This paper presents the results of a study that investigates the settlement history of Mongolia’s desert-steppe to understand the role of foragers in the evolution of pastoralism. The study examines land use, mobility, technological organization, and environmental context prior to, during, and after the transition to food production (Neolithic-Kitan Periods, ca. 6050 BCE-1150 CE) to detect differences in how, when, and why people moved, illuminating how people make decisions about existing environments. Employing frameworks of habitat suitability and behavioral optimization, this study documents important shifts in land use and mobility across the Neolithic-Bronze Age transition (ca. 2550 BCE) as people began to take up herding. Settlement and population patterns indicate a pronounced change in habitat choice across this transition, suggesting that preferences of committed herding societies (Iron Age and beyond) were firmly established during the Bronze Age as people began to prioritize upland grasslands and productive wintertime vegetation. This shift coincided with the onset of dry, cool conditions, a reversal of wetter, cool environments where prior foragers targeted a broad range of habitats, including wetlands. These patterns set the stage for adaptations that came to define mobile pastoralism across Eurasia including high residential mobility, long distance connections, social differentiation, and broadly adopted mortuary traditions.

中文翻译：

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湿地和草原：蒙古沙漠草原向移动畜牧业过渡期间猎人和牧民的栖息地选择

本文介绍了一项研究的结果，该研究调查了蒙古沙漠草原的定居历史，以了解觅食者在畜牧业演变中的作用。该研究考察了向粮食生产过渡之前、期间和之后（新石器时代-喜坦时期，约公元前 6050 年至公元 1150 年）的土地利用、流动性、技术组织和环境背景，以检测人们如何、何时和为什么移动的差异，阐明人们如何对现有环境做出决策。本研究采用栖息地适宜性和行为优化的框架，记录了随着人们开始放牧，新石器时代-青铜时代过渡期（约公元前 2550 年）土地利用和流动性的重要变化。定居点和种群模式表明，在这一转变期间，栖息地选择发生了显著变化，这表明随着人们开始优先考虑高地草原和多产的冬季植被，坚定的放牧社会（铁器时代及以后）的偏好在青铜时代已经牢固确立。这种转变恰逢干燥、凉爽条件的开始，与之前觅食者瞄准广泛的栖息地（包括湿地）的潮湿、凉爽环境相反。这些模式为适应奠定了基础，这些适应后来定义了整个欧亚大陆的移动畜牧业，包括高居住流动性、远距离连接、社会分化和广泛采用的殡葬传统。