Interdisciplinary Analysis of the Cemetery Kudachurt 14 : : Evaluating Indicators of Social Inequality, Demography, Oral Health and Diet During the Bronze Age Key Period 2200-1650 BCE in the Northern Caucasus.

• Superior document: Scales of Transformation Series ; v.11
• Author: Fuchs, K.
• Place / Publishing House: Leiden : : Sidestone Press,, 2020.; ©2020.
• Year of Publication: 2020
• Edition: 1st ed.
• Language: English
• Series: Scales of Transformation Series
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (410 pages)

Representing both a barrier and a corridor between the Eurasian and Asian continents, the Caucasus has constituted the setting for various socio-economic transformations throughout prehistory. The transition from the Middle to the Late Bronze Age in the Northern Caucasus is a period characterised by a shift from pastoral lifeways in the steppe to sedentary lifestyles in the high mountains, and the change from hierarchical to egalitarian societies. In this context, this book provides basic scientific research on social inequality, demography, oral health, and diet of humans that lived between 2200-1650 BCE in the central North Caucasian foothills. Due to the outstanding preservation of its archaeological and human remains, the cemetery Kudachurt 14 represents a hitherto missing link for a transformative period in this region.Archaeologically, the heterogeneity of the burial remains appears as a melting pot of different cultural phenomena, but showing strong typological affiliation to the so-called North Caucasian culture of the high mountain area. Furthermore, biological and ritual evidence confirms often-stated gender concepts and expression of differences in social status. Individuals suffered from poor oral health due to the occupational use of their teeth and high caries prevalence occurred among both adolescents and adults. Together with information from C and N stable isotopes, the data provide evidence for early agricultural practices in a mixed subsistence economy. While social inequality is prominent in the burial context, it is not displayed in oral health and dietary trends. This indicates rather similar living conditions for individuals from different socio-ritual statuses.The presented doctoral research delivers the first comprehensive data collection and investigation that combines burial, osteological, palaeopathological, and stable

isotope information, and achieves a connection between the living and the dead in this time and place.

Table of Contents

Intro -- Preface of the editors -- Preface of the cooperation partners / Предисловие -- Предисловие -- Preface and acknowledgement of the author -- Предисловие автора и благодарения -- Part I -- Background and objectives of research -- 1 Introduction -- 1.1 Environmental and archaeological background -- 1.1.1 Topography and environment -- 1.1.2 The North Caucasian Bronze Age: Cultures and chronology -- 1.1.3 Climatic conditions -- 1.2 State of the art -- 1.2.1 Burial practices: Socio-ritual indicators -- 1.2.2 Human Remains: Osteology and Palaeopathology -- 1.2.3 Stable isotope analyses: Palaeodietary reconstructions -- 2 Research questions and methodological approach -- 2.1 The cemetery "Kudachurt 14" (chapter 3) -- 2.2 Burial practice: Social indicators (chapter 4) -- 2.3 Human remains: Demography and oral health (chapter 5) -- 2.4 Carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes: Palaeodietary reconstruction (chapter 6) -- 2.5 Interdisciplinary synthesis: Burial practice, human osteology, and stable isotopes (chapter 7) -- 2.6 Basic approach and terminology -- 3 The cemetery of Kudachurt 14 -- 3.1 Location and environmental aspects -- 3.2 Excavation and subsequent work -- 3.2.1 Excavation techniques and on-site documentation -- 3.2.2 Inventory, preparation, and current state -- 3.3 Cemetery plan -- 3.4 Finds and chronology -- 3.4 1 Relative chronology and typological classification -- 3.4.2 Radiocarbon dating and stratigraphy -- 3.4.3 Summary: Chronology and typological classification -- 3.5 Kudachurt 14 and the MBA-LBA transition in the Northern Caucasus -- Disciplinary Analyses: Burial Practices, Human remains and isotopes -- 4 Burial practice: Social indicators -- 4.1 Characteristics of burial practice -- 4.1.1 Spatial distribution -- 4.1.2 Elements of grave construction -- 4.1.3 Inhumations and burial type -- 4.1.4 Goods for the dead: burial items.

4.1.5 Data quality groups -- 4.2 Results 1: Basis of data and single characteristics -- 4.2.1 Elements of grave construction -- 4.2.2 Inhumation and burial types -- 4.2.3 Burial items -- 4.3 Results 2: Social proxies of burial practice -- 4.3.1 Construction elements, burial types and MNIG -- 4.3.2 Construction elements and burial item criteria -- 4.3.3 Burial item criteria: burial types and individuals -- 4.3.4 Burial item criteria: Assemblage functional character and burial type -- 4.3.5 Burial item criteria: Assemblage composition and burial type -- 4.3.6 Burial item criteria: Assemblage functional character and individuals -- 4.3.6.1 Single burials -- 4.3.6.2 Double burials -- 4.3.6.3 Collective burials -- 4.3.6.4 Bodily treatment -- 4.3.6.5 Interim result: Individual equipment -- 4.4 Chronological aspects -- 4.5 Discussion and evaluation: Burial practice and social indicators -- 4.5.1 Grave constructions: Proxies for effort or practicability? -- 4.5.2 Regularities of bodily treatment? -- 4.5.3 Burial item criteria: Cemetery -- 4.5.4 Funeral equipment groups: Commonalities or inequalities? -- 4.5.5 Social implications of burial practice -- 4.6 Conclusions -- 5 Human Remains: Demography and oral health -- 5.1 Functional data from human remains -- 5.2 The significance of biological sex and age at death -- 5.3 Dental pathology and oral health -- 5.4 Investigative parameters and methods -- 5.4.1 Anatomical terminology -- 5.4.2 Preparatory work and recording approach -- 5.4.3 Age at death -- 5.4.4 Biological sex -- 5.4.5 Categories of oral health -- 5.5 Material: Graves, individuals, and dentitions -- 5.6 Results 1: Skeletal preservation, demography, and categories of oral health -- 5.6.1 Data basis: Skeletal and dental preservation -- 5.6.2 Demography: Age at death and biological sex -- 5.6.3 Categories of oral health.

5.6.4 Summary oral health: Results 1 -- 5.7 Results 2: Statuses of oral health and burial context -- 5.7.1 Correlations of oral health categories: Inter-individual comparison -- 5.7.2 Statuses of oral health, burial contexts and spatial distribution -- 5.8 Chronological aspects -- 5.9 Discussion and evaluation: Demography and oral health at Kudachurt 14 -- 5.9.1 Demographic and palaeopathological implications -- 5.9.2 Dietary implications -- 5.9.3 Occupational habits -- 5.9.4 Social implications -- 6 Carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes: Palaeodietary reconstruction -- 6.1 Principles of stable isotope analyses -- 6.1.1 Basic concept and terminology -- 6.1.2 Stable C and N isotopes from bone collagen -- 6.1.3 Stable C and N isotopes in palaeodietary reconstructions -- 6.2 Recent research on subsistence and diet in the North Caucasian Bronze Age -- 6.3 The significance of Kudachurt 14 -- 6.4 Working hypotheses -- 6.5 Material and methods -- 6.5.1 Sample selection -- 6.5.2 Methods -- 6.6 Results -- 6.6.1 Collagen quality -- 6.6.2 Animal values -- 6.6.3 Human values -- 6.6.4 Animal and human values -- 6.7 Discussion and evaluation -- 6.8 Chronological aspects -- 6.9 Context of current C and N isotope research in the North Caucasian Bronze Age -- 6.10 Conclusion: Trends and limits of dietary reconstructions at Kudachurt 14 -- Interdisciplinary synthesis and conclusion -- 7 Interdisciplinary synthesis: Burial practice, human remains, and stable isotopes -- 7.1 Cemetery: Age, sex, and funeral equipment -- 7.2 Individual contexts: Burial practice, social inequality, and demography -- 7.3 Grave contexts: Social inequality, demography, oral health, and diet -- 8 Conclusions -- 8.1 Research questions and answers -- 8.1.1 The cemetery of Kudachurt 14 (chapter 3) -- 8.1.2 Burial practice: Social indicators (chapter 4).

8.1.3 Human remains: Demography and oral health (chapter 5) -- 8.1.4 Carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes: Palaeodietary reconstruction (chapter 6) -- 8.1.5 Interdisciplinary synthesis: Burial practice, human osteology, and stable isotopes (chapter 7) -- 8.2 Evaluation and research prospects -- 9 Short summary -- 10 Kurzzusammenfassung -- 11 краткая информация -- 12 References -- 13 Tables, figures and abbreviations -- 13.1 List of tables (short captions) -- 13.2 List of figures (short captions) -- 13.2.1 Copyrights -- 13.3 Abbreviations -- Online data: catalogue and appendix -- Online Data: Catalogue and Appendix -- Blank Page -- Blank Page.