Not just "nomadic jars": The Late Bronze Age ceramic assemblage from the mobile pastoralist site of Ojakly, Murghab region, Turkmenistan. (June 2019) - Rouse, Lynne M.
Abstract: Recent archaeological research in the Murghab region of modern Turkmenistan has highlighted the variable interweaving of material, technological, and social traditions between sedentary farmers and mobile pastoralists during the late 3rd through first half of the 2nd millennium BCE. This research has also made apparent significant gaps in collective scientific knowledge, particularly in relation to the materials and habits of mobile pastoralists. In this paper, we address the lack of a basic quantitative and qualitative description of mobile pastoralist ceramics for the prehistoric Murghab by presenting the results of a multi-faceted ceramic analysis for the occupation at Ojakly. Results demonstrate a greater degree of variability in form, function, and style of handmade coarseware than expected, calling into question the characterization of "nomadic jars" as a uniform type of material culture, and further emphasizing the plurality of mobile pastoralist strategies and behaviors in this key region. Highlights: The later Bronze Age Murghab lacks a basic typology of mobile pastoralist ceramics. We comprehensively analyze a ceramic assemblage from an excavated pastoralist site. Results demonstrate variability in form, function, and aesthetics of coarseware. A new, working typology of mobile pastoralist coarseware is presented. Ceramic analyses allude to a range of mobile pastoralist strategies and behaviors.