Diverse livestock management strategies sustained the emerging chalcolithic town of Tepe Farukhabad, Iran.

Pastoral economies were critical to the development of cities in Late Chalcolithic southwest Asia; yet, pastoral strategies in small settlements, particularly outside of the Mesopotamian heartland, remain understudied. This study uses carbon (δ13C) and oxygen (δ18O) isotope analyses of caprine molars to investigate herd management in the Early Uruk to Late Uruk occupational phases at Tepe Farukhabad, in lowland southwest Iran. In both phases, a pronounced separation in carbon values indicates that herds accessed two discrete environments. One set of animals was likely foddered over the winter months and herded to pastures at higher altitudes in the summer, indicated by δ18O maxima corresponding with δ13C minima. Other animals were likely pastured at lower elevations, possibly near Tepe Farukhabad, as their lower carbon isotope values suggest greater access to C3 plants. These findings indicate that herd management strategies remained diverse and local amid the cultural and climactic transformations of the Uruk period.