Resumen de Animal exploitation at Körtik Tepe: An early Aceramic Neolithic site in southeastern Turkey
Benjamin S. Arbuckle, Vecihi Özkaya
In this paper the first results describing animal exploitation at the early Aceramic Neolithic site of Körtik Tepe, Batman, southeastern Turkey, are presented. The site is characterized by the intensive exploitation of sheep as well as that of red deer, cattle, gazelle, fallow deer, and pig. Metrical data indicate that sheep, the dominant taxa at the site, were morphologically wild and that both rams and ewes were well represented in the adult population. Age data indicate a kill-off focused on individuals between the ages of 1-3 years, which is interpreted to represent the hunting of juvenile rich female herds as well as bachelor herds of rams. This pattern of exploiting primarily young sheep is similar to patterns documented at sites including Hallan Çemi and Cafer and may be a precursor to strategies of herd management in the region. Metrical data for cattle indicate the presence of large, morphologically wild cattle in the upper Tigris basin in the 10 th millennium cal. BC. The faunal remains from Körtik provide valuable information describing the mosaic nature of animal exploitation strategies in southeastern Turkey in the period just prior to the domestication of food animals.
