From the mountain chain in the north and west to the Gobi desert and the gentle rolling steppe to the south and east, the history of people on the Mongolian plateau is incomplete without the animals and the environment they have continually interacted with for millenniums. This interaction has fostered the development of complex cultures, particularly horsemanship and nomadic pastoralism, for which Mongolia is known today.
Wild cattle and equids stand out among the various species people have coexisted with on this landscape as they have been hunted perpetually from the Pleistocene until the adoption of domesticates. Interestingly, Mongolia and, generally, East Asia are outliers to the global decline in large mammals during the Pleistocene-Holocene transition, which suggests that some form of adaptation allowed large herd animals like cattle and equids to thrive and provide seemingly unlimited access to hunting opportunities through time.
My doctoral research aims to investigate the regional adaptations of species in eastern Mongolia over the past 50,000 years through zooarchaeological and stable isotope analyses of faunal remains. This study will shed light on the biogeography of wild cattle and equids, focusing on their diet, ecology, and demographic patterns. By understanding these factors, the research will provide insights into why large mammals persisted in this region in contrast to other areas and will identify the circumstances leading to their eventual extinction. In addition, emerging evidence suggests that preagricultural societies in Mongolia may have managed wild cattle ca. 2,000 to 3,000 years before the adoption of Western domesticates. My doctoral research will also offer high-resolution stable isotope data that will untangle these early cattle management practices in a new way.
Human-Animal-Environment Interactions on the Mongolian Pleateau
The Great Gobi Desert 2024
Domestic Animals in West African History:
Introduction, Spread, and Regional Adaption
My future work in West Africa aims to understand the timing of the adoption of major domesticates in the geographical space known as Nigeria today. This work is geared at understanding how the spread of pastoralists and the adoption of domesticates like cattle, sheep, goats, and horses transformed early communities on the eastern flank of West Africa. I am likewise interested in understanding how animals respond and adapt morphologically to early management practices and the climate in this unique environment.
My work is currently focused on investigating the beginnings of horse culture in West Africa by leveraging the potential of collagen type 1 through methods such as stable isotope analysis, Zooarchaeology by Mass Spectrometry (ZooMS), and AMS dating. Prevailing data indicates that the archaeological records in eastern West Africa, particularly in Nigeria, have much to tell about this early development of horse culture in the region. We are at the drawing board of this research, and hopefully, we will hit the stage to begin this work in the next few years.
In the last few years, I have been collaborating with colleagues and mentors to analyze faunal remains from archaeological sites in Nigeria. This research focuses on understanding hunting strategies, animal management practices, social stratification, and intra and inter-regional movement of animals within the last 3,000 years in Southwestern Nigeria. One of these ongoing collaborations is with the Material History Laboratory at Northwestern University—you can read more about this here. I am also open to mentoring students who share interests similar to mine. You can reach out to me using the information on the contact page on this website.
Horse teeth from Nigeria
(Akogun 2021; Undergraduate Thesis, University of Ibadan)