during the Banesh.
Finally, kill-off patterns for Banesh goats indicate that goats were
slaughtered at younger ages than were sheep (Fig. 9). While not neces-
30
MELINDA
A.
ZEDER
FIG. 5. Percentage of caprid bone fragments with butchery scars for Banesh operations.
sarily indicative of a nomadic origin of the goats, this pattern does suggest
that goats were utilized primarily for meat and were treated differently
from sheep which may have been exploited for more generalized purposes.
The insignificance of beef in the Banesh diet can also be related to
resource availability.
If the majority of cattle were kept for agricultural
\
6OC
;
:
;
a
‘..,
‘.\
460
‘i, x
:,, ‘\
‘.,, ‘\
so-
40
30 -T””
TIJ”
20 -T””
- 50
‘\
: ‘\
‘,\ ‘\
...._ ‘\
._ ‘\
“...:\
‘+--g
I 7
II -.-.-.
,,(
-
40
- 30
-
20
‘\i_
b
a
0
0
yrs
1 Yl
c
2 yrs
d
e
3 ‘yrs
f
4
I
!I%
FIG. 6. Caprid long bone age distributions for TUV building levels. (BL I sample size, 128
bones; BL II sample size, 328 bones; BL III sample size, 401 bones.)
UNDERSTANDING
URBAN
PROCESS
31
FIG. 7. Caprid mandibular tooth eruption/wear age distributions for TUV building levels.
(BL I sample size, 6 mandibles; BL II sample size, 33 mandibles; BL III sample size, 30
mandibles.)
purposes, only a small pool of animals would have been available for
consumption.
Distribution
of meat from this small pool might, then, be
expected to have been subject to a higher degree of control. Evidence for
such control is supplied by a strong focus on Large Mammal limb elements (over 70% of all Large Mammal bones) in Banesh areas with a large
enough sample of Large Mammal bones to examine part distribution patterns (Table ll), and the age distribution
of a Banesh cattle (Fig. 10)
which focuses almost exclusively on 4-year-old animals-the
optimal age
for cattle meat offtake (Dahl and Hjort 1976: 157). Thus while cattle provide more meat per capita than caprids and should be the most attractive
bovid for indirect provisioning,
management considerations may have
once again overridden provisioning goals in decisions regarding species
selection.
32
MELINDA
TUV
FIG. 8. Percentage
of caprid
1;
A. ZEDER
J
bone fragments
with butchery
scars for TUV
building
levels.
As long as there was a relatively unlimited supply of caprids from
nomadic flocks whose management did not require labor or administrative input by Malyan residents, investment of local productive effort in
the management of animals for meat would be minimal. Moreover, no
incentive would have existed to increase cattle production substantially
above the amount needed in agricultural production. A change in the
degree of sedentarization in the region or in the nature of relations between nomadic and settled population would, however, have had a profound effect on sources and mechanics of animal management practices in
the Kur River Basin.
KAFTARI
ANIMAL
EXPLOITATION
Urban settlement in the Kur River Basin assumed a more conventional
configuration in the subsequent Kaftari phase (2400-1800 B.C.). Malyan,
now a 135ha site within a 200-ha walled perimeter, served as the paramount center for at least 73 smaller towns and villages in the valley.
Economic relations shifted to those between Malyan-a
center of craft
UNDERSTANDING
URBAN
33
PROCESS
Qaleh
\
\
30 -
\
\
20 -
-
10 0
a
’
11 vv
b
0
2 yrs
3 yrs
-I
I
I
I
lyr
lyr
2 yrs
3 yrs
ff Yr
Yr
Sheep
Goat
I
2 yrs
I
3 yrs
FIG. 9. Separate sheep and goat long bone age distributions by period. (Banesh sample
size, 143 sheep, 251 goats; Kaftari sample size, 390 sheep, 337 goats; Qaleh sample size, 28
sheep, 35 goats.) Bones which comprise age classes are A, distal humerus, proximal radius;
B, distal metapodials; C, proximal femur, distal radius.
production,
trade, and regional administration-and
smaller rural food
producing communities. Pastoral nomands, though no doubt still present,
are postulated to have played a reduced role in Kaftari regional economic
relations (Sumner n.d. a). The increased importance of sedentary adaptations is likely to have been accompanied by greater investment in pastoral activities by rural populations in the valley. Residents of Malyan,
however, are even less likely to have been involved in animal production
than in the Banesh. The majority of animals consumed by urban dwellers
are, therefore, expected to have been derived from locally reared stock
and channeled to Malyan residents through distribution modes even more
highly regulated than in Banesh times.
Distribution
Substantial exposure of Kaftari deposits was accomplished
in four
functionally
differentiated
areas at Malyan-Operations
ABC, FX106,
GHI, and GGX98 (Fig. 2). Fauna1 assemblages from the first three areas
are discussed here.
Operation GHZ. Excavations at Operation GHI near the center of
Kaftari Malyan revealed two high status residential/public
buildings. The
latest of these two structures, Building Level III, is characterized by
large, carefully planned and constructed walls, baked brick pavings,
metal-lined door sockets, and copper/bronze door decorations (Jacobs
34
MELINDA
A. ZEDER
TABLE
11
LARGE MAMMALPARTDISTRIBUTIONS
Area
Head
(%)
Axial
(%I
Limb
(%)
Total
number
Standard
34
35
31
220
ABC
TUV-Total
18
8
period
36
22
46
70
11
389
25
38
18
7.5
59
73
4
72
313
period
30
33
34
51
52
52
161
247
1481
period
20
12
13
62
61
64
55
77
380
Banesh
~TUV-I
TUV-II
TUV-III
3
9
Kaftari
GHI
FX106
ABC
28
15
14
BB33
xx
EDD
18
27
23
Qaleh
n.d.). Artifacts recovered from the building include a broad range of rare
unworked materials and an especially high proportion of finished metal
objects (Nickerson 1983:366). Administrative
artifacts recovered included
both sealing production debris and broken impressed sealings (Nickerson
1983:262). It can be safely posited that GHI III was occupied by high
status individuals with access to rare finished goods and raw materials,
and that these individuals participated in administrative
activities which
included collection and packaging of goods, as well as their distribution
and consumption. Strong indications of indirect provisioning are expected
and found here.
Both the identifiable remains and, especially, the total of all remains
from GHI III shows the tightest focus on medium sized caprids of any
Kaftari area (Tables 2-6). As in all Kaftari areas, however, sheep and goat
utilization is about equal (Table 7). Though this is a shift from the preponderance of goats in Banesh deposits, the projected emphasis on sheep
in this high status residence is not found. Nor is an emphasis on higher
meat yield cattle evidenced. Cattle consumption, though increased from
Banesh levels, is less than in other Kaftari areas examined.
Age selection of caprids consumed at GHI III heavily favors animals
between the ages of 1.5 to 2.5 years (Figs. 11 and 12). This is a slightly
younger class of animals than expected if meat maximization
were the
UNDERSTANDING
35
URBAN PROCESS
lOOr
-
90
-
00
-
Banesh
-.Kafteri
- - Qaleh
70 60 E
:
&
50-
p
4030
-
20 10 0
I
l.,“,rs I
1 Yr
b
2 yrs
2.5Cyr*
I
1
3 yrs
3.,“,rsI
4Yrs4.5’,,,
1
I
1
5 yrs
10. Cattle long bone age distributions by period. (Banesh sample size, 25; Kaftari
sample size, 268; Qaleh sample size, 55.) Bones which comprise age classes are A, proximal
humerus, proximal radius; B, proximal first and second phalanges; C, distal tibia, distal
metapodials; D, proximal femur; E, distal radius, proximal tibia, distal femur, proximal
humerus.
FIG.
goal. Part distributions
show a strong selection for limb elements with
over 50% of all Medium Mammal bones from this region (Table 8). Meat
bearing limb bones, primarily from the shoulder region, are well represented (Tables 9 and 10). Though focused on certain joints, caprid butch-
90
-
80
-
70
-
so
-
;
t
;
L
50-
40
-
30
- FXIOS
20
GHI
- ASC
I,
,,I
FIG. 11. Caprid long bone age distributions for Kaftari operations. (FXlO6 sample size,
197 bones; GHI sample size, 199 bones; ABC sample size, 1550 bones.)
36
MELINDA
A. ZEDER
A$e
Score
Age
Score
Age
Score
50-
50
12. Caprid mandibular tooth eruption/wear age distributions for Kaftari operations.
(FX106 sample size, 19 mandibles; GHI sample size, 10 mandibles; ABC sample size, 227
mandibles.)
FIG.
ery would appear less standardized at GHI III than at the other Kaftari
residential area examined (Fig. 13).
Operation FXZO6. Excavations of Operation FX106, on the margins of
Kaftari Malyan, encountered somewhat more modest structures. Lithics
from FX106 indicate that residents were at least involved in processing of
grain, if not in its production. Tools used to process grain do not appear
to have been manufactured at this structure, but seem to have been
brought to the site from elsewhere (Nickerson 1983:353). FX106 residents
may have also participated in an intermediate stage in the production of
metal objects (Nickerson 1983:249). Administrative
artifacts are restricted to those used in the packaging and transshipment of goods; disbursement and consumption of sealed goods is not evidenced. More direct
UNDERSTANDING
URBAN PROCESS
37
FIG. 13. Percentage of caprid bone fragments with butchery scars for Kaftari operations.
access to meat resources might be anticipated at FX106 due to the lower
status of its residents and their possible involvement in food production.
However, the evidence of craft activities and transshipment of goods,
suggests the possibility of indirect provisioning.
Two measures of distribution mode point to more direct access to animals at FX106. Though not exactly a broad range of species utilization,
there is a more balanced usage of caprids and cattle at FX106 than at the
elite GHI structures; cattle comprise 31% of the weight of identifiable
bones from the FX106 structure (Table 3). Age distribution
at FX106
shows less exclusivity than that from GHI, with some access to animals
in the 12- to M-month age range, a hiatus, then selection of 2- to 3year-old animals (Fig. ll), another hiatus, and finally a strong emphasis
on animals in the 6- to g-year range (Fig. 12).
These indications of direct meat procurement at FX106, however, are
offset by a heavy emphasis on limb elements and selection against head
elements (Table 8)-a more selective pattern than at the elite GHI area.
There is no particular emphasis on either the meaty shoulder or haunch
limb cuts (Table lo), and non-meat bearing limb bones are more frequent
38
MELINDA
A.
ZEDER
than in any other Malyan occupation area (Table 9). Such a pattern suggests receipt of whole limbs. Butchery cut location and frequency suggest
butchery of animals consumed at FX106 was, if anything, more standardized than at the elite area (Fig. 13). Thus FX106 part selectivity and
butchery patterns contradict other indicators of more direct access to
animal resources, suggesting that FX106 residents also procured meat
indirectly, but perhaps through different channels than did elite residents
of the GHI structures.
Operation ABC (Kaftari Levels). Excavations of the upper 2 m of Operation ABC encountered a massive Kaftari trash dump extending beyond
the 20 x 30-m boundaries of this large exposure. Since this dump must
have served a variety of Kaftari urban dwellers, the assemblage from the
area is expected to show a general pattern of removal from animals production and receipt of meat through indirect channels.
Judging from this large assemblage, the focus on domesticated bovids
seen in Malyan residential assemblages appears to have been a general
Kaftari pattern. Of the 4261 mammal bones identified from the ABC
Kaftari trash dump, less than 1% are derived from nonbovid comestible
animals (Table 2). (There is no evidence that equids were consumed at
Malyan (Zeder 1986).) Both measures of age distribution provided by the
ABC assemblage, however, indicate that the entire range of caprid age
classes were available to Malyan consumers (Figs. 11 and 12).
While scarring frequencies on bones indicate a variety of butchery
practices (Fig. 13), the high selectivity for certain limb elements (Tables
8 and 10) and the relatively low proportion of non-meat bearing limb
bones (Table 9) suggest that these patterns result from variation in preparation techniques after the receipt of selected caprid parts. In other
words, the ABC dump seems primarily to have received the remains of
meals consumed by Malyan residents, while the actual slaughter and
initial dismemberment
of caprids took place some distance from this central city dump. Receipt of meat from specialized butchers by the bulk of
the Kaftari populace is indicated.
Summary
of Kaftari
Meat Distribution
at Mulyan
As evidenced by the Kaftari dump assemblage, Kaftari meat provisioning concentrated on resources drawn primarily from two management
regimes-that
concerned with cattle and that concerned with sheep and
goats. Caprid culling strategy emphasized animals in prime meat return
years, and yet also drew animals from the entire range of ages in the herd.
Moreover, while the majority of Kaftari residents seem to have received
selected cuts of meat rather than whole carcasses, distribution of meat
varied depending on status and occupation of residents.
UNDERSTANDING
URBAN
PROCESS
39
Distribution of caprid meat to residents of elite structures emphasized
considerations of quality and variety of cuts-hence the focus on younger
than prime meat yield animals and on high quality cuts, the somewhat less
standardized part distribution and the varied butchery style evidenced at
GHI. Distribution
of meat to the residents of the humbler FXlO6 structures may have been more concerned with meeting provisioning requirements as efficiently as possible. Higher meat yield cattle, sheep and goats
in prime meat yield ages, as well as older animals (probably females past
reproductive usefulness) met these needs most effectively. Quality of cuts
and variety of preparation technique was not of special concern here. It is
also possible that the distribution
system which provisioned areas like
FX106 operated quite separately from that which provisioned Malyan
elites. The existence of entrepreneurial
middle men negotiating directly
with herders may account for the patterns displayed in the FX106 assemblage .
Direct modes of meat procurement may not have been totally absent at
Kaftari Malyan. Poorer residents, whose dwellings were not sampled,
may have utilized animal resources provided by their own herds or
through direct negotiations with pastoralists. Moreover, residents of
smaller towns and rural villages in the Kur Basin are even more likely to
have been more closely associated with animal production.
Management
The shift toward more even utilization of both sheep and goats in all
Kaftari assemblages (Table 7) has special bearing on the nature of Kaftari
animal management strategies in the Kur Basin. While provisioning goals
which favor sheep over goats are expected with indirect provisioning, I do
not believe that this shift is indicative of provisioning strategies alone. In
fact, the nearly equal proportions of sheep and goat in assemblages from
functionally different Kaftari occupation areas argues against provisioning goals having had much influence on species selection-especially
in
light of the marked effect provisioning goals seem to have had on other
indices of distribution mode. If provisioning goals were the primary factor
determining species selection, a much more lopsided emphasis on sheep
in Kaftari assemblages would be expected. Rather, this shift might be
better linked to a greater contribution
of locally raised caprids to urban
meat supplies and a corresponding restructuring of animal management
strategies in the Kur Basin.
Redding’s model of Near Eastern herd management systems predicts
that areas under intensive cultivation will favor high proportions of cattle
and goats and relatively reduced numbers of sheep (Redding 1981a: 163;
n.d.). Greater numbers of cattle are required for agricultural production
40
MELINDA
A.
ZEDER
and higher proportions of goats result from the fact that unlike sheep,
goats and cattle do not compete for the same pasture resources. The
increase in both cattle and sheep at Malyan during a period of general
agricultural expansion (Miller 1982), contradicts this prediction and, using
Redding’s model, argues against a local origin for the sheep.
There are some reasons why sheep might be expected to fare better in
locally raised herds than Redding’s model would predict, however. First,
the higher tolerance of sheep for cold, snowy winters (Redding 1981a: 158)
would have given sheep the natural edge over goats in flocks inhabiting
highland regions year round. Second, not only is there ethnobotanical
evidence for expansion of areas growing grain for human consumption,
but Miller’s analysis of seeds found in carbonized animal dung indicates
expansion of areas utilized for pasture and increased cultivation of fodder
crops needed to meet winter feed requirements (Miller 1982:68-69; Miller
and Smart 1984). These changes in agricultural practices and pasture
utilization strongly suggest an increase in locally managed flocks during
this period. Increased foddering of animals would also serve to mitigate
against any possible competition for prefered pasturage; stall-fed cattle
would not compete with sheep for the same pasture. Thus, goats need not
have been preferentially represented in locally managed flocks and more
balanced proportions of goats and sheep may be projected.
Finally unlike the Banesh caprids, separate sheep and goat age distributions of Kaftari caprids show little difference in kill-off strategies.
Though there may be some tendency to keep sheep alive longer, perhaps
for wool production, both species were slaughtered according to similar
schedules (Fig. 9). This lack of distinction between age selection of
Kaftari sheep and goat bolsters the contention that Kaftari Malyan meat
supplies were derived from local caprid flocks exploited for a generalized
range of resources including meat, milk, wool, and hair, while Banesh
residents of Malyan relied on the offtake of young goats from nomadic
herds exchanged expressly for their meat resources.
The increase in cattle contribution to all Kaftari areas can also be linked
to increased availability of cattle rather than to provisioning interests in
maximizing meat return. More cattle would have been required to meet
the needs of expanded Kaftari agricultural production in the valley, causing, in turn, an increase in the size of the pool of cattle available for
consumption. Increased access to cattle and decreased control over their
distribution
is indicated in the Kaftari cattle age distribution
(Fig. lo),
which shows a continued emphasis on 4-year-old animals but also utilization of both younger and older cattle. The predominance of cattle long
bones in all Kaftari assemblages (Table 11) suggests that while control of
cattle distribution may have relaxed somewhat compared to the Banesh,
beef was still distributed through indirect channels.
UNDERSTANDING
URBAN
PROCESS
QALEH ANIMAL
EXPLOITATION
41
The Qaleh period (1600-1000 B.C.) saw the decline of centralized organization in the Kur River Basin. The number of sites decreased dramatically from 74 to 14, and the valley seems to have become segregated
into two increasingly provincialized
political entities (Sumner 1972; Jacobs 1980). Pastoral nomadism is believed once again to have become a
more important political and economic component of the regional settlement system. Though still quite large, Qaleh Malyan is reduced in size.
The contemporaneous
use of two different ceramic wares at Malyan has
been interpreted as representing the presence of two distinct groups-one
affiliated with the lowland seat of power at Susa and another with more
local affiliations. Malyan can thus be seen as an isolated outpost of the
fading Elamite polity, situated in a fragmented and increasingly provincialized valley.
The change in urban relations in the valley is expected to have had a
significant impact of animal exploitation
strategies. With the abandonment of so many permanent settlements and the possible resurgence of
pastoral nomadism, local involvement in herd management is likely to
have decreased-a
situation similar to that in the Banesh. Yet unlike the
close ties between urban elites and pastoral groups hypothesized in the
Banesh, peaceful relations between the Malyan elites and pastoral nomads is not projected in the Qaleh. Nomadic flocks may not have been the
assured source of animal products they were in the Banesh. Moreover, as
representatives of lowland power, Malyan elites may also have been on
uncertain terms with local sedentary populations. Thus while greater contribution of nomadic flocks to urban meat supplies is expected in the
Qaleh, some local investment in production of meat for urban consumption is anticipated-even
by Malyan residents themselves-as
a hedge
against disruption in the primary supply of animal resources.
Distribution
Qaleh deposits were encountered in four excavation areas at Malyan:
Operation EDD, BB33, XX, and GHI (Fig. 2). Analyzed faunal assemblages from the first three of these areas are large enough and are from
sufficiently well-controlled
contexts to allow examination of Qaleh distribution patterns.
Operation BB33. Excavations of Operation BB33 near the central area
of Qaleh occupation encountered five large kilns and a quantity of kiln
debris. There is reason to believe that this pottery production operation
extended beyond the limits of the BB33 exposure to the neighboring EDD
area where one layer of occupation (Building Level IIIb) was also devoted
42
MELINDA
A.
ZEDER
to Qaleh pottery production. Thus BB33 is the only area excavated at
Malyan which was given entirely over to industrial activity, and is the
area most likely to have received meat as standardized rations.
The greatest exclusivity in species selection of all Qaleh areas is evident
in the BB33 assemblage (Tables 3-6). Sheep are slightly more plentiful
than goats-the
only time sheep outnumber goat in any Malyan assemblage (Table 7). The greater amount of gazelle remains relative to other
Malyan assemblages may in part be attributed to sampling error stemming
from the small size of the BB33 sample. The BB33 gazelles may also
signal the practice of extracurricular hunting by BB33 personnel or perhaps special allotments of high quality meat. The Drehem texts from
lowland Mesopotamia document distribution of large quantities of gazelle
to “warehouse” personnel (Jones and Snyder 1961:227).
Age distributions, though based on small samples, suggest a very strong
emphasis on 2-year-old animals (Figs. 14 and 15). Moreover, over 50% of
all Medium Mammal bones from BB33 are limb bones (Table 8). The
BB33 assemblage also shows the greatest emphasis on meat bearing
bones of any Malyan assemblage (Table 9), especially from the shoulder
region (Table 10). The extremely localized placement butchery scars on
the bones from all Qaleh areas suggests a generally high degree of standardization in caprid butchery during this period (Fig. 16).
Operation XX. A rather enigmatic area of Qaleh occupation, Operation
XX can best be characterized as a fairly elaborate structure which if
residential, was certainly not for individuals of humble origins (Zeder
1985:392-393). Indirect, but perhaps noninstitutional,
provisioning is expected here.
JO-ED0
6833
20
-
\
-
-
- xx
10
- 30
‘\
0
\
x
- 20
_ 10
-
F”SlO”
a
b
Score
c
d
e
A
0
0
yrs
1 Yf
2 yrs
3
yrs
4
0
yrs
FIG. 14. Caprid long bone age distributions for Qaleh operations. (EDD sample size, 94
bones; BB33 sample size, 52 bones; XX sample size, 38 bones.)
UNDERSTANDING
URBAN PROCESS
43
=30E
c20P
lo
EDD IV
Age score
15. Caprid mandibular tooth eruption/wear age distributions for Qaleh operations.
(EDD sample size, 24 mandibles; BB33 sample size, 4 mandibles; XX sample size, 10
mandibles.)
FIG.
Species selection at XX shows less exclusivity in focus on caprids and
Medium Mammals, and a somewhat greater emphasis on cattle than evidenced at BB33 (Tables 3-6). Equal proportions of sheep and goat were
consumed (Table 7). Age distributions suggest a somewhat less selective
focus on a slightly older range of animals than found at BB33 (Figs. 14 and
15). Finally, limb elements also dominate XX Medium Mammal part distributions (Table 8), but the higher proportion of head elements and nonmeat bearing limb bones (Tables 9 and 10) suggest that the butchery of
whole caprids took place at XX as well.
Operation EDD. Excavations at the highest part of the mound at Operation EDD encountered a monumental structure which is believed to
have housed individuals with lowland affiliations. The large quantity of
texts and artifacts recovered suggests that this area served in the receipt,
44
MELINDA
A. ZEDER
FIG. 16. Percentage of caprid bone fragments with butchery scars for Qaleh operations.
storage, and disbursement of a variety of materials including precious
metals, lithics, architectural
ornaments,
and foodstuffs (Carter and
Carothers n.d.). There is textual evidence of the distribution of animals
and animal products in this structure (Carter and Stolper 1984:42). Given
the precedent set by earlier elaborate structures at Malyan (ABC and
GHI), residents of EDD IV might be expected to have received animals
through indirect channels. The facility’s function as a storehouse and
disbursement center and its concern with animal redistribution is likely to
affect distribution patterns at EDD.
EDD cattle utilization is particularly high; cattle bones contribute over
40% to the total weight of identifiable bones and Large Mammals over
50% of the weight of the total sample of bones (Tables 4 and 6). A number
of the equid bones from EDD have been identified as horse, whereas
Qaleh equids from other areas are predominately
donkey, and possibly
onager (Zeder 1986). The only camel bones recovered from Malyan are
derived from EDD. Goats are 1.5 times more common than sheep (Table 7).
Both the long bone and the tooth-based age distributions
from this
UNDERSTANDING
URBAN
PROCESS
45
facility show less focus on a single age group than is found at the other
two Qaleh areas (Figs. 14 and 15). The long bone age curve is particularly
interesting as it shows strong selection for animals at about 18 months of
age, a hiatus, then an additional emphasis on animals at about 30 months
of age, followed by another hiatus. This pattern coincides precisely with
the age structure of Basseri nomadic flocks as they pass through the
region today to and from nearby upland summer pasture (Barth 1956:67;
Zeder 1985:413414).
Completing the anomalous picture of EDD animal utilization, Medium
Mammal part distribution
shows the least emphasis on limb elements of
any Malyan assemblage, with the exception of the lowest levels of Banesh
TUV (Table 8). This area also exhibits the highest proportion of head
elements of any Malyan areadO% of the sample. The high proportion of
head elements suggests that at least some portion of caprids received
were butchered at EDD and their meatier elements were distributed to
other Qaleh areas of Malyan. The caprid limb bones from EDD, however,
largely represent meaty shoulder and haunch regions (Tables 9 and 10).
Thus it would seem that both the remains of animals consumed by EDD
residents and animals whose meat bearing portions were distributed elsewhere would appear to be included in this assemblage.
If a portion of the caprid remains recovered at EDD represent only the
initial stages of butchery and not local consumption, then EDD beef consumption was even higher than the already good representation of cattle
bones would indicate. The 64% contribution of limb elements to the Large
Mammal sample from EDD bespeaks local consumption of beef and not
disbursement as is inferred for caprid meat (Table 11). Moreover, both
long bone fusion and tooth eruption patterns indicate that the cattle consumed at EDD were unusually young.
Summary
of Qaleh Meat Distribution
at Malyan
Based on these data, meat distribution to Qaleh residents of Malyan
seems to have been as complex as in the Kaftari glory days, if not even
more so. During at least one portion of the Qaleh, the facility at EDD
served as a central collection point for animals, some portions of which
were distributed (either on-the-hoof or as partially butchered carcasses)
to other non-food-producing
areas of Malyan. Residents of this facility,
however, received the majority of meat they consumed from a different
distribution
system specializing in the distribution of the meat of young
cattle. Though not necessarily contemporary with the EDD facility, industrial BB33 and residential (?) XX received meat through controlled
channels that differentiated supplies distributed on the basis of the activ-
46
MELINDA
A. ZEDER
ities practiced in these areas, with greatest standardization
evidenced at the industrial facility.
of distribution
Management
In the two previous sections, areas sampled had essentially the same
proportions of sheep and goats, and a site-wide goat to sheep ratio could
be used to help identify the source of caprids consumed at Malyan. In the
Qaleh, goat to sheep ratios from each assemblage vary, and there is no
single site-wide trend which can be used to examine the origin of caprid
coming into Malyan. As a proposed site of caprid pooling and distribution, however, the EDD assemblage is held to be the most direct link to
Qaleh caprid management practices and is used as the primary basis for
the following discussion.
There are a number of factors which point to nomadic origin of the
EDD caprids. First the 1.5 to 1 ratio of goat to sheep is reminiscent of
Banesh ratios, which have been linked to a nomadic contribution to urban
stocks. Sheep and goats may, then, have come into the EDD facility in
proportions determined by either the composition of nomadic stocks or
by the herding goals of the nomads, and were then distributed differentially to urban residents. The already cited similarity between the EDD
long bone age distribution and the structure of current Basseri herds in the
area adds support to the proposed nomadic origin of EDD caprids. Additionally the presence of horse and camel (both species associated with
long distance transhumance) lends some credence to this contention.
Though based on a fairly small sample, the separate Qaleh sheep and goat
age curves suggest variation in kill-off strategies between sheep and goats
older than 2 years of age (Fig. 9). Together these data point to EDD as an
Elamite enfrepot-an
area to which pastoral&s
traveling through the
valley came to exchange animal products and perhaps rare resources and
trade items with Elamite administrators
of Malyan. These patterns also
suggest a low level of local investment in caprid rearing during this period.
The greater contribution of cattle to all Qaleh deposits signals a general
increase in the availability of cattle for consumption. Following the interpretation of the Kaftari increase in cattle, this pattern might be taken as
the result of further agricultural expansion and concomitant increased
offtake from stocks used in agricultural production. However, the youth
of the cattle consumed in the Qaleh is in striking contrast to earlier patterns (Fig. 10). Both Banesh and Kaftari cattle consumption practices
would have been compatible with the simultaneous use of cattle as draft
animals. The almost exclusive focus on cattle younger than 3 years of age
in the Qaleh suggests the rearing of cattle specifically for the consumption
of younger, undoubtedly more tender, subadults.
UNDERSTANDING
URBAN
PROCESS
47
Agricultural utilization of cattle did not necessarily cease in the Qaleh.
These data do suggest, however, that draft animals and beef cattle were
reared under separate management regimes, and that the meat from these
latter animals was distributed to Malyan residents in a carefully controlled
way. These patterns are most strongly expressed in the EDD assemblage
which boasts not only the greatest proportion of cattle, but also the
youngest cattle and the most selectivity in cattle cuts. Thus elite representatives of lowland power living at EDD seem to have relied most
heavily on beef cattle as their primary source of meat. It is further possible to postulate that the development of specialized cattle herds was a
response to uncertainties in the provisioning of urban elites responsible
for maintaining the remnants of Elamite power in this increasingly isolated and unsettled region.
CONCLUSIONS
There are a number of conclusions which can be drawn from this study
ranging from those of a technical and methodological
nature to those with
broader, more substantive content. Technical conclusions are discussed
in length elsewhere (Zeder 1985:439-446) and are only briefly mentioned
here. First this study demonstrates that while biases stemming from sample size, context, and recovery procedures must be recognized, these
biases can be controlled and need not preclude the application of zooarchaeological data to broader processual issues. This study has also shown
the usefulness of uncorrected counts and weights as complementary
measures of species number and meat weight contribution.
The use of the
entire sample of bones recovered to measure species contribution
and
part distribution
has highlighted the limitations
of an approach which
concentrates only on the fraction of bones deemed “identifiable.”
While
they may not agree on the precise ages of kill-off, age distributions based
on long bone fusion and tooth eruption and wear have provided remarkably complementary
data. Finally, though methods for the evaluation of
butchery patterns yielded provocative results, they served more to highlight butchery technique. More detailed recording of the type, number,
orientation,
and exact location of butchery scars is required to detect
differences in butchery style-differences
which would have been more
useful in the address of questions asked here.
Of the various measures of distribution mode used, part selectivity was
the most powerful, age distribution the next, and species selection the
least effective measure. These conclusions are not surprising considering
that the selection of parts is the activity closest to actual meat consumption and bone disposal, and that the range of species selected is the
activity most likely irdluenced by management concerns. Age selection
48
MELINDA
A. ZEDER
can be expected to be influenced by both management and distribution
considerations. This study has demonstrated, however, that none of these
measures should be used alone. Each measure must be examined in conjunction with the other two before meat distribution
practices can be
effectively monitored.
Though regional management practices are difftcult to approach with
remains from the primary urban center, the use of site-wide shifts in
species selection and age distribution were helpful in examining this aspect of animal exploitation.
Management practices can be more directly
approached through the analysis of remains from smaller rural communities, where fewer filters stand between the herd demography, the interests of herders, and the selection of animals consumed.
On a more substantive level, the study of the Malyan fauna1 remains
supports projections about the nature of animal exploitation in early Near
Eastern urban contexts developed earlier. As predicted, with the development of urban economic relations in the Kur River Basin, Malyan city
dwellers became removed from herd production
and received meat
through increasingly specialized channels. By the period of Malyan’s
greatest size and influence, the Kaftari, a complex system or systems of
indirect provisioning controls the distribution of meat to the majority of
urban dwellers. While most Malyan occupation areas show restricted
diversity of meat products expected with indirect distribution, the goals of
distribution decisions seem to have varied significantly depending on the
consumer’s status and the degree of the involvement in specialized activities. Elite provisioning emphasized quality and variety of meat, while
provisioning of specialized craftsmen emphasized cost efficiency.
Even though indirect provisioning was expected to be the dominant
mode of urban meat distribution, more indication of direct meat procurement was anticipated than was found. This lack of evidence may, however, be an artifact of the nature of areas excavated at Malyan-each
of
which showed some degree of involvement in specialized administration
or production.
Direct consumer/producer
interaction is probably evidenced in poorer residential areas, not excavated at Malyan, and especially in smaller rural settlements in the valley.
Another somewhat surprising result was that in the final phase of occupation, when Malyan was a remote outpost of lowland power in an
increasingly provincialized
valley, indirect provisioning within the. urban
center not only continued but intensified. Thus, prior to the abandonment
of Malyan at the end of the Qaleh, economic relations within the primary
center seem to have responded to the breakdown of political and, presumably, economic cohesiveness in the Kur Basin by becoming even
more highly structured and regimented. This last finding carries important
implications about the process of urban decay.
Information on management strategies garnered by this study also con-
UNDERSTANDING
URBAN
PROCESS
49
form to expectations while yielding some broader insights on the operation of specialized economy in general. As predicted, local management
strategies in the Kur River Basin were relatively unaffected by provisioning demands of the major center. Instead, herd management strategies
responded more to changes in the political fortunes of settled and nomadic populations in the valley. Site-wide shifts in sheep and goat ratios
and in cattle contributions between major phases of occupation are better
tied (1) to changes in the size and pervasiveness of the nomadic population in the valley, (2) to the amount of local investment in agricultural
production, and (3) to ecological factors which favor one species over
another.
Thus, as long as self-regulating management regimes yielded sufficient
animal products to meet urban demand, herd management does not appear to have been affected by changes in distribution within the urban
core. On the other hand, aside from adjusting to changes in the supply of
available animals, provisioning
systems within the major center seem
little affected by regional political and economic shifts. Animal resources
were drawn as available from local and nomadic herds to be directed in
ways which best met the needs of the institutions to be supplied. In effect,
animal management and distribution systems appear to have been so well
buffered from one another that all but the most major perturbations in one
system had little impact on the operation of the other. Only with the
disintegration of urban society in the Qaleh and the threat of disruption in
the supply of animal products is there evidence of controlled management
of cattle herds to meet the needs of an isolated urban elite. This kind of
buffering between productive and distributive spheres undoubtedly promotes organizational
efficiency of the system and may be a general feature of specialized urban economy.
The success with which patterning in the fauna1 data conform to expectations highlights one of this study’s primary conclusions. This study
demonstrates that it is possible to derive a set of expectations about
animal exploitation which should hold in a projected urban setting and to
rigorously test these expectations with fauna1 data. Through this kind of
interaction between theoretical superstructure and empirical test, zooarchaeology goes beyond environmental
and dietary reconstruction to approach broader problems pertaining to the operation of complex economies. Thus this work joins a growing number of studies which demonstrate that not only can fauna1 remains be used like any other artifact to
examine ancient human behavior, but that the study of animals bones is
one of the most direct avenues toward understanding fundamental issues
in the evolution of human culture. Zooarchaeology
can no longer be
viewed as a limited technical specialty, but must be recognized as a major
subdiscipline of anthropological
archaeology.
At the outset of this paper central features of the state were isolated and
50
MELINDA
A. ZEDER
defined, and a model was developed which linked the interaction of variables that lie at the heart of the state to the concrete spatial manifestations
recognized as urban systems. There are several key components of this
model which have not been addressed. This study has not sought to
explicitly explore the linkage between specialized economy and specialized decision-making.
The existence of the latter has been inferred from
the existence of the former; the operation of state-level administration
has
not been independently
demonstrated. Nor has this study explored the
locational processes which translate central features of the state into urban spatial arrangements. This study has not attempted explanation of
state or urban origins either on the particularistic
level of the Kur Basin
or in a more general sense. And yet, though important, the demonstration
of linkage between specialized economy and specialized administration
and that between specialized administered economy and urban spatial
arrangements are, in reality, secondary to the evaluation of the model
developed here. Explanation of origins is only one step toward a larger
goal of understanding process-a step which cannot be taken until what is
to be explained has been clearly articulated.
What this study has done is to establish the empirical validity of the
primary component of the model presented at the beginning of this paper.
The regulation of an economic system in which there is both external and
internal segregation of productive and distributive activities by a similarly
structured administrative
hierarchy is held central to the state and to its
expression as a regional urban system. This paper has been a demonstration that the conception of specialized economy put forth here can be
used to accurately predict how a fundamental aspect of the economy in an
early urban context operated. In so doing, this study serves to demonstrate the utility of this conception for understanding the dynamics of
specialized complex economy and, I would argue, of the central features
of state and urban process.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This paper has benetitted from the substantive and editorial comments of a number of
readers. Comments by Naomi Miller, Elizabeth Myler, Wii Wills, and two reviewers have
been particularly helpful. Conceptualizations of the state and urbanism put forth here have
in part been forged, and sometimes tempered, in heated discussions with Mary Hodge,
Richard Redding, William Sumner, Robert Whallon, and Henry Wright. Above all, James
Blackman has assisted in every aspect of the production of this paper. Any deficiencies are
solely attributable to the author’s oversight.
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