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Dung Temper in Neolithic Pottery of the Eastern Fertile Crescent as an Indicator of Animal Domestication
N. Y. Petrova,
A. N. Babenko,
H. Tekin,
H. Darabi,
A. A. Harutyunyan,
P. V. Guryeva,
E. Y. Tereschenko,
Y. Miyake,
A. T. Ökse,
S. Alibaigi,
İ. Yıldız,
D. A. Svetlakov https://doi.org/10.17746/1563-0110.2025.53.4.071-081
Abstract
Since the early 7th millennium BC, when ceramics had become widespread in the Eastern Fertile Crescent, specifically in central valleys and the western foothills of the Zagros, they were tempered exclusively with organic plant remains. Here, we outline the findings of the study of this temper using microscopic technological analysis, X-ray tomography and spherulite analysis, upholding the suggestion that dung was present in the paste. The samples fall in the interval from late 9th to 6th millennia BC; originating from the piedmont of the Taurus, Upper Mesopotamia, the highlands and foothills of the Zagros, and the Armenian Highland. The use of dung as temper provides additional evidence of an early beginning of animal domestication in this region. It can be assumed that this tradition spread as a large-scale phenomenon from the Zagros and its foothills northward to Upper Mesopotamia, the foothills of the Taurus Mountains, and further west and east. In the 7th millennium BC pottery, the dung was likely that of sheep and goats; from the late 6th millennium BC onward, that of cattle. Since the early 6th millennium, dung had been less and less widely used for tempering tableware while being still in use with regard to utility ware. One possible reason is a worsened attitude to dung; another, improved firing conditions.
Keywords
Neolithic,
Fertile Crescent,
dung temper,
microscopic technological analysis,
X-ray tomography,
spherulite analysis
Supporting agencies: This study was supported by the Russian Science Foundation, Project No. 24-28-01072 “Organic Impurities in Neolithic Ceramics of the Fertile Crescent and the South Caucasus”. X-ray tomography analyses were carried out under the state assignment of the National Research Centre “Kurchatov Institute”. The authors express their gratitude to T. Richter, co-director of the excavations at the settlement of Ganj Dareh, for permission to use the material from this site; to R. Badalyan for the opportunity to study the ceramics found at the settlement of Aknashen; to E. Çubukçu for permission to use the equipment of the Geological Department of the Hacettepe University; and to S. Khosravi, M. Tuncer, B. Kargı, H. Chaderi, E. Fotuhi, S. Can, S. Çiftçi, and M. Ertap for their generous assistance.
About the Authors
N. Y. Petrova
Institute of Archaeology, Russian Academy of Sciences
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Petrova N.Y., Researcher,
Ulyanova 19, Moscow, 117292.
A. N. Babenko
Institute of Archaeology, Russian Academy of Sciences
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Babenko A.N., Researcher,
Ulyanova 19, Moscow, 117292.
H. Tekin
Hacettepe University
Turkey
Turkey
Tekin H., Professor,
Beytepe-Ankara, TR06800.
H. Darabi
Razi University
Islamic Republic of Iran
Islamic Republic of Iran
Darabi H., Associate Professor,
Bagh-e Abrisham, Kermanshah, 6714414971.
A. A. Harutyunyan
Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia
Armenia
Armenia
Harutyunyan A.A., Researcher,
Charents 15, Yerevan, 0025.
P. V. Guryeva
National Research Centre “Kurchatov Institute”
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Guryeva P.V., Research Engineer,
pl. Akademika Kurchatova 1, Moscow, 123182.
E. Y. Tereschenko
National Research Centre “Kurchatov Institute”
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Tereschenko E.Y., Leading Researcher,
pl. Akademika Kurchatova 1, Moscow, 123182.
Y. Miyake
University of Tsukuba
Japan
Japan
Miyake Y., Professor,
Tenodai, 1-1-1, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 3058571.
A. T. Ökse
Kocaeli University
Turkey
Turkey
Ökse A.T., Professor, Lecturer/Instructor,
Umuttepe Yerleşkesi, İzmit/Kocaeli, TR41001.
S. Alibaigi
Razi University
Islamic Republic of Iran
Islamic Republic of Iran
Alibaigi S., Associate Professor,
Bagh-e Abrisham, Kermanshah, 6714414971.
İ. Yıldız
Dicle University
Turkey
Turkey
Yıldız İ., Professor,
Sur/Diyarbakır, TR 21260.
D. A. Svetlakov
State Academic University of Humanities (GAUGN)
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Svetlakov D.A., Student,
Maronovsky per. 26, Moscow, 119049.
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For citations:
Petrova N.Y., Babenko A.N., Tekin H., Darabi H., Harutyunyan A.A., Guryeva P.V., Tereschenko E.Y., Miyake Y., Ökse A.T., Alibaigi S., Yıldız İ., Svetlakov D.A. Dung Temper in Neolithic Pottery of the Eastern Fertile Crescent as an Indicator of Animal Domestication. Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia. 2025;53(4):71-81. https://doi.org/10.17746/1563-0110.2025.53.4.071-081
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