title: Data sharing reveals complexity in the westward spread of domestic animals across Neolithic Turkey.
abstract: This study presents the results of a major data integration project bringing together primary archaeozoological data for over 200,000 faunal specimens excavated from seventeen sites in Turkey spanning the Epipaleolithic through Chalcolithic periods, c. 18,000-4,000 cal BC, in order to document the initial westward spread of domestic livestock across Neolithic central and western Turkey. From these shared datasets we demonstrate that the westward expansion of Neolithic subsistence technologies combined multiple routes and pulses but did not involve a set 'package' comprising all four livestock species including sheep, goat, cattle and pig. Instead, Neolithic animal economies in the study regions are shown to be more diverse than deduced previously using quantitatively more limited datasets. Moreover, during the transition to agro-pastoral economies interactions between domestic stock and local wild fauna continued. Through publication of datasets with Open Context (opencontext.org), this project emphasizes the benefits of data sharing and web-based dissemination of large primary data sets for exploring major questions in archaeology (Alternative Language Abstract S1).
authors.affiliation: Department of Anthropology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States of America.
authors.forename: Benjamin S
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Arbuckle
authors.affiliation: Alexandria Archive Institute, Open Context, San Francisco, California, United States of America.
authors.forename: Sarah Whitcher
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Kansa
authors.affiliation: Alexandria Archive Institute, Open Context, San Francisco, California, United States of America; D-Lab, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California, United States of America.
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kansa
authors.affiliation: Institute of Archaeology, University College London, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Orton
authors.affiliation: University of Groningen, Institute of Archaeology, Groningen, Netherlands.
authors.forename: Canan
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Çakırlar
authors.affiliation: Cultures et Environnements Préhistoire, Antiquité, Moyen Âge, Université Nice Sophia-Antipolis, Nice, France.
authors.forename: Lionel
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gourichon
authors.affiliation: Department of Anthropology, University of Nevada Las Vegas, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States of America.
authors.forename: Levent
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Atici
authors.affiliation: Institute for Anatomy, Histology and Embryology, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Alfred
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Galik
authors.affiliation: Institute for Prehistory, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland.
authors.forename: Arkadiusz
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Marciniak
authors.affiliation: School of History, Archaeology and Religion, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Jacqui
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mulville
authors.affiliation: University of Groningen, Institute of Archaeology, Groningen, Netherlands.
authors.forename: Hijlke
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Buitenhuis
authors.affiliation: Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Denise
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Carruthers
authors.affiliation: Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Bruxelles, Belgium.
authors.forename: Bea
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: De Cupere
authors.affiliation: Department of Anthropology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York, United States of America.
authors.forename: Arzu
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Demirergi
authors.affiliation: Kingston, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Sheelagh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Frame
authors.affiliation: Archéorient, Maison de l'Orient et de la Méditerranée, Antenne de Jalès, Berrias-et-Casteljau, France.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Helmer
authors.affiliation: Institute of Archaeology, University College London, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Louise
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Sciences, Institute of Palaeoanatomy, Domestication and the History of Veterinary Medicine, Ludwig Maximilian University Munich, Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: Joris
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Peters
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Sciences, Institute of Palaeoanatomy, Domestication and the History of Veterinary Medicine, Ludwig Maximilian University Munich, Munich, Germany; Bavarian State Collection of Anthropology and Palaeoanatomy, Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: Nadja
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Pöllath
authors.affiliation: Institute of Geology, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland.
authors.forename: Kamilla
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Pawłowska
authors.affiliation: Department of Anthropology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, United States of America.
authors.forename: Nerissa
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Russell
authors.affiliation: Department of Anthropology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York, United States of America.
authors.forename: Katheryn
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Twiss
authors.affiliation: Institute of Prehistoric and Historical Archaeology, Vienna University, Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Doris
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Würtenberger
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000829:Animals, Domestic; D001106:Archaeology / Q000379:methods*; D002417:Cattle; D005843:Geography; D033181:Information Dissemination; D058751:Livestock; D012756:Sheep; D013552:Swine; D014421:Turkey