Subsistence in the Late Bronze Age of the northern Black Sea region: a case study of Taraclia-Gaidabul (Republic of Moldova)

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Published Dec 31, 2024
https://doi.org/10.5644/Godisnjak.CBI.ANUBiH.53-185
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No. 53 (2024): Godišnjak / Jahrbuch

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Maaike Groot
Institut für Prahistorische Archäologie Freie Universität Berlin
Elke Kaiser
Institut für Prahistorische Archäologie Freie Universität Berlin
Eugen Sava
Muzeul Naţional de Istorie a Moldovei
Mariana Sîrbu
Muzeul Naţional de Istorie a Moldovei

Abstract

The site of Taraclia-Gaidabul belongs to a type known as ash mounds, although it is now known that they do not in fact contain ash at all. The ash mounds represent settlement remains of the Noua-Sabatinovka-Coslogeni cultural complex, which is found in the northern Black Sea region. There is an ongoing debate about the subsistence of this Late Bronze Age society: were they mobile pastoralists or settled farmers?
Unfortunately, there is a lack of pollen diagrams for this region and period, so landscape reconstructions are difficult. Nevertheless, it seems that the landscape was characterised by forest steppe in the north and dry grass steppe in the south. Arable farming would have been challenging without artificial irrigation. Because archaeobotanical remains are scarce, it is hoped that the faunal analysis of Taraclia-Gaidabul can contribute to the question of subsistence and lifestyle: mobile or settled.
During four excavation campaigns (2016–2019), more than 15000 animal bones were recorded and studied. Results from the zooarchaeological analysis show a dominance of cattle, followed by sheep and goat and horse. Pig is rare and wild animals also played only a minor role in nutrition, although the variety among the small number of wild animal remains is considerable. It seems that cattle were exploited for both milk and labour, while sheep and goat provided meat, wool and milk. Horses were used for transport, an additional source of meat and perhaps also for milk. Animal remains provide some indications that the settlement was occupied all year round.
This paper will place the results of the faunal analysis for Taraclia-Gaidabul in a wider context through a regional comparison of subsistence strategies.

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How to Cite
Groot, M., Kaiser, E., Sava, E., & Sîrbu, M. (2024). Subsistence in the Late Bronze Age of the northern Black Sea region: a case study of Taraclia-Gaidabul (Republic of Moldova). Godišnjak Centra Za balkanološka Ispitivanja, (53), 49–70. https://doi.org/10.5644/Godisnjak.CBI.ANUBiH.53-185

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