Inner Asian Agropastoralism Within the Mongol Empire: Multi‐Proxy Investigations at Sel'Ungur Cave, Kyrgyzstan

Inner Asian Agropastoralism Within the Mongol Empire: Multi‐Proxy Investigations at Sel'Ungur Cave, Kyrgyzstan Full article

Journal

Geoarchaeology
ISSN: 0883-6353 , E-ISSN: 1520-6548

Output data

Year: 2025, Volume: 40, Number: 6, Pages: e70032 Pages count : DOI: 10.1002/gea.70032

Tags

Authors

Brancaleoni G. ^1,2 , Shnaider S.V. ^3,4 , Blinnikov M. ⁵ , Boxleitner K. ⁶ , Mentzer S.M. ^7,2 , Alekseitseva V. ^8,3 , Zhilich S.V. ³ , Chargynov T. ⁹ , Alisher kyzy S. ^4,10 , Parkhomchuk E.V. ^3,11 , Spengler R. ⁶ , Viola B. ¹² , Krivoshapkin A.I. ³ , Krajcarz M.T. ¹

Affiliations

1	Institute of Geological Sciences, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
2	Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment University of Tübingen Tübingen Germany
3	Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography SB RAS, Novosibirsk, Russia
4	International Research Laboratory ZooStan, ArchaeoZoological Center for the study of Central Asia, CNRS, Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, Almaty, Kazakhstan
5	Geography Program, St. Cloud State University, St. Cloud, Minnesota, USA
6	Domestication and Anthropogenic Evolution Research Group, Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, Jena, Germany
7	Institute for Archaeological Sciences, Department of Geosciences University of Tübingen Tübingen Germany
8	Department of Earth and Environmental Systems, Indiana State University, Terre Haute, Indiana, USA
9	Kyrgyz National University named after J. Balasagyn, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
10	Osh State University, Osh, Kyrgyzstan
11	Novosibirsk State University, Novosibirsk, Russia
12	Department of Anthropology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Agropastoralism has been a widespread subsistence strategy in Central Asia from prehistory to the present. While significant research has aimed at understanding past agropastoral communities in the region, reconstructing a generalized economic model remains challenging due to the complex topographic and ecological conditions, as well as its social and political variability. It is likely that subsistence strategies were flexible and adapted to local conditions. Most of what we know about these communities comes from burial sites, with comparatively less information derived from temporary encampments or occupation contexts. Caves and rockshelters have been readily used by pastoralists for millennia. In this study, we present the results of a multi-proxy study of a Holocene sequence from one of the most archeologically significant cave sites in Central Asia: the Sel'Ungur Cave of Kyrgyzstan. We combined chronometric dating with phytolith, carpological, and fecal-spherulite concentration analyses, as well as micromorphological, micro-XRF, and micro-FTIR studies. The deposits are primarily composed of charred materials and ash, forming the fumier facies. Micromorphological and micro-analytical methods have enabled us to identify penning activities and periodic burning as the dominant site formation processes. High-temperature burning destroyed diagnostic features necessary for more precise identification of herd animals. Notably, “vitrified” dung fragments were observed and inferred through micromorphology and micro-XRF. Through phytolith and archaeobotanical analyses, we were able to infer that livestock mainly grazed locally. The low abundance of domesticated plants—wheat, millet, and barley—as well as fruit seeds, such as grape, pistachio, and walnut, points toward the use of these as a supplement to the herder's diet. The presence of local and allochthonous domesticated plant species alongside evidence for herding suggests the implementation of a mixed economic strategy, likely combining transhumance and agropastoralism. Chronological analysis of the fumier deposits indicates that Sel'Ungur Cave was used as a pen between the 12th and 15th centuries.

Brancaleoni G. , Shnaider S.V. , Blinnikov M. , Boxleitner K. , Mentzer S.M. , Alekseitseva V. , Zhilich S.V. , Chargynov T. , Alisher kyzy S. , Parkhomchuk E.V. , Spengler R. , Viola B. , Krivoshapkin A.I. , Krajcarz M.T.
Inner Asian Agropastoralism Within the Mongol Empire: Multi‐Proxy Investigations at Sel'Ungur Cave, Kyrgyzstan
Geoarchaeology. 2025. V.40. N6. P.e70032. DOI: 10.1002/gea.70032 WOS

Submitted:	May 27, 2025
Accepted:	Oct 9, 2025
Published print:	Nov 6, 2025
Published online:	Nov 6, 2025

Web of science:

WOS:001650828500006

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