Analysis of the archaeozoological material of the medieval tortkul Talapty (According to the excavations of 2021)

Abstract

The article introduces for the first time into scientific circulation the results of the archaeozoological analysis of the materials of the medieval tortkul Talapty (10th–11th centuries) obtained in the field season of 2021. The purpose of the research is to determine and compare the species composition of animals in the economy of the medieval population of the Talas valley. During the study of osteological material, the task was set to determine the species composition of the paleofauna, skeletal elements and age features. As a result, 816 animal bones were examined, in total, of which 550 bones were identified to the species. Among osteological materials, domestic animals dominate, and bones of wild animals and birds are also found. The share of domestic animals is 95%, wild animals – 5%. The share of small cattle among the revealed volume of bones of domestic animals is 52.4%. In second place – the bones of cattle (31.1%), in third – horses (9.2%). Among domestic animals, camel bones were extremely rare – 1.1%. Traces of blows are recorded on most bones (on the surface of bones of cattle and horses). The structure of the bone material, the fragmentation indices show that these are typical "kitchen leftovers". Analysis of the osteological collection of tortkul Talapty allows you to get important information about the medieval fauna of the region and the peculiarities of farming by the ancient population.