| The present thesis examined patterns of taxonomic utilization from a wide range of sites from different geographic regions and through several thousand years in order to contribute to an eventual understanding of the mechanisms by which disparate regional societies were subsumed into the unified Egyptian 'state.' An examination of the relative adaptiveness of cattle, sheep, goat and pigs was fundamental to understanding the choices by humans for exploiting a particular species or its products in a given area. A predictive model was developed based on issues of economic and social production among modern societies utilizing these same domesticated taxa under similar environmental conditions. Five strategies were identified: nomadic pastoralism, semi-nomadic pastoralism, transhumance, agro-pastoralism, and ranching. Contrary to previous interpretations, pigs were shown to be well adapted to utilization by sedentary populations in the Valley and Delta regions.; The methods for the investigation of alternatives of social and economic production and intensification were closely linked to zooarchaeologjcal analysis. However, it was necessary to supplement faunal inferences with evidence such as artistic depictions, Egyptian texts, and literature. This more challenging task of integrating different anthropological, archaeological and historical approaches was useful for understanding the intricate relationships between different segments of dynastic Egytpian society and for the changing importance of different taxa to various social institutions.; Evidence in the deserts was inconclusive and government-sponsored mining or quarrying expeditions indicated a needed addition to the model. The Delta provided strong evidence of a 'ranching'-type strategy to fill government- or religious-based obligations such as taxation or rituals. Valley sites of similar date suggest that more than one strategy was used, and that larger taxa may have been subject to greater governmental control while pigs, for example, were emphasized as supplemental meat sources by lower social classes.; The methodology demonstrated the utility of applying evolutionary theory to understanding the development, adoption and perpetuation of alternative economic and social production strategies in ancient Egypt. This multi-stage analysis formed a necessary first step for future research to identify the processes and ramifications of similar development in other early complex societies. |
