Benjamin S Arbuckle
Biographic Data
| ID | 78558 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Benjamin S Arbuckle |
| GIVEN NAMES | Benjamin S |
| FAMILY NAME | Arbuckle |
| SIGNATURE | ARBUCKLE B S |
| AFFILIATIONS | Baylor University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-5445-5516 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 34 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 267 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 33 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2006 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 9 |
Strontium (87Sr/86Sr) evidence for the geography of Indigenous deer hunting in the North Carolina Piedmont
Ancient Foodways
Flattening the Wild in the Ancient Near East
In this article the authors explore the impact of wild-domestic dualisms on how wild animals are conceived and framed in the zooarchaeology of the ancient Near East. They argue that this dominant framework flattens the wild into an artificially homogenous entity and funnels scholarly engagement with wild animals into a narrow range of topics. They explore examples from the archaeozoological literature as well as ancient texts that suggest that ra…
The origins and spread of domestic horses from the Western Eurasian steppes
Domestication of horses fundamentally transformed long-range mobility and warfare 1 . However, modern domesticated breeds do not descend from the earliest domestic horse lineage associated with archaeological evidence of bridling, milking and corralling 2–4 at Botai, Central Asia around 3500 bc 3 . Other longstanding candidate regions for horse domestication, such as Iberia 5 and Anatolia 6 , have also recently been challenged. Thus, the genetic,…
Batı Karadeniz'de Heraclea Pontica Yakınlarında Yeni Bir Prehistorik Yerleşim
Anadolu’nun Batı Karadeniz kıyılarının arkeolojik araştırmalar açısından uzun yıllarıdır ihmal edilmiştir. Bölgede yürütülen arkeolojik çalışmaların büyük bir bölümü yüzey araştırmalarından oluşmaktadır. Kastamonu’nun Devrekani ilçesi yakınlarındaki Kınık yerleşiminde yürütülen çalışmalar ve Kdz. Ereğli’nin Karadeniz kıyısına yakın bir noktada bulunan Yassıkaya’da 2000 yılında gerçekleştirilen tek sezonluk kazı, bölgenin tarihöncesi kültürlerinin…
Canine Economies of the Ancient Near East and Eastern Mediterranean
Archaeological assemblages, texts, and iconography indicate a multifaceted, yet often ignored, canine economy in the ancient eastern Mediterranean and Near East. This economy included not only dogs’ celebrated roles as hunting aids, guards, village scavengers, and companions, but also the regular processing, use, and consumption of dogs for foods, hides, and medicinal/ritual purposes. Drawing on ethnohistorical information and zooarchaeological d…
Reconsidering domestication from a process archaeology perspective
Process philosophy offers a metaphysical foundation for domestication studies. This grounding is especially important given the European colonialist origin of ‘domestication’ as a term and 19th century cultural project. We explore the potential of process archaeology for deep-time investigation of domestication relationships, drawing attention to the variable pace of domestication as an ongoing process within and across taxa; the nature of domest…
Anatolian Empires
Çadır Höyük provides rich evidence for the endurance and transformation of specific cultural features and phenomena at a rural center on the Anatolian plateau as it experienced the waxing and waning of control by imperial political powers of the Bronze and Iron Ages. Especially evident during those periods of imperial power is the construction and maintenance of public architecture; certain economic activities also shift in their importance at th…
Regional Patterns of Transition at Çadır Höyük in the Byzantine Period
Byzantine archaeological sites tend to be seen as representative of the empire as a whole, with little concern given to regional context. Within the imperial narrative that shapes Byzantine history, sites—whether urban or rural—are often used to explain and illustrate imperial trends. However, when we remove that overarching narrative, the sites in Anatolia provide the potential to view them as singular examples of local and regional identity. In…
Early Lives
Çadır Höyük, located in the Yozgat Province of the north-central Anatolian plateau, was continuously occupied from the late sixth millennium BCE until at least the thirteenth century CE. This article focuses on the fourth millennium BCE during which the Uruk System in southern Mesopotamia emerged, flourished and then retracted, and the Kura-Araxes culture from Transcaucasia ventured into Anatolia and the Levant. A close investigation of the Çadır…
Pivoting East
The investigation of ‘complex connectivities’ as defined by Tomlinson (1999) as a critical element in the understanding of how modern globalization works has been repurposed by archaeologists as a model to explain the mechanisms at work in the archaeological past. This study applies Tomlinson’s model to interpret evidence that such connectivities linked the vast Uruk system in Mesopotamia, the contemporary Kura-Araxes culture in Transcaucasia, an…
Stability and change at Çadır Höyük in central Anatolia
Scholars have recently investigated the efficacy of applying globalisation models to ancient cultures such as the fourth-millennium BC Mesopotamian Uruk system. Embedded within globalisation models is the ‘complex connectivity‘ that brings disparate regions together into a singular world. In the fourth millennium BC, the site of Çadır Höyük on the north-central Anatolian plateau experienced dramatic changes in its material culture and architectur…
Pivoting East
The investigation of ‘complex connectivities’ as defined by Tomlinson (1999) as a critical element in the understanding of how modern globalization works has been repurposed by archaeologists as a model to explain the mechanisms at work in the archaeological past. This study applies Tomlinson’s model to interpret evidence that such connectivities linked the vast Uruk system in Mesopotamia, the contemporary Kura-Araxes culture in Transcaucasia, an…
The Rise of Pastoralism in the Ancient Near East
Years of Pastoralism in Anatolia
Archaeological and historical data show that pastoral systems in Anatolia over the last ten thousand years were characterised by a high degree of variability in degree of mobility, land-use and animal preferences, target products and herd management strategies, and political organisation. Long-distance pastoral nomadism was a historically late development in the region, occurring over the last 1,500 to 1,000 years. Ethnographic analogy currently …
Vertical transhumance of sheep and goats identified by intra-tooth sequential carbon (δ13C) and oxygen (δ18O) isotopic analyses
Documenting the initial appearance of domestic cattle in the Eastern Fertile Crescent (northern Iraq and western Iran)
Early Pig Management in the Zagros Flanks
In this paper, we present a reanalysis of pig (Sus scrofa) remains from the Neolithic site of Qalat Jarmo, originally excavated in the 1940s and 1950s. Employing modern zooarchaeological techniques, not available during the initial analyses, we explore the nature of swine exploitation strategies and demonstrate that pigs were most likely managed by the early 7th millennium (Pottery Neolithic) and perhaps earlier. Comparing biometric data with tho…
Data Sharing Reveals Complexity in the Westward Spread of Domestic Animals across Neolithic Turkey
This study presents the results of a major data integration project bringing together primary archaeozoological data for over 200,000 faunal specimens excavated from seventeen sites in Turkey spanning the Epipaleolithic through Chalcolithic periods, c. 18,000-4,000 cal BC, in order to document the initial westward spread of domestic livestock across Neolithic central and western Turkey. From these shared datasets we demonstrate that the westward …
Inequality and the Origins of Wool Production in Central Anatolia
The Rise of Cattle Cultures in Bronze Age Anatolia
Bronze Age Anatolia is characterized by the emergence of an elite class situated at the apex of society, where they controlled enormous resources; wielded great authority; and sought, conspicuously displayed, and consumed distinctive high-status material culture. In this article, I explore the use of domesticated cattle as a material and symbolic source of power for these elites. I address the central economic role of cattle and their “secondary …
The Parrots of Paquimé
This chapter examines the presence of scarlet macaws (Ara macao) at the archaeological site of Paquimé (Casas Grandes) in northern Mexico. Around A.D. 1300, Paquimé was a large settlement with a distinct material culture, including elaborate architecture and extensive evidence of trade connections that stretched far to the south. The scarlet macaw, a bird native to tropical regions hundreds of kilometers to the south, appears in several contexts …
Initial diversity in sheep and goat management in Neolithic south-western Asia
In this paper we survey a large body of faunal data for the practice of young male culling in Neolithic south-western Asia. Although the young male kill-off model is one of the most widely used models for identifying animal domestication in Neolithic south-western Asia, its ubiquity has never been addressed on a regional scale. By focusing on a combination of kill-off age and the shape of the distributions of biometric data, we are able to addres…
Pig Domestication and Human-Mediated Dispersal in Western Eurasia Revealed through Ancient DNA and Geometric Morphometrics
Zooarcheological evidence suggests that pigs were domesticated in Southwest Asia ~8,500 BC. They then spread across the Middle and Near East and westward into Europe alongside early agriculturalists. European pigs were either domesticated independently or more likely appeared so as a result of admixture between introduced pigs and European wild boar. As a result, European wild boar mtDNA lineages replaced Near Eastern/Anatolian mtDNA signatures i…
Animals and inequality in Chalcolithic central Anatolia
Reconsidering domestication from a process archaeology perspective
Process philosophy offers a metaphysical foundation for domestication studies. This grounding is especially important given the European colonialist origin of ‘domestication’ as a term and 19th century cultural project. We explore the potential of process archaeology for deep-time investigation of domestication relationships, drawing attention to the variable pace of domestication as an ongoing process within and across taxa; the nature of domest…
The evolution of sheep and goat husbandry in central Anatolia
Arbuckle B.S., Öztan A. & Gülçur S. 2009. — The evolution of sheep and goat husbandry in central Anatolia. Anthropozoologica 44(1): 129-157.This paper explores the evolution of sheep and goat husbandry in central Anatolia through the analysis of new and published faunal data from Neolithic, Chalcolithic, and Bronze Age sites in the region. The major patterns of change over time in the pastoral system are discussed including the beginnings of herd…
The Rise of Pastoralism in the Ancient Near East
Pastoralism, Provisioning, and Power at Bronze Age Acemhöyük, Turkey
This article addresses the relationship between a major Anatolian Bronze Age center, the site of Acemhöyük, and its pastoral hinterland with a focus on understanding the nature of the interactions and integration between rural pastoral producers and a centralized state. Through the analysis of faunal, archaeological, and ethnohistoric evidence, it is argued that although mobile herders provisioned Acemhöyük with animal products, and the center it…
Animal exploitation at Körtik Tepe
Sont présentés ici les premiers résultats relatifs à l’exploitation des animaux à Körtik Tepe, Batman, site néolithique acéramique du Sud-Est de la Turquie. Elle est caractérisée par une exploitation intensive des moutons, des boeufs, des gazelles, des cerfs et des daims (Cervus elaphus et Dama sp.) ainsi que des porcs. Les données métriques montrent que les moutons sont sauvages sur le plan morphologique et que mâles et femelles sont bien représ…
Vertical transhumance of sheep and goats identified by intra-tooth sequential carbon (δ13C) and oxygen (δ18O) isotopic analyses
The Rise of Cattle Cultures in Bronze Age Anatolia
Bronze Age Anatolia is characterized by the emergence of an elite class situated at the apex of society, where they controlled enormous resources; wielded great authority; and sought, conspicuously displayed, and consumed distinctive high-status material culture. In this article, I explore the use of domesticated cattle as a material and symbolic source of power for these elites. I address the central economic role of cattle and their “secondary …
Documenting the initial appearance of domestic cattle in the Eastern Fertile Crescent (northern Iraq and western Iran)
The late adoption of cattle and pig husbandry in Neolithic Central Turkey
Late Epipaleolithic hunters of the central Taurus
Newly initiated research at Direkli cave is helping to define an initial understanding of Epipaleolithic hunter‐gatherer traditions in the central Taurus region of southern Turkey. Detailed analysis of the Direkli faunal assemblage suggests that in the late Epipaleolithic the cave functioned as a short‐term logistical camp used to intercept wild goats ( Capra aegagrus ) in the high peaks around the cave, primarily in the late summer and fall. In …
The early management of cattle (Bos taurus) in Neolithic central Anatolia
The authors use metrical, demographic and body part analyses of animal bone assemblages in Anatolia to demonstrate how cattle were incorporated into early Neolithic subsistence economies. Sheep and goats were domesticated in the eighth millennium BC, while aurochs, wild cattle, were long hunted. The earliest domesticated cattle are not noted until the mid-seventh millennium BC, and derive from imported stock domesticated elsewhere. In Anatolia, m…
Early Pig Management in the Zagros Flanks
In this paper, we present a reanalysis of pig (Sus scrofa) remains from the Neolithic site of Qalat Jarmo, originally excavated in the 1940s and 1950s. Employing modern zooarchaeological techniques, not available during the initial analyses, we explore the nature of swine exploitation strategies and demonstrate that pigs were most likely managed by the early 7th millennium (Pottery Neolithic) and perhaps earlier. Comparing biometric data with tho…
The Parrots of Paquimé
This chapter examines the presence of scarlet macaws (Ara macao) at the archaeological site of Paquimé (Casas Grandes) in northern Mexico. Around A.D. 1300, Paquimé was a large settlement with a distinct material culture, including elaborate architecture and extensive evidence of trade connections that stretched far to the south. The scarlet macaw, a bird native to tropical regions hundreds of kilometers to the south, appears in several contexts …
Revisiting Neolithic Caprine Exploitation at Suberde, Turkey
This paper addresses the nature of sheep and goat exploitation at the Aceramic Neolithic site of Suberde, Turkey. Although previously interpreted as a Neolithic hunters' village, new demographic and measurement data indicate that the sheep and probably goats at Suberde represent the earliest appearance of managed populations in the Beyşehir region of central Anatolia. Kill-off data indicate that the caprines were carefully selected for slaughter …
Anatolian Empires
Çadır Höyük provides rich evidence for the endurance and transformation of specific cultural features and phenomena at a rural center on the Anatolian plateau as it experienced the waxing and waning of control by imperial political powers of the Bronze and Iron Ages. Especially evident during those periods of imperial power is the construction and maintenance of public architecture; certain economic activities also shift in their importance at th…
Protocol for Recording Enamel Hypoplasia in Modern and Archaeological Caprine Populations
This paper outlines the first methodology for recording dental enamel hypoplasia in the high-crowned dentition of modern and archaeological caprine teeth. The method has been developed and trialed on five caprine populations from Orkney (UK); two modern populations (Shetland and North Ronaldsay breeds) and three Neolithic assemblages from the archaeological sites of Knap of Howar, Skara Brae and Holm of Papa Westray. Problems associated with diff…
Flattening the Wild in the Ancient Near East
In this article the authors explore the impact of wild-domestic dualisms on how wild animals are conceived and framed in the zooarchaeology of the ancient Near East. They argue that this dominant framework flattens the wild into an artificially homogenous entity and funnels scholarly engagement with wild animals into a narrow range of topics. They explore examples from the archaeozoological literature as well as ancient texts that suggest that ra…
Canine Economies of the Ancient Near East and Eastern Mediterranean
Archaeological assemblages, texts, and iconography indicate a multifaceted, yet often ignored, canine economy in the ancient eastern Mediterranean and Near East. This economy included not only dogs’ celebrated roles as hunting aids, guards, village scavengers, and companions, but also the regular processing, use, and consumption of dogs for foods, hides, and medicinal/ritual purposes. Drawing on ethnohistorical information and zooarchaeological d…
Regional Patterns of Transition at Çadır Höyük in the Byzantine Period
Byzantine archaeological sites tend to be seen as representative of the empire as a whole, with little concern given to regional context. Within the imperial narrative that shapes Byzantine history, sites—whether urban or rural—are often used to explain and illustrate imperial trends. However, when we remove that overarching narrative, the sites in Anatolia provide the potential to view them as singular examples of local and regional identity. In…
Early Lives
Çadır Höyük, located in the Yozgat Province of the north-central Anatolian plateau, was continuously occupied from the late sixth millennium BCE until at least the thirteenth century CE. This article focuses on the fourth millennium BCE during which the Uruk System in southern Mesopotamia emerged, flourished and then retracted, and the Kura-Araxes culture from Transcaucasia ventured into Anatolia and the Levant. A close investigation of the Çadır…
Stability and change at Çadır Höyük in central Anatolia
Scholars have recently investigated the efficacy of applying globalisation models to ancient cultures such as the fourth-millennium BC Mesopotamian Uruk system. Embedded within globalisation models is the ‘complex connectivity‘ that brings disparate regions together into a singular world. In the fourth millennium BC, the site of Çadır Höyük on the north-central Anatolian plateau experienced dramatic changes in its material culture and architectur…
Animal exploitation at Körtik Tepe
Sont présentés ici les premiers résultats relatifs à l’exploitation des animaux à Körtik Tepe, Batman, site néolithique acéramique du Sud-Est de la Turquie. Elle est caractérisée par une exploitation intensive des moutons, des boeufs, des gazelles, des cerfs et des daims (Cervus elaphus et Dama sp.) ainsi que des porcs. Les données métriques montrent que les moutons sont sauvages sur le plan morphologique et que mâles et femelles sont bien représ…
Revisiting Neolithic Caprine Exploitation at Suberde, Turkey
This paper addresses the nature of sheep and goat exploitation at the Aceramic Neolithic site of Suberde, Turkey. Although previously interpreted as a Neolithic hunters' village, new demographic and measurement data indicate that the sheep and probably goats at Suberde represent the earliest appearance of managed populations in the Beyşehir region of central Anatolia. Kill-off data indicate that the caprines were carefully selected for slaughter …
Chalcolithic Caprines, Dark Age Dairy, and Byzantine Beef
The early management of cattle (Bos taurus) in Neolithic central Anatolia
The authors use metrical, demographic and body part analyses of animal bone assemblages in Anatolia to demonstrate how cattle were incorporated into early Neolithic subsistence economies. Sheep and goats were domesticated in the eighth millennium BC, while aurochs, wild cattle, were long hunted. The earliest domesticated cattle are not noted until the mid-seventh millennium BC, and derive from imported stock domesticated elsewhere. In Anatolia, m…
The evolution of sheep and goat husbandry in central Anatolia
Arbuckle B.S., Öztan A. & Gülçur S. 2009. — The evolution of sheep and goat husbandry in central Anatolia. Anthropozoologica 44(1): 129-157.This paper explores the evolution of sheep and goat husbandry in central Anatolia through the analysis of new and published faunal data from Neolithic, Chalcolithic, and Bronze Age sites in the region. The major patterns of change over time in the pastoral system are discussed including the beginnings of herd…
Late Epipaleolithic hunters of the central Taurus
Newly initiated research at Direkli cave is helping to define an initial understanding of Epipaleolithic hunter‐gatherer traditions in the central Taurus region of southern Turkey. Detailed analysis of the Direkli faunal assemblage suggests that in the late Epipaleolithic the cave functioned as a short‐term logistical camp used to intercept wild goats ( Capra aegagrus ) in the high peaks around the cave, primarily in the late summer and fall. In …
Animals and inequality in Chalcolithic central Anatolia
Protocol for Recording Enamel Hypoplasia in Modern and Archaeological Caprine Populations
This paper outlines the first methodology for recording dental enamel hypoplasia in the high-crowned dentition of modern and archaeological caprine teeth. The method has been developed and trialed on five caprine populations from Orkney (UK); two modern populations (Shetland and North Ronaldsay breeds) and three Neolithic assemblages from the archaeological sites of Knap of Howar, Skara Brae and Holm of Papa Westray. Problems associated with diff…
The late adoption of cattle and pig husbandry in Neolithic Central Turkey
Pastoralism, Provisioning, and Power at Bronze Age Acemhöyük, Turkey
This article addresses the relationship between a major Anatolian Bronze Age center, the site of Acemhöyük, and its pastoral hinterland with a focus on understanding the nature of the interactions and integration between rural pastoral producers and a centralized state. Through the analysis of faunal, archaeological, and ethnohistoric evidence, it is argued that although mobile herders provisioned Acemhöyük with animal products, and the center it…
Initial diversity in sheep and goat management in Neolithic south-western Asia
In this paper we survey a large body of faunal data for the practice of young male culling in Neolithic south-western Asia. Although the young male kill-off model is one of the most widely used models for identifying animal domestication in Neolithic south-western Asia, its ubiquity has never been addressed on a regional scale. By focusing on a combination of kill-off age and the shape of the distributions of biometric data, we are able to addres…
Pig Domestication and Human-Mediated Dispersal in Western Eurasia Revealed through Ancient DNA and Geometric Morphometrics
Zooarcheological evidence suggests that pigs were domesticated in Southwest Asia ~8,500 BC. They then spread across the Middle and Near East and westward into Europe alongside early agriculturalists. European pigs were either domesticated independently or more likely appeared so as a result of admixture between introduced pigs and European wild boar. As a result, European wild boar mtDNA lineages replaced Near Eastern/Anatolian mtDNA signatures i…
Data Sharing Reveals Complexity in the Westward Spread of Domestic Animals across Neolithic Turkey
This study presents the results of a major data integration project bringing together primary archaeozoological data for over 200,000 faunal specimens excavated from seventeen sites in Turkey spanning the Epipaleolithic through Chalcolithic periods, c. 18,000-4,000 cal BC, in order to document the initial westward spread of domestic livestock across Neolithic central and western Turkey. From these shared datasets we demonstrate that the westward …
Inequality and the Origins of Wool Production in Central Anatolia
The Rise of Cattle Cultures in Bronze Age Anatolia
Bronze Age Anatolia is characterized by the emergence of an elite class situated at the apex of society, where they controlled enormous resources; wielded great authority; and sought, conspicuously displayed, and consumed distinctive high-status material culture. In this article, I explore the use of domesticated cattle as a material and symbolic source of power for these elites. I address the central economic role of cattle and their “secondary …
The Parrots of Paquimé
This chapter examines the presence of scarlet macaws (Ara macao) at the archaeological site of Paquimé (Casas Grandes) in northern Mexico. Around A.D. 1300, Paquimé was a large settlement with a distinct material culture, including elaborate architecture and extensive evidence of trade connections that stretched far to the south. The scarlet macaw, a bird native to tropical regions hundreds of kilometers to the south, appears in several contexts …
Early Pig Management in the Zagros Flanks
In this paper, we present a reanalysis of pig (Sus scrofa) remains from the Neolithic site of Qalat Jarmo, originally excavated in the 1940s and 1950s. Employing modern zooarchaeological techniques, not available during the initial analyses, we explore the nature of swine exploitation strategies and demonstrate that pigs were most likely managed by the early 7th millennium (Pottery Neolithic) and perhaps earlier. Comparing biometric data with tho…
Documenting the initial appearance of domestic cattle in the Eastern Fertile Crescent (northern Iraq and western Iran)
Years of Pastoralism in Anatolia
Archaeological and historical data show that pastoral systems in Anatolia over the last ten thousand years were characterised by a high degree of variability in degree of mobility, land-use and animal preferences, target products and herd management strategies, and political organisation. Long-distance pastoral nomadism was a historically late development in the region, occurring over the last 1,500 to 1,000 years. Ethnographic analogy currently …
Vertical transhumance of sheep and goats identified by intra-tooth sequential carbon (δ13C) and oxygen (δ18O) isotopic analyses
Pivoting East
The investigation of ‘complex connectivities’ as defined by Tomlinson (1999) as a critical element in the understanding of how modern globalization works has been repurposed by archaeologists as a model to explain the mechanisms at work in the archaeological past. This study applies Tomlinson’s model to interpret evidence that such connectivities linked the vast Uruk system in Mesopotamia, the contemporary Kura-Araxes culture in Transcaucasia, an…
The Rise of Pastoralism in the Ancient Near East
Anatolian Empires
Çadır Höyük provides rich evidence for the endurance and transformation of specific cultural features and phenomena at a rural center on the Anatolian plateau as it experienced the waxing and waning of control by imperial political powers of the Bronze and Iron Ages. Especially evident during those periods of imperial power is the construction and maintenance of public architecture; certain economic activities also shift in their importance at th…
Regional Patterns of Transition at Çadır Höyük in the Byzantine Period
Byzantine archaeological sites tend to be seen as representative of the empire as a whole, with little concern given to regional context. Within the imperial narrative that shapes Byzantine history, sites—whether urban or rural—are often used to explain and illustrate imperial trends. However, when we remove that overarching narrative, the sites in Anatolia provide the potential to view them as singular examples of local and regional identity. In…
Early Lives
Çadır Höyük, located in the Yozgat Province of the north-central Anatolian plateau, was continuously occupied from the late sixth millennium BCE until at least the thirteenth century CE. This article focuses on the fourth millennium BCE during which the Uruk System in southern Mesopotamia emerged, flourished and then retracted, and the Kura-Araxes culture from Transcaucasia ventured into Anatolia and the Levant. A close investigation of the Çadır…
Geography (33 works) · Archaeology (31 works) · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies (25 works) · History (18 works) · Ancient Near East History (17 works) · Ancient history (15 works) · Bronze Age (15 works) · Biology (13 works) · History (12 works) · Art (11 works)