Wild Equids at Neolithic Tepecik-Çiftlik: A Preliminary Stable Isotope Study
Abstract
This study presents stable carbon (δ¹³C) and nitrogen (δ¹⁵N) isotope analyses of bone collagen from wild equids (Equus ferus and Equus hemionus hydruntinus) recovered from the Neolithic and Early Chalcolithic layers (ca. 7000-5800 cal. BC) of Tepecik-Çiftlik, located in the Volcanic Cappadocia region of Central Anatolia. As no prior isotopic study of wild equids from this region has been conducted, the research is preliminary in nature and aims to fill a significant gap in the Central Anatolian Neolithic paleoenvironmental literature. The δ¹³C values are consistent with a diet primarily based on C3 plants, which is in line with the open grassland and steppe-type vegetation around the Çiftlik Plain during the Neolithic Period. The δ¹⁵N values appear to be higher than those reported for northwest European Holocene horses. This may be consistent with the semi-arid environmental conditions and soil nitrogen dynamics characteristic of the region, although δ¹⁵N values are influenced by multiple environmental and physiological factors. As one of the first studies presenting isotopic results from equids in Asia Minor, the findings should be considered a preliminary baseline dataset for building a comparative isotopic framework to understand the ecological role of wild equids in Anatolia.
Keywords
Stable isotope analysis, Tepecik-Çiftlik, Paleodiet, Equus ferus, Equus hemionus hydruntinus
Supporting Institution
This article has been produced from a doctoral dissertation entitled Stable Isotope Analysis of Faunal Remains from Tepecik-Çiftlik Höyük, conducted at Istanbul University, Institute of Graduate Studies in Social Sciences.
Thanks
We sincerely thank Dr. Yasin Gökhan Çakan, Dr. Stephanie Emra, Prof. Dr. Necmi Karul, and the Tepecik-Çiftlik excavation team for their generous support.
This work is dedicated with deep respect and gratitude to the memory of Assoc. Prof. Dr. Erhan Bıçakçı. His scholarly rigour, his dedication to his students, and his contributions to Anatolian archaeology will continue to guide us always.
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