Papers by william fitzhugh
In the dry steppes of eastern Eurasia, domestic horses (E. caballus) provide the economic and cul... more In the dry steppes of eastern Eurasia, domestic horses (E. caballus) provide the economic and cultural foundations of nomadic life. With no written records and sparse archaeological data from early nomadic societies, however, the ecological context of the first horse herding and transport, and its role in the formation of herding societies is poorly understood. Some of the earliest evidence for domestic horses in the region come from small ritual horse burials at sites belonging to the Deer Stone-Khirigsuur (DSK) culture, a late Bronze Age cultural often linked with the first mobile pastoral societies in Mongolia. This dissertation employs archaeological and archaeozoological techniques to assess how DSK people used domestic horses, and evaluates the role of horse herding and transport in the emergence of mobile herding in eastern Eurasia. I present results in five discrete published studies. The first study identifies evidence for selective culling of young and old animals as part of maintaining a breeding herd, with the selective burial of adult male transport horses in prominent ritual mounds along the eastern perimeter of DSK monument sites. A second set of three closely related studies investigates the skulls of contemporary wild and domestic horses, identifying anthropogenic changes to the equine skull caused by exertion, bridling, and pressures related to horseback riding. Applying these criteria to the late Bronze Age DSK archaeological record indicates that DSK people bridled and used horses for transport, and may have engaged in early mounted horseback riding. Finally, a precision radiocarbon model suggests a rapid expansion of DSK horse use around ca. 1200 BCE – during a period of climate amelioration and increased rainfall, and concurrent with major changes in ritual practice and the spread of horses to new parts of the continent. These results provide compelling links between the adoption of horseback riding, new ecological opportunities, and the development of mobile pastoralism in eastern Eurasia.
Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 2020
Recent research traces the origins of Mongolian horse herding and riding as far as the late Bronz... more Recent research traces the origins of Mongolian horse herding and riding as far as the late Bronze Age Deer Stone-Khirigsuur Complex (DSKC), a tradition known from its standing stones, burials, and monuments. DSKC monument sites are often found with large numbers of partial ("head and hoof") horse burials buried at the monument periphery. However, despite the ubiquity of ritual horse inhumations, key questions remain regarding the process and significance of DSKC horse ritual. Here, we present detailed taphonomic, osteological, and cut-mark analysis of 21 individual horse burials from deer stones and khirigsuur mounds across Mongolia. Our results indicate a diversity of slaughter practices among horses at DSK sites, including blunt trauma to the forehead region with small and large implements and possibly throat-slitting. While the head, cervical vertebrae, and phalanges are the most commonly recovered elements from these sites, element presence and absence indicates the occasional inclusion of the tail and limb elements, which may be explained by the presence of connecting skin and soft tissue (e.g. hide). Most significantly, cut mark analysis demonstrates that elements found in DSK features were not only disarticulated, but were often stripped of meatincluding vertebral muscle and tongue removal. These results indicate that the spread of horse-based ritual practices in Mongolia was coupled with the removal (and likely consumption) of horse meat, suggesting that, beyond their role in transportation, the role of horses as livestock was both socially and economically significant during the late second millennium BCE.
Scientific Reports, 2020
While classic models for the emergence of pastoral groups in Inner Asia describe mounted, horse-b... more While classic models for the emergence of pastoral groups in Inner Asia describe mounted, horse-borne herders sweeping across the Eurasian Steppes during the Early or Middle Bronze Age (ca. 3000–1500 BCE), the actual economic basis of many early pastoral societies in the region is poorly characterized. In this paper, we use collagen mass fingerprinting and ancient DNA analysis of some of the first stratified and directly dated archaeofaunal assemblages from Mongolia’s early pastoral cultures to undertake species identifications of this rare and highly fragmented material. Our results provide evidence for livestock-based, herding subsistence in Mongolia during the late 3rd and early 2nd millennia BCE. We observe no evidence for dietary exploitation of horses prior to the late Bronze Age, ca. 1200 BCE – at which point horses come to dominate ritual assemblages, play a key role in pastoral diets, and greatly influence pastoral mobility. In combination with the broader archaeofaunal rec...
PLOS ONE, 2019
The emergence of mobile herding lifeways in Mongolia and eastern Eurasia was one of the most cruc... more The emergence of mobile herding lifeways in Mongolia and eastern Eurasia was one of the most crucial economic and cultural transitions in human prehistory. Understanding the process by which this played out, however, has been impeded by the absence of a precise chronological framework for the prehistoric era in Mongolia. One rare source of empirically dateable material useful for understanding eastern Eurasia's pastoral tradition comes from the stone burial mounds and monumental constructions that began to appear across the landscape of Mongolia and adjacent regions during the Bronze Age (ca. 3000-700 BCE). Here, along with presenting 28 new radiocarbon dates from Mongolia's earliest pastoral monumental burials, we synthesise, critically analyse, and model existing dates to present the first precision Bayesian radiocarbon model for the emergence and geographic spread of Bronze Age monument and burial forms. Model results demonstrate a cultural succession between ambiguously dated Afanasievo, Chemurchek, and Munkhkhairkhan traditions. Geographic patterning reveals the existence of important cultural frontiers during the second millennium BCE. This work demonstrates the utility of a Bayesian approach for investigating prehistoric cultural dynamics during the emergence of pastoral economies.
Memoirs of the Society for American Archaeology, 1976
Despite continued attention from archaeologists the origin of Dorset culture in the Eastern Arcti... more Despite continued attention from archaeologists the origin of Dorset culture in the Eastern Arctic remains a persistent problem in northern prehistory. The transition from late Pre-Dorset to early Dorset culture is marked by a relatively rapid and consistent typological shift throughout a large geographic area at between about 1000 and 800 B.C. Although hampered by a distinct paucity of information, available chronological and distributional data do not supply a ready explanation for such consistent changes over such a wide-flung territory. However, the lack of a time slope and the presence of regional variants do not suggest that Dorset origins will be found in a single locale; rather, the transition appears to have occurred throughout a band of interacting populations within the core area of the eastern Central Arctic. Subsequent changes may be seen as a result of stylistic evolution, diffusion, and migration into more peripheral regions during the maximum extension of the Dorset ...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Jul 2, 2018
From the American West to the steppes of Eurasia, the domestic horse transformed human societies,... more From the American West to the steppes of Eurasia, the domestic horse transformed human societies, providing rapid transport, communication, and military power, and serving as an important subsistence animal. Because of the importance of oral equipment for horse riding, dentistry is an essential component of modern horse care. In the open grasslands of northeast Asia, horses remain the primary form of transport for many herders. Although free-range grazing on gritty forage mitigates many equine dental issues, contemporary Mongolian horsemen nonetheless practice some forms of dentistry, including the removal of problematic deciduous teeth and the vestigial first premolar ("wolf tooth"). Here, we present archaezoological data from equine skeletal remains spanning the past 3,200 y, indicating that nomadic dental practices have great antiquity. Anthropogenic modifications to malerupted deciduous central incisors in young horses from the Late Bronze Age demonstrate their attempt...
AnthroNotes : National Museum of Natural History bulletin for teachers, 2014
Vikings: the North Atlantic Saga explores the little-known story of the dramatic Viking/Norse exp... more Vikings: the North Atlantic Saga explores the little-known story of the dramatic Viking/Norse expansion across the North Atlantic between 850 and 1000 AD, and their explorations and settlement in Greenland and Northeastern North America. Special emphasis is on fads and fallacies in popular beliefs about "Vikings" in North America as contrasted with new archaeological evidence from Arctic and Subarctic regions where Norse contacts occurred with Native Americans-both Inuit and Indian. Finally, the lecture addresses the likely causes of failure of the western Norse colonies and implications for future human Arctic endeavours. Dr. Fitzhugh earned his undergraduate degree at Dartmouth, and his doctorate at Harvard. His areas of specialization are the
Smithsonian at the poles : contributions to International Polar Year science, 2009
Norwegian Archaeological Review, 1978
This bibliography provides an introduction to the current literature, in English, on arctic and s... more This bibliography provides an introduction to the current literature, in English, on arctic and subarctic prehistory and ethnology. Leads for further research will be found in Section I. Publications listed are not available from the Smithsonian Institution. Copies may be seen in larger libraries or obtained through interlibrary loan. **Denotes items suitable for secondary school students.
Concentrated along the northern fringe of the Mongolian steppe south of the forested mountains of... more Concentrated along the northern fringe of the Mongolian steppe south of the forested mountains of Tuva in southern Siberia, stone plinths covered with graceful carvings of deer having elongated snouts and swept-back antlers stand as the earliest monumental legacy of Mongolia's ancient past (Fig. 1-3). Often accompanied by stone burial mounds with fenced perimeters and satellite mounds, deer stones and khirigsuurs are interlinked components of a single Late Bronze Age mortuary ceremonial system dating to ca. 1200-700 BC. The deer stone-khirigsuur complex (DSKC) is the earliest appearance in Mongolia of a distinctive mortuary landscape tradition involving burials of humans with subsidiary horse and human burial features that continues until the decline of the Xiongnu ca. 1700 BP. The relationship of this complex, and especially its art, to the development and spread of the Scythian horizon (Rudenko 1970; Sementsov et al. 1997; Molodin 2000) may be investigated more specifically now that firm dates for deer stone art have been established as early as five centuries before the early Scythian Arzhan site (Griaznov 1980; Fitzhugh 2009). Perhaps most important, the deer stone-khirigsuur complex represents for the first time in Mongolia the emergence of a complex hierarchical society that established the foundation for the formation of later nomadic states and empires. Archaeological interpretation of deer stones has had a long history among Soviet researchers beginning with A.
Dynamics of Northern …, 2004
PloS One, 2019
The emergence of mobile herding lifeways in Mongolia and eastern Eurasia was one of the most cruc... more The emergence of mobile herding lifeways in Mongolia and eastern Eurasia was one of the most crucial economic and cultural transitions in human prehistory. Understanding the process by which this played out, however, has been impeded by the absence of a precise chronological framework for the prehistoric era in Mongolia. One rare source of empirically dateable material useful for understanding eastern Eurasia's pastoral tradition comes from the stone burial mounds and monumental constructions that began to appear across the landscape of Mongolia and adjacent regions during the Bronze Age (ca. 3000-700 BCE). Here, along with presenting 28 new radiocarbon dates from Mongolia's earliest pastoral monumental burials, we synthesise, critically analyse, and model existing dates to present the first precision Bayesian radiocarbon model for the emergence and geographic spread of Bronze Age monument and burial forms. Model results demonstrate a cultural succession between ambiguously ...
From the American West to the steppes of Eurasia, the domestic horse transformed human societies,... more From the American West to the steppes of Eurasia, the domestic horse transformed human societies, providing rapid transport, communication, and military power, and serving as an important subsistence animal. Because of the importance of oral equipment for horse riding, dentistry is an essential component of modern horse care. In the open grasslands of northeast Asia, horses remain the primary form of transport for many herders. Although freerange grazing on gritty forage mitigates many equine dental issues, contemporary Mongolian horsemen nonetheless practice some forms of dentistry, including the removal of problematic deciduous teeth and the vestigial first premolar (“wolf tooth”). Here, we present archaezoological data from equine skeletal remains spanning the past 3,200 y, indicating that nomadic dental practices have great antiquity. Anthropogenic modifications to malerupted deciduous central incisors in young horses from the Late Bronze Age demonstrate their attempted removal,...
Nature Communications, 2016
The demographic history of Greenland is characterized by recurrent migrations and extinctions sin... more The demographic history of Greenland is characterized by recurrent migrations and extinctions since the first humans arrived 4,500 years ago. Our current understanding of these extinct cultures relies primarily on preserved fossils found in their archaeological deposits, which hold valuable information on past subsistence practices. However, some exploited taxa, though economically important, comprise only a small fraction of these sub-fossil assemblages. Here we reconstruct a comprehensive record of past subsistence economies in Greenland by sequencing ancient DNA from four well-described midden deposits. Our results confirm that the species found in the fossil record, like harp seal and ringed seal, were a vital part of Inuit subsistence, but also add a new dimension with evidence that caribou, walrus and whale species played a more prominent role for the survival of Paleo-Inuit cultures than previously reported. Most notably, we report evidence of bowhead whale exploitation by the Saqqaq culture 4,000 years ago.
... from some of the highest archaic Indian sites pro-duced some of the firstand earliestdates ... more ... from some of the highest archaic Indian sites pro-duced some of the firstand earliestdates from the Far Northeast, 6000 years. ... Harp's work in the village of Port au Choix in western Newfoundland provided the first glimpse of the dramatic maritime archaic burial site dis ...
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Papers by william fitzhugh