Work

High-elevation sheep and goat provisioning on the Tibetan Plateau, 3000–2200 BP

Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: High-elevation environments present harsh challenges for the pursuit of agropastoral subsistence strategies and relatively little is known about the mechanisms early communities employed to adapt to such locations successfully. This article presents the sequential carbon and oxygen analysis of archaeological caprine teeth from Bangga (c. 3000–2200 BP), which is approximately 3750masl on the Tibetan Plateau. Made visible through this method, intra-tooth variation in isotopic composition allows insights into herding strategies that possibly included the provisioning of livestock with groundwater and agricultural fodder and summer grazing in saline or marsh environments. Such intensive provisioning differs markedly from lower-elevation agropastoralism.
Source: Antiquity
Language: English
Subfield: Paleontology
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $3,450
OpenAlex ID: W4402646599
FWCI: 3.948
Cites:
Cited by: 12
Related to: 10