Skip to main content

Azadeh Mohaseb

Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique / French National Centre for Scientific Research, Archaeozoology/Archaeobotany, Post-Doc

Followers

81

Following

18

Co-authors

8

Public Views

Phone: +33605666381
Address: UMR 7209, Archéozoologie, Archéobotanique: Sociétés, Pratiques et Environnements.
CNRS / Muséum National d'Histoire NaturelleDépartement Ecologie et Gestion de la Biodiversité
Case postale 56
55 rue Buffon
75005 Paris - France

less

Marjan Mashkour

Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique / French National Centre for Scientific Research

École Normale Supérieure

Meredith Carpenter

Stanford University

Songül Alpaslan-Roodenberg

University of Vienna

Jeffrey Schwartz

University of Pittsburgh

Viacheslav Kuleshov

Stockholm University

German Archaeological Institute

Iman Mostafapour

Pascal BUTTERLIN

Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne

University of Basel

Interests

Uploads

Papers by Azadeh Mohaseb

The genomic history and global expansion of domestic donkeys

Science, 2022

Ancient DNA refines taxonomic classification of Roman equids north of the Alps, elaborated with osteomorphology and geometric morphometrics

by Azadeh Mohaseb and Simon Trixl

Journal of Archaeological Science, 2022

Hybrids of horse and donkey, which have been valued in the Mediterranean basin since the Iron Age... more Hybrids of horse and donkey, which have been valued in the Mediterranean basin since the Iron Age, became integrated into the animal world north of the Alps in the course of Romanization. Until now, however, their true contribution to the economic and military life in the northern Roman provinces Raetia, Noricum and Upper Pannonia (southern Germany, eastern Switzerland and Austria) has remained unknown in the absence of robust identification methods based on morphometric approaches. We confronted morphological identification of 405 equid specimens collected in the Late Iron Age (Celtic) (~2nd – 1st century (c.) BCE) and Roman (~1st – 5th c.CE) archaeological contexts with their ancient DNA signatures. Our multi-method study demonstrates that although ancient DNA and morphological approaches (including standard osteomorphology and geometric morphometrics) provide overall >85% matching results, in the case of hybrid animals, the extent of overlap with ancient DNA drops to ≤52%. Out of five skeletal elements studied here (mandibular premolars and molars, metapodials, humeri and tibiae), only premolar mandibular teeth (P3, P4) provide good enough accuracy in hybrid classification (89%) based on geometric morphometrics, making it the preferred element and method in future zooarchaeological studies, when ancient DNA data is not available. Moreover, our data show that, although not yet present in the preceding Iron Age, one in six equids in Roman times is a mule, suggesting a strong Mediterranean influence on the use of equids in daily life north of the Alps.

Are petrous bones just a repository of ancient biomolecules? Investigating biosystematic signals in sheep petrous bones using 3D geometric morphometrics

Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 2022

Study of Faunal Remains from the excavation of Qasr Dasht faunal remains

Journal of Iran National Museum, 2021

Ancient cattle genomics, origins, and rapid turnover in the Fertile Crescent

Science, 2019

Ancient pigs reveal a near-complete genomic turnover following their introduction to Europe

PNAS , 2019

Tracking Five Millennia of Horse Management with Extensive Ancient Genome Time Series

Cell, 2019

The report of archaeozoological studies of the archaeometry Laboratory of the University of Tehran and the National Museum of Iran 1394-1395 (2015-2016)

15th Annual Archaeology Meeting of Iran, 2016

Appendix 3. Observations on the faunal remains of Tall-e Abu Chizan

Later Village Period Settlement Development in the Karun River Basin, Upper Khuzestan Plain, Greater Susiana, Iran, 2012

The Subsistence Economy of a Highland Settlement in the Zagros during the Bronze and Iron Ages. The Case of Gūnespān (Hamadan, Iran)

by Sarieh Amiribeirami, Reza Naseri, and Azadeh Mohaseb

ARCHAEOZOOLOGY OF SOUTHWEST ASIAAND ADJACENT AREAS XIII, 2021

Gūnespān is located in the southeastern part of Malayer, in Hamadan Province in Iran. The main oc... more Gūnespān is located in the southeastern part of Malayer, in Hamadan Province in Iran. The main occupation occurred during the Bronze Age and Late Iron Age (Median) periods. The study of archaeozoological assemblages from these peri-ods revealed that sheep/goat and cattle constitute the bulk of the exploited animal resources, showing that these human communities were highly dependent on pastoralism. During the Iron Age, the role of cattle seems to have become more predominant, which might be an indication of agricultural development in this region. Also, another feature in common with other sites in Iran is the increase of suid remains, which shows the growing importance of domestic pig during the Iron Age. In parallel, equid remains are also more numerous. The same pattern is visible when comparing Gūnespān to Godin Tepe and Nush-i Jan. The identified wild species (12%), the majority of which are herbivores, belong to wild sheep (Ovis orientalis), wild goat (Capra aegagrus), red deer (Cervus elaphus maral) or Persian fallow deer (Dama dama mesopo-tamica), wild boar (Sus scrofa), and gazelle (Gazella cf. subgutturosa). Other identified wild taxa are wild or domestic cat (Felis silvestris/catus), hare (Lepus europaeus), heron (Ardea sp.), duck (Anatidae), and tortoise (Testudo graeca).

EVOSHEEP: the makeup of sheep breeds in the ancient Near East

Antiquity, 2021

The EVOSHEEP project combines archaeozoology, geometric morphometrics and genetics to study archa... more The EVOSHEEP project combines archaeozoology, geometric morphometrics and genetics to study archaeological sheep assemblages dating from the sixth to the first millennia BC in eastern Africa, the Levant, the Anatolian South Caucasus, the Iranian Plateau and Mesopotamia. The project aims to understand changes in the physical appearance and phenotypic characteristics of sheep and how these related to the appearance of new breeds and the demand for secondary products to supply the textile industry.

The Subsistence Economy of Qela Gap; Lurestan, Iran: From the Late Neolithic to the Iron Age

Tepe Qela Gap (also known as Ghala Gap ) in Azna: Lurestan, was excavated in 2009 aiming to estab... more Tepe Qela Gap (also known as Ghala Gap ) in Azna: Lurestan, was excavated in 2009 aiming to establish the chronological sequence for the Azna Plain located eastern of Central Zagros, which had been scarcely studied archaeologically until now. Considering the ecological diversity surrounding the plain, Tepe Qela Gap seems to have been an ideal place for the settlement of permanent villages but could also be suitable for nomadic and seminomadic people. The archaeozoological study of a large faunal assemblage, approximately 6500 items from this site, has provided evidence on the evolution of the subsistence economy of the site during various periods of occupation. The faunal spectra of Qela Gap from different periods, indicates that domesticated sheep/goat and cattle were the major source of animal resources. Among these domesticates it should be noted that cattle ratios are important and together with evidences of kill off patterns and osteological pathologies, we can hypothesise that...

Subsistence economy in Kohneh Pasgah Tepesi (eastern Azerbaijan, Iran) during the Late Chalcolithic and the Early Bronze Age based on the faunal and botanical remains

by Azadeh Mohaseb and Sepideh Maziar سپیده مازیار

Iranian Plateau during the Bronze Age; Development of urbanisation, production and trade, 2020

This paper deals with the results obtained from the study of faunal and botanical remains from Ko... more This paper deals with the results obtained from the study of faunal and botanical remains from Kohneh Pasgah Tepesi (Iran). For archaeozoologists, the north-western part of Iran is one of the most important regions because of the abundance of bovines as well as ovicaprines. The traces of human activities are very well represented. Archaeobotanical studies are still rare
in this area, but the first analysis of some recently excavated sites provide very interesting results and show the potential of this key area. This work present a multidisciplinary approach, which constitutes a first picture of interaction between human, animal and plants in Kohneh Pasgah Tepesi during the Late Chalcolithic represented by Sioni and Chaff‑faced traditions
and the Early Bronze Age by Kura‑Araxes cultural tradition. In this regards, the presented material in this article would enhance our understanding of the subsistence economy of these traditions inside Iran, of which rarely is published.

Toward a definition of the Kura-Araxes agropastoral systems

Iranian Plateau during the Bronze Age; Development of urbanisation, production and trade, 2020

This paper aims at presenting a review of recently published data regarding the agropastoral syst... more This paper aims at presenting a review of recently published data regarding the agropastoral systems used in the Kura‑Araxes cultural complex. This multidisciplinary approach, using archaeozoological and archaeobotanical data, allows one of the first analyses of the interactions between human groups and the animal and vegetal resources in the southern Caucasus at the beginning of the Early Bronze Age.

Ancient goat genomes reveal mosaic domestication in the Fertile Crescent

by Valeria Mattiangeli, Azadeh Mohaseb, and Sepideh Maziar سپیده مازیار

Science , 2018

Current genetic data are equivocal as to whether goat domestication occurred multiple times or wa... more Current genetic data are equivocal as to whether goat domestication occurred multiple times or was a singular process. We generated genomic data from 83 ancient goats (51 with genome-wide coverage) from Paleolithic to Medieval contexts throughout the Near East. Our findings demonstrate that multiple divergent ancient wild goat sources were domesticated in a dispersed process that resulted in genetically and geographically distinct Neolithic goat populations, echoing contemporaneous human divergence across the region. These early goat populations contributed differently to modern goats in Asia, Africa, and Europe. We also detect early selection for pigmentation, stature, reproduction, milking, and response to dietary change, providing 8000-year-old evidence for human agency in molding genome variation within a partner species.

Zooarchaeology of the Pre-Pottery and Pottery Neolithic site of Qasr-e Ahmad (Iran)

Archaeozoology of the Near East XII, Proceedings of the 12th International Symposium of the ICAZ Archaeozoology of Southwest Asia and Adjacent Areas Working Group, 2018

The zooarchaeological study of the Neolithic site of Qasr-e Ahmad in Fars Province (southern Zagr... more The zooarchaeological study of the Neolithic site of Qasr-e Ahmad in Fars Province (southern Zagros, Iran) provides valuable evidence for a better understanding of the process of caprine domestication and dispersal in Southwest Asia. Goat was the most commonly exploited animal in Qasr-e Ahmad during both phases of prehistoric settlement (Pre-Pottery Neolithic and Pottery Neolithic). Sheep were also present but represent a limited contribution to the subsistence economy at the site. Limited osteometric data from sheep suggest that they were already domesticated at the site, which is earlier than hitherto suggested for the region. Kill-off and osteometric data indicate that the majority of goats and sheep were managed using strategies known at other later sites in the region. Cattle and pig were not domesticated and were not regularly exploited. The location of the site next to the Qara Aqhaj permanent river, the presence of architectural remains in the PPN phases of the site, as well as the abundance of lithic tools indicate pastoral and agricultural components in the Qasr-e Ahmad subsistence economy.

Ancient genomes revisit the ancestry of domestic and Przewalski's horses

by Philipp Wolfgang Stockhammer and Azadeh Mohaseb

Science, 2018

The Eneolithic Botai culture of the Central Asian steppes provides the earliest archaeological ev... more The Eneolithic Botai culture of the Central Asian steppes provides the earliest archaeological evidence for horse husbandry, ~5500 years ago, but the exact nature of early horse domestication remains controversial. We generated 42 ancient-horse genomes, including 20 from Botai. Compared to 46 published ancient- and modern-horse genomes, our data indicate that Przewalski’s horses are the feral descendants of horses herded at Botai and not truly wild horses. All domestic horses dated from ~4000 years ago to present only show ~2.7% of Botai-related ancestry. This indicates that a massive genomic turnover underpins the expansion of the horse stock that gave rise to modern domesticates, which coincides with large-scale human population expansions during the Early Bronze Age.

Kura-Araxes exploitation of animal resources in North-western Iran and Nakhchivan

Archaeozoology of the Near East XII, Proceedings of the 12th International Symposium of the ICAZ Archaeozoology of Southwest Asia and Adjacent Areas Working Group, 2018

The Early Bronze Age in north-western Iran and adjacent regions is known for the Kura-Araxes or E... more The Early Bronze Age in north-western Iran and adjacent regions is known for the Kura-Araxes or Early Trans-Caucasian Culture, spreading through the Caucasus and the Lake Urmia Basin. The subsistence economy during this important period is not well known, especially in Iran. This paper deals with the characterization of Kura-Araxes herding strategies by examining the faunal remains from six settlements (Tepe Hasanlu, Kul Tepe, Haftavan Tepe, Kohnehh Tepesi, Kohneh Pasgah Tepesi and Ovçular Tepesi). The results indicate that all these settlements shared similar herding strategies. The exploitation of animal resources was mainly based on domestic ruminants.

Detecting taxonomic and phylogenetic signals in equid cheek teeth: towards new palaeontological and archaeological proxies

by Thomas Cucchi and Azadeh Mohaseb

Royal Society Open Science, 2017

The Plio–Pleistocene evolution of Equus and the subsequent domestication of horses and donkeys re... more The Plio–Pleistocene evolution of Equus and the subsequent domestication of horses and donkeys remains poorly understood, due to the lack of phenotypic markers capable of tracing this evolutionary process in the palaeontological/archaeological record. Using images from 345 specimens, encompassing 15 extant taxa of equids, we quantified the occlusal enamel folding pattern in four mandibular cheek teeth with a single geometric morphometric protocol. We initially investigated the protocol accuracy by assigning each tooth to its correct anatomical position and taxonomic group. We then contrasted the phylogenetic signal present in each tooth shape with an exome-wide phylogeny from 10 extant equine species. We estimated the strength of the phylogenetic signal using a Brownian motion model of evolution with multivariate K statistic, and mapped the dental shape along the molecular phylogeny using an approach based on squared-change parsimony. We found clear evidence for the relevance of dental phenotypes to accurately discriminate all modern members of the genus Equus and capture their phylogenetic relationships. These results are valuable for both palaeontologists and zooarchaeologists exploring the spatial

Statistical Analyses on Bioarchaeological Materials: Comparison between the Subsistence Economies in Tepe Sagzabad and Haftavan Tepe during the Iron Age

International journal of the society of Iranian Archaeologists, 2017

In this paper we compare the subsistence economies based on the study of the faunal remains of tw... more In this paper we compare the subsistence economies based on the study of the faunal remains of two Iron Age settlements, Haftavan Tepe and Sagzabad in two different environments in northwestern Iran. These two examples are used to illustrate the use of various statistical methods in archaeozoology to test the significance of the quantitative and qualitative data. This analysis includes various measures for bone count and also for testing the morphological variability in various animal populations. By using Chi-Squared test, we show that although the two assemblages are very different is size, they still can be compared. In both Haftavan Tepe and Sagzabad, cattle is an important component of the subsistence economy. We compared these two populations geographically distant. With a Student t test we demonstrate the existence of two morphologically different cattle population during the Iron Age in northern part of the Iranian Plateau. In this paper, we aimed at demonstrating the importance of statistical methods in anthropological discussions.

The genomic history and global expansion of domestic donkeys

Science, 2022

Ancient DNA refines taxonomic classification of Roman equids north of the Alps, elaborated with osteomorphology and geometric morphometrics

by Azadeh Mohaseb and Simon Trixl

Journal of Archaeological Science, 2022

Hybrids of horse and donkey, which have been valued in the Mediterranean basin since the Iron Age... more Hybrids of horse and donkey, which have been valued in the Mediterranean basin since the Iron Age, became integrated into the animal world north of the Alps in the course of Romanization. Until now, however, their true contribution to the economic and military life in the northern Roman provinces Raetia, Noricum and Upper Pannonia (southern Germany, eastern Switzerland and Austria) has remained unknown in the absence of robust identification methods based on morphometric approaches. We confronted morphological identification of 405 equid specimens collected in the Late Iron Age (Celtic) (~2nd – 1st century (c.) BCE) and Roman (~1st – 5th c.CE) archaeological contexts with their ancient DNA signatures. Our multi-method study demonstrates that although ancient DNA and morphological approaches (including standard osteomorphology and geometric morphometrics) provide overall >85% matching results, in the case of hybrid animals, the extent of overlap with ancient DNA drops to ≤52%. Out of five skeletal elements studied here (mandibular premolars and molars, metapodials, humeri and tibiae), only premolar mandibular teeth (P3, P4) provide good enough accuracy in hybrid classification (89%) based on geometric morphometrics, making it the preferred element and method in future zooarchaeological studies, when ancient DNA data is not available. Moreover, our data show that, although not yet present in the preceding Iron Age, one in six equids in Roman times is a mule, suggesting a strong Mediterranean influence on the use of equids in daily life north of the Alps.

Are petrous bones just a repository of ancient biomolecules? Investigating biosystematic signals in sheep petrous bones using 3D geometric morphometrics

Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 2022

Study of Faunal Remains from the excavation of Qasr Dasht faunal remains

Journal of Iran National Museum, 2021

Ancient cattle genomics, origins, and rapid turnover in the Fertile Crescent

Science, 2019

Ancient pigs reveal a near-complete genomic turnover following their introduction to Europe

PNAS , 2019

Tracking Five Millennia of Horse Management with Extensive Ancient Genome Time Series

Cell, 2019

The report of archaeozoological studies of the archaeometry Laboratory of the University of Tehran and the National Museum of Iran 1394-1395 (2015-2016)

15th Annual Archaeology Meeting of Iran, 2016

Appendix 3. Observations on the faunal remains of Tall-e Abu Chizan

Later Village Period Settlement Development in the Karun River Basin, Upper Khuzestan Plain, Greater Susiana, Iran, 2012

The Subsistence Economy of a Highland Settlement in the Zagros during the Bronze and Iron Ages. The Case of Gūnespān (Hamadan, Iran)

by Sarieh Amiribeirami, Reza Naseri, and Azadeh Mohaseb

ARCHAEOZOOLOGY OF SOUTHWEST ASIAAND ADJACENT AREAS XIII, 2021

Gūnespān is located in the southeastern part of Malayer, in Hamadan Province in Iran. The main oc... more Gūnespān is located in the southeastern part of Malayer, in Hamadan Province in Iran. The main occupation occurred during the Bronze Age and Late Iron Age (Median) periods. The study of archaeozoological assemblages from these peri-ods revealed that sheep/goat and cattle constitute the bulk of the exploited animal resources, showing that these human communities were highly dependent on pastoralism. During the Iron Age, the role of cattle seems to have become more predominant, which might be an indication of agricultural development in this region. Also, another feature in common with other sites in Iran is the increase of suid remains, which shows the growing importance of domestic pig during the Iron Age. In parallel, equid remains are also more numerous. The same pattern is visible when comparing Gūnespān to Godin Tepe and Nush-i Jan. The identified wild species (12%), the majority of which are herbivores, belong to wild sheep (Ovis orientalis), wild goat (Capra aegagrus), red deer (Cervus elaphus maral) or Persian fallow deer (Dama dama mesopo-tamica), wild boar (Sus scrofa), and gazelle (Gazella cf. subgutturosa). Other identified wild taxa are wild or domestic cat (Felis silvestris/catus), hare (Lepus europaeus), heron (Ardea sp.), duck (Anatidae), and tortoise (Testudo graeca).

EVOSHEEP: the makeup of sheep breeds in the ancient Near East

Antiquity, 2021

The EVOSHEEP project combines archaeozoology, geometric morphometrics and genetics to study archa... more The EVOSHEEP project combines archaeozoology, geometric morphometrics and genetics to study archaeological sheep assemblages dating from the sixth to the first millennia BC in eastern Africa, the Levant, the Anatolian South Caucasus, the Iranian Plateau and Mesopotamia. The project aims to understand changes in the physical appearance and phenotypic characteristics of sheep and how these related to the appearance of new breeds and the demand for secondary products to supply the textile industry.

The Subsistence Economy of Qela Gap; Lurestan, Iran: From the Late Neolithic to the Iron Age

Tepe Qela Gap (also known as Ghala Gap ) in Azna: Lurestan, was excavated in 2009 aiming to estab... more Tepe Qela Gap (also known as Ghala Gap ) in Azna: Lurestan, was excavated in 2009 aiming to establish the chronological sequence for the Azna Plain located eastern of Central Zagros, which had been scarcely studied archaeologically until now. Considering the ecological diversity surrounding the plain, Tepe Qela Gap seems to have been an ideal place for the settlement of permanent villages but could also be suitable for nomadic and seminomadic people. The archaeozoological study of a large faunal assemblage, approximately 6500 items from this site, has provided evidence on the evolution of the subsistence economy of the site during various periods of occupation. The faunal spectra of Qela Gap from different periods, indicates that domesticated sheep/goat and cattle were the major source of animal resources. Among these domesticates it should be noted that cattle ratios are important and together with evidences of kill off patterns and osteological pathologies, we can hypothesise that...

Subsistence economy in Kohneh Pasgah Tepesi (eastern Azerbaijan, Iran) during the Late Chalcolithic and the Early Bronze Age based on the faunal and botanical remains

by Azadeh Mohaseb and Sepideh Maziar سپیده مازیار

Iranian Plateau during the Bronze Age; Development of urbanisation, production and trade, 2020

This paper deals with the results obtained from the study of faunal and botanical remains from Ko... more This paper deals with the results obtained from the study of faunal and botanical remains from Kohneh Pasgah Tepesi (Iran). For archaeozoologists, the north-western part of Iran is one of the most important regions because of the abundance of bovines as well as ovicaprines. The traces of human activities are very well represented. Archaeobotanical studies are still rare
in this area, but the first analysis of some recently excavated sites provide very interesting results and show the potential of this key area. This work present a multidisciplinary approach, which constitutes a first picture of interaction between human, animal and plants in Kohneh Pasgah Tepesi during the Late Chalcolithic represented by Sioni and Chaff‑faced traditions
and the Early Bronze Age by Kura‑Araxes cultural tradition. In this regards, the presented material in this article would enhance our understanding of the subsistence economy of these traditions inside Iran, of which rarely is published.

Toward a definition of the Kura-Araxes agropastoral systems

Iranian Plateau during the Bronze Age; Development of urbanisation, production and trade, 2020

This paper aims at presenting a review of recently published data regarding the agropastoral syst... more This paper aims at presenting a review of recently published data regarding the agropastoral systems used in the Kura‑Araxes cultural complex. This multidisciplinary approach, using archaeozoological and archaeobotanical data, allows one of the first analyses of the interactions between human groups and the animal and vegetal resources in the southern Caucasus at the beginning of the Early Bronze Age.

Ancient goat genomes reveal mosaic domestication in the Fertile Crescent

by Valeria Mattiangeli, Azadeh Mohaseb, and Sepideh Maziar سپیده مازیار

Science , 2018

Current genetic data are equivocal as to whether goat domestication occurred multiple times or wa... more Current genetic data are equivocal as to whether goat domestication occurred multiple times or was a singular process. We generated genomic data from 83 ancient goats (51 with genome-wide coverage) from Paleolithic to Medieval contexts throughout the Near East. Our findings demonstrate that multiple divergent ancient wild goat sources were domesticated in a dispersed process that resulted in genetically and geographically distinct Neolithic goat populations, echoing contemporaneous human divergence across the region. These early goat populations contributed differently to modern goats in Asia, Africa, and Europe. We also detect early selection for pigmentation, stature, reproduction, milking, and response to dietary change, providing 8000-year-old evidence for human agency in molding genome variation within a partner species.

Zooarchaeology of the Pre-Pottery and Pottery Neolithic site of Qasr-e Ahmad (Iran)

Archaeozoology of the Near East XII, Proceedings of the 12th International Symposium of the ICAZ Archaeozoology of Southwest Asia and Adjacent Areas Working Group, 2018

The zooarchaeological study of the Neolithic site of Qasr-e Ahmad in Fars Province (southern Zagr... more The zooarchaeological study of the Neolithic site of Qasr-e Ahmad in Fars Province (southern Zagros, Iran) provides valuable evidence for a better understanding of the process of caprine domestication and dispersal in Southwest Asia. Goat was the most commonly exploited animal in Qasr-e Ahmad during both phases of prehistoric settlement (Pre-Pottery Neolithic and Pottery Neolithic). Sheep were also present but represent a limited contribution to the subsistence economy at the site. Limited osteometric data from sheep suggest that they were already domesticated at the site, which is earlier than hitherto suggested for the region. Kill-off and osteometric data indicate that the majority of goats and sheep were managed using strategies known at other later sites in the region. Cattle and pig were not domesticated and were not regularly exploited. The location of the site next to the Qara Aqhaj permanent river, the presence of architectural remains in the PPN phases of the site, as well as the abundance of lithic tools indicate pastoral and agricultural components in the Qasr-e Ahmad subsistence economy.

Ancient genomes revisit the ancestry of domestic and Przewalski's horses

by Philipp Wolfgang Stockhammer and Azadeh Mohaseb

Science, 2018

The Eneolithic Botai culture of the Central Asian steppes provides the earliest archaeological ev... more The Eneolithic Botai culture of the Central Asian steppes provides the earliest archaeological evidence for horse husbandry, ~5500 years ago, but the exact nature of early horse domestication remains controversial. We generated 42 ancient-horse genomes, including 20 from Botai. Compared to 46 published ancient- and modern-horse genomes, our data indicate that Przewalski’s horses are the feral descendants of horses herded at Botai and not truly wild horses. All domestic horses dated from ~4000 years ago to present only show ~2.7% of Botai-related ancestry. This indicates that a massive genomic turnover underpins the expansion of the horse stock that gave rise to modern domesticates, which coincides with large-scale human population expansions during the Early Bronze Age.

Kura-Araxes exploitation of animal resources in North-western Iran and Nakhchivan

Archaeozoology of the Near East XII, Proceedings of the 12th International Symposium of the ICAZ Archaeozoology of Southwest Asia and Adjacent Areas Working Group, 2018

The Early Bronze Age in north-western Iran and adjacent regions is known for the Kura-Araxes or E... more The Early Bronze Age in north-western Iran and adjacent regions is known for the Kura-Araxes or Early Trans-Caucasian Culture, spreading through the Caucasus and the Lake Urmia Basin. The subsistence economy during this important period is not well known, especially in Iran. This paper deals with the characterization of Kura-Araxes herding strategies by examining the faunal remains from six settlements (Tepe Hasanlu, Kul Tepe, Haftavan Tepe, Kohnehh Tepesi, Kohneh Pasgah Tepesi and Ovçular Tepesi). The results indicate that all these settlements shared similar herding strategies. The exploitation of animal resources was mainly based on domestic ruminants.

Detecting taxonomic and phylogenetic signals in equid cheek teeth: towards new palaeontological and archaeological proxies

by Thomas Cucchi and Azadeh Mohaseb

Royal Society Open Science, 2017

The Plio–Pleistocene evolution of Equus and the subsequent domestication of horses and donkeys re... more The Plio–Pleistocene evolution of Equus and the subsequent domestication of horses and donkeys remains poorly understood, due to the lack of phenotypic markers capable of tracing this evolutionary process in the palaeontological/archaeological record. Using images from 345 specimens, encompassing 15 extant taxa of equids, we quantified the occlusal enamel folding pattern in four mandibular cheek teeth with a single geometric morphometric protocol. We initially investigated the protocol accuracy by assigning each tooth to its correct anatomical position and taxonomic group. We then contrasted the phylogenetic signal present in each tooth shape with an exome-wide phylogeny from 10 extant equine species. We estimated the strength of the phylogenetic signal using a Brownian motion model of evolution with multivariate K statistic, and mapped the dental shape along the molecular phylogeny using an approach based on squared-change parsimony. We found clear evidence for the relevance of dental phenotypes to accurately discriminate all modern members of the genus Equus and capture their phylogenetic relationships. These results are valuable for both palaeontologists and zooarchaeologists exploring the spatial

Statistical Analyses on Bioarchaeological Materials: Comparison between the Subsistence Economies in Tepe Sagzabad and Haftavan Tepe during the Iron Age

International journal of the society of Iranian Archaeologists, 2017

In this paper we compare the subsistence economies based on the study of the faunal remains of tw... more In this paper we compare the subsistence economies based on the study of the faunal remains of two Iron Age settlements, Haftavan Tepe and Sagzabad in two different environments in northwestern Iran. These two examples are used to illustrate the use of various statistical methods in archaeozoology to test the significance of the quantitative and qualitative data. This analysis includes various measures for bone count and also for testing the morphological variability in various animal populations. By using Chi-Squared test, we show that although the two assemblages are very different is size, they still can be compared. In both Haftavan Tepe and Sagzabad, cattle is an important component of the subsistence economy. We compared these two populations geographically distant. With a Student t test we demonstrate the existence of two morphologically different cattle population during the Iron Age in northern part of the Iranian Plateau. In this paper, we aimed at demonstrating the importance of statistical methods in anthropological discussions.

Animal exploitation of pastoral and wild resources during the Bronze Age in Aliabad, a rural settlement in north west of Iran (west Azerbaijan province)

Proceeding of stratigraphy Excavation at Bronze Age site of Aliabad, Boukan, North west Iran, 2021

Archaeozoology of Sasanian and Islamic sites from the Gorgan Wall to the Tehran Plain

Ancient Arms Race: Antiquity's Largest Fortresses and Sasanian Military Networks of Northern Iran: A joint fieldwork project by the Iranian Cultural Heritage, Handcraft and Tourism Organization and the Universities of Edinburgh and Durham (2014-2016), 2021

Faunal remains from Persepolis West, Marvdasht plain. Thoughts on the economic life in Fars during Antiquity

From Palace to town. Report of multidisciplinary project carried out by the Iranian-Italian Joint Archaeological Mission in Persepolis Terrace (Fars, Iran) 2008-2013, Science in Archaeology, 2021

The Subsistence Economy of a Highland Settlement in The Zagros During the Bronze and Iron Ages. The Case of Gūnespān (Hamadan, Iran)

Archaeozoology of Southwest Asia and Adjacent Areas. XIII: Proceedings of the Thirteenth International Symposium, University of Cyprus, 2021

Human and animal interactions in the Iranian Plateau: Research conducted by the Osteology Department of Iran National Museum

Iran National Museum, Institut Français de Recherche in Iran. Bibliothèque iranienne N°85, 2021

Les chevaux antiques du plateau iranien. Entre étude philologique, examen iconographique, recherche archéozoologique et analyse paléogénétique

Croiser les sciences pour lire les animaux, 2021

Preliminary report on the first season of excavations at Tepe Chalow: New GKC (BMAC) finds in the plain of Jajarm, NE Iran

The Iranian Plateau during the Bronze Age. Development of Urbanisation, Production and Trade, 2019

Kura-Araxes exploitation of animal resources in North-western Iran and Nakhchivan

Archaeozoology of the Near East XII, Proceedings of the 12th International Symposium of the ICAZ Archaeozoology of Southwest Asia and Adjacent Areas Working Group, 2018

A short account on Kelek Asad Morad, a Pre-Pottery Neolithic site in Pol e Dokhtar- Luristan

The Neolithic of the Iranian Plateau. Recent Research. Studies in Early Near Eastern Production, Subsistence, and Environment, 2016

Faunal remains of Deh Kheir and Kalāteh Khan, two late Neolithic sites of the Shahroud and Bastam plains (North East Iran)

The Neolithic of the Iranian Plateau. Recent Research. Studies in Early Near Eastern Production, Subsistence, and Environment , 2016

Neolithisation of Eastern Iran: New insights through the study of the faunal remains of Tappeh Sang-e Chakhmaq

The First Farming Village in Northeast Iran and Turan Tappeh Sang-e Chakhmaq and beyond , 2014

Subsistence economy of Gela Gap (Luristan) from the Late Neolithic to the Iron Age. An account of the archaeozoological studies

Proceeding of the International Conference of Young Archaeologist, 2014

The Upper Paleolithic faunal remains from Yafteh cave (central Zagros), 2005 campaign. A preliminary study

The Aurignacian of Yafteh cave and its context (2005-2008 excavations), 2012

The Upper Paleolithic faunal remains from Yafteh cave (central Zagros), 2005 campaign. A preliminary study

Iran Palaeolithic

Mécanismes de régulation de la biodiversité à l’échelle de l’Holocène : les contributions de l’archéozoologie

Biodiversité et changement global Réponses adaptatives au changement global: Résultats et prospectives, 2008