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Kuznetsk n = 34
0.230
Kozhai n = 12 WILD
Kumkeshu nn == 41
41
Mongolian n = 4
Mongolian
Bd/GL
0.220
Kent n = 36
Botai n = 18
DOMESTIC
0.210
-28 -28
adipose fat adipose fat
δ13C18:0
A C
-36 -36
-50 -50
Milk
Equine milk
-150 -150
δD C18:0
δD C18:0
Equine milk
Equine
adipose Equine adipose
-250 -250
B D
-350 -350
-350 -300 -250 -200 -150 -350 -300 -250 -200 -150
δD C16:0 δD C16:0
Fig. 3. Scatter plots of d13C and dD values of the C18:0 and C16:0 fatty acid animal Botai potsherds sampled, and (D) shows the dD values of the C18:0 and C16:0 fatty
fats of modern reference fats (A and B, respectively) and of organic residues from acids of the residues from potsherds assigned as equine fats. All confidence ellipses
archaeological potsherds (C and D, respectively) from Kazakhstan. (C) shows the are mean T SD and correspond to the values exhibited by modern reference fats.
d13C values of C18:0 and C16:0 fatty acids of 50 analyzable lipid residues from 89 The residues highlighted in red correspond to archaeological equine milk fats.
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1334 6 MARCH 2009 VOL 323 SCIENCE www.sciencemag.org
REPORTS
and its sources can be classified on the basis of vessels provides direct evidence for their exploi- 12. S. S. Kalieva, V. N. Logvin, Skotovody Turgaya v Tret’em
the d13C values of the major n-alkanoic acids, tation as a dietary staple. The demonstration of Tysyacheletii do Nashej Ehry (Kustanajckij Gosudarstvennyj
Universitet, Kustanaj, Kazakhstan, 1997).
palmitic (C16:0) and stearic (C18:0) acid, which mares’ milk processing confirms that at least 13. V. V. Yevdokimov, V. V. Varfolomeev, Ehpoxa Bronzy
allows nonruminant and ruminant carcass and some of the mares at Botai were domesticated. Central’nogo i Cevernogo Kazaxstana (Karagandinskij
ruminant dairy fats to be distinguished (21, 22). The fact that horse milking existed in a region Gosudarstvennyj Universitet, Karaganda, Kazakhstan,
Ruminant dairying developed relatively quickly remote from the locus of ruminant domestication 2002).
14. V. Eisenmann, in Equids in the Ancient World, R. H. Meadow,
after the domestication of cattle, sheep, and goats in the “Fertile Crescent” and in an area seemingly H.-P. Uerpmann, Eds. (Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag,
(23); direct identification of mares’ milk in pot- devoid of domestic ruminants indicates that the Wiesbaden, Germany, 1986), pp. 67–116.
tery vessels would be clear evidence of horse evolution of strategies for exploiting animals for 15. A. S. Gilbert, in Equids in the Ancient World, Volume II,
domestication. Sampling of modern animal fats, in- their milk was not contingent on the adoption of R. H. Meadow, H.-P. Uerpmann, Eds. (Dr. Ludwig Reichert
Verlag, Wiesbaden, Germany, 1991), pp. 75–122.
cluding equine adipose and milk fats from Kazakh the conventional “agricultural package,” as it 16. I. V. Foronova, in Equids in Time and Space, M. Mashkour,
animals fed on the natural steppe vegetation, was appears to have developed independently in the Ed. (Oxbow Books, Oxford, 2006,) pp. 20–30.
undertaken. Although horse adipose and milk Botai region. 17. I. E. Grebnev, S. K. Vasil'ev, in Steregushchie Zoloto Grify
fats were resolved from the fats of ruminant (Ak-Alakhinskie Kurgany), N. V. Polos'mak, Ed. (Nauka,
References and Notes Novosibirsk, Russia, 1994), pp. 106–111.
animals, their d13C values overlap (Fig. 3A); 1. D. W. Anthony, The Horse, the Wheel, and Language 18. R. Bendrey, J. Archaeol. Sci. 34, 1036 (2007).
hence, although equine fats can be detected with (Princeton Univ. Press, Princeton, NJ, 2007). 19. D. G. Bennett, in Equine Dentistry, G. J. Baker, J. Easley,
this approach, equine milk cannot be unambigu- 2. J. P. Mallory, In Search of the Indo-Europeans: Language, Eds. (Elsevier Saunders, London, 2005), pp. 9–22.
Archaeology and Myth (Thames and Hudson, London, 20. R. P. Evershed et al., Acc. Chem. Res. 35, 660 (2002).
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To achieve separation, we used compound- 21. S. N. Dudd, R. P. Evershed, Science 282, 1478 (1998).
3. S. Piggott, Wagon, Chariot and Carriage (Thames & 22. M. S. Copley et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 100,
specific deuterium isotope (dD) analysis of the Hudson, London, 1992). 1524 (2003).
major n-alkanoic acids, exploiting the phenome- 4. T. Jansen et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 99, 10905 23. R. P. Evershed et al., Nature 455, 528 (2008).
(2002).
non that in midcontinental regions, such as the 24. K. Rozanski, L. Araguas-Araguas, R. Gonfiantini, in
5. C. Vilà et al., Science 291, 474 (2001). Climate Change in Continental Records, P. K. Swart,
Eurasian steppe, the dD values of summer and 6. S. L. Olsen, in Horses and Humans: The Evolution of K. C. Lohmann, J. McKenzie, S. Savin, Eds. (American
winter precipitation consistently differ by >100 per Human-Equine Relationships, S. L. Olsen, S. Grant, Geophysical Union, Washington, DC, 1993), pp. 1–36.
mil (24). Tissue lipid integrates both the water and A. M. Choyke, L. Bartosiewicz, Eds. (Archaeopress, 25. K. A. Hobson, L. Atwell, L. I. Wassenar, Proc. Natl. Acad.
dietary deuterium signal (25), hence their adipose Oxford, 2006), pp. 81–113. Sci. U.S.A. 96, 8003 (1999).
7. S. L. Olsen, in Documenting Domestication, M. A.Zeder, 26. C. V. Kremenetski, P. E. Tarasov, A. E. Cherkinsky,
fat integrates the annual dD signal. However, D .G. Bradley, E. Emshwiller, B. D. Smith, Eds. (Univ. of Quat. Int. 41-42, 125 (1997).
summer milk fat records only the summer dD California Press, Berkeley, CA, 2006), pp. 245–269. 27. P. E. Tarasov, D. Jolly, J. O. Kaplan, Palaeogeog.
signal; thus, the dD values of fatty acids in sum- 8. M. Levine, in Late Prehistoric Exploitation of the Eurasian Palaeocl. 136, 281 (1997).
mer milk and adipose fats will differ because of Steppe, M. Levine, Y. Rassamakin, A. Kislenko, 28. Thanks to E. Usmanova, V. Varfolomeev, V. Loman,
N. Tatarintseva, Eds. (McDonald Institute, Cambridge,
the large difference in the dD values of summer 1999), pp. 5–58.
V. Logvin, S. Kalieva, L. Gayduchenko, D. Chivall, R. Berstan,
versus mean annual precipitation. Figure 3B con- B. Bradley, S. Babich, and E. Isayev. We are grateful for the
9. S. Olsen, B. Bradley, D. Maki, A. Outram, in Beyond the
firms that the dD values of the modern reference Steppe and the Sown, D. L. Peterson, L. M. Popova, following grants: Natural Environment Research Council
A. T. Smith, Eds. (Brill, Leiden, Netherlands, 2006), grant NE/B504506/1, British Academy grant SG-35540,
horse fats exhibit the predicted difference between
pp. 89–111. and NSF grants BS9816476 and BCS0415441.
adipose and summer milk fats. 10. M. Levine, in Prehistoric Steppe Adaptation and the
The d13C values from the major fatty acid Horse, M. Levine, C. Renfrew, K. Boyle, Eds. (McDonald
Supporting Online Material
www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/323/5919/1332/DC1
components of the Botai cooking vessels confirm Institute of Archaeological Research, Cambridge, 2003),
SOM Text
the preponderance of horse fat residues (Fig. 3C), pp. 1–7.
Table S1
11. V. F. Zaibert, A. Tyulevaev, A. V. Zadorozhnyj, U. Kulakov,
mirroring the dominance of horse bones at the References
Tajny Drevnyej Stepi: Issledovaniya Poseleniya Botaj
site. A few residues fall into the ruminant refer- (2004-2006) (Kokshetauskogo Universiteta, Kokshetau, 17 November 2008; accepted 14 January 2009
ence distribution, which may well indicate the Kazakhstan, 2007). 10.1126/science.1168594
presence of small numbers of hunted cervids or
bovids. Most significantly, the dD values show
two distinct clusters. The red points in Fig. 3, C
and D, correspond to the respective d13C and dD
values of the same five potsherds. All the dD
Promoting Intellectual Discovery:
values of the fatty acid components of these
residues exhibit significantly elevated dD values. Patents Versus Markets
They very likely derive from mare’s milk because
of their relative displacement from the major Debrah Meloso,1* Jernej Copic,2 Peter Bossaerts3
cluster of carcass fats (Fig. 3D and SOM). The
relatively higher dD values in the archaeological Because they provide exclusive property rights, patents are generally considered to be an
fats are consistent with increased aridity during effective way to promote intellectual discovery. Here, we propose a different compensation scheme,
this period of prehistory (26, 27). in which everyone holds shares in the components of potential discoveries and can trade those
Although existing archaeological evidence shares in an anonymous market. In it, incentives to invent are indirect, through changes in share
for horse domestication at Botai is inconclusive prices. In a series of experiments, we used the knapsack problem (in which participants have to
(10), our new skeletal evidence, based on meta- determine the most valuable subset of objects that can fit in a knapsack of fixed volume) as a
carpal metrics, supports the presence of a propor- typical representation of intellectual discovery problems. We found that our “markets system”
tion of domesticated horses in the Botai herds. performed better than the patent system.
Moreover, our bitting damage evidence indicates
the use of bridles to control working animals and n a patenting system, the first to discover the because they provide strong incentives to invest in
supports assertions that finds of leather thong–
producing tools are consistent with horse domes-
tication (6, 7). Finally, evidence for extensive
I solution to a problem receives a prize in the
form of exclusive property rights to the fruits
from the discovery. Patents are generally viewed as
effort, the cost of which can be recuperated from the
earnings generated by applications of the discovery.
The patent system has been criticized on
horse carcass product processing in pottery a superior way to promote intellectual discovery various grounds. First, there is the obvious fair-
EMBARGOED UNTIL 2:00 PM US EASTERN TIME THURSDAY, 5 MARCH 2009
www.sciencemag.org SCIENCE VOL 323 6 MARCH 2009 1335
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