The North Central Asia Isotopic Database (NCAID) is an open-access dataset of stable isotope measurements from archaeological remains, spanning from the Early Neolithic until present-day in North Central Asia. With 3,143 individual entries corresponding to data accumulated over more than 20 years of research, this comprehensive dataset encompasses measurements of stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes in organic fractions from archaeological humans, animals, and plants. NCAID incorporates diverse supporting information, providing geographical information, archaeological context descriptions, and chronology. This resource facilitates research into past human lifeways, paleo-environments/climates, and animal management practices throughout North Central Asia and will be continually updated as more novel data is released.

Department of Anthropology University of Michigan Ann Arbor 48109 MI United States

Department of Archaeology Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology Kahlaische Strasse 10 07745 Jena Germany

Department of Archaeology University of York Kings Manor York UK

Department of Bioarchaeology Faculty of Archaeology University of Warsaw ul Krakowskie Przedmieście 26 28 00 927 Warszawa Poland

Masaryk University Arne Faculty of Arts Nováka 1 602 00 Brno střed Czech Republic

Museum of Anthropological Archaeology University of Michigan Ann Arbor 48109 MI United States

Princeton University Climate Change and History Research Initiative Princeton USA

Zobrazit více v PubMed

Ventresca Miller A.R., Wilkin S., Smithers R., Larson K., Spengler R., Haruda A., Kradin N., Bazarov B., Miyagashev D., Odbaatar T., Turbat Ts, Zhambaltarova E., Konovalov P., Bayarsaikhan J., Hein A., Hommel P., Nash B., Nayak A., Vanwezer N., Miller B., Fernandes R., Boivin N., Roberts P. Adaptability of millets and landscapes: ancient cultivation in North-Central Asia. Agronomy. 2023;13:2848.

Svyatko S.V., Polyakov A.V., Soenov V.I., Stepanova N.F., Reimer P.J., Ogle N., Tyurina E.A., Grushin S.P., Rykun M.P. Stable isotope paleaodietary analysis of the Early Bronze Age Afanasyevo Culture in the Altai Mountains, Southern Siberia. J. Archaeol. Sci. Rep. 2017;14:65–75.

Yoneda M., Gakuhari T., Omoria T., Ozaki H., Matsuzaki H., Ito S., Kobayashi K. In: Excavations at Daram and Tevsh Sites: A Report on Joint Mongolian-Japanese Excavations in Outer Mongolia. Miyamoto K, Obata H, editors. Kyushu University; Fukuoka, Japan: 2016. Carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratios and radiocarbon ages on the skeletal remains from Daram and Tevsh Sites of the Bronze Age, Mongolia; pp. 63–66.

Motuzaite-Matuzeviciute G., Kiryushin Y.F., Rakhimzhanova S.Z., Svyatko S., Tishkin A.A., O'Connell T.C. Climatic or dietary change? Stable isotope analysis of Neolithic–Bronze Age populations from the Upper Ob and Tobol River basins'. Holocene. 2016;26(10):1711–1721.

Marchenko Z.V., Orlova L.A., Panov V.S., Zubova A.V., Molodin V.I., Pozdnyakova O.A., Grishin A.E., Uslamin E.A. Paleodiet, radiocarbon chronology, and the possibility of freshwater reservoir effect for Preobrazhenka 6 burial ground, Western Siberia: preliminary results. Radiocarbon. 2015;57(4):595–610.

Hanks B., Ventresca Miller A., Judd M., Epimakhov A., Razhev D., Privat K. Bronze Age diet and economy: new stable isotope data from the Central Eurasian steppes (2100-1700 BC) J. Archaeolog. Sci. 2018;97:14–25.

Schneeweiss J., Becker F., Molodin V.I., Parzinger H., Marchenko ZhV, Svyatko S.V. Radiocarbon chronology of occupation of the site Chicha and Bayesian statistics for the assessment of a discontinuous transition from Late Bronze to Early Iron Age (West Siberia) Russ. Geol. Geophys. 2018;59(6):635–651.

Lazzerini N., Coulon A., Simon L., Marchina C., Noost B., Lepetz S., Zazzo A. Grazing high and low: Can we detect horse altitudinal mobility using high-resolution isotope (δ13C and δ15N values) time series in tail hair? A case study in the Mongolian Altai. Rapid Commun. Mass. Spectrom. 2019;33:1512–1526. PubMed

Zazzo A., Lepetz S., Magail J., Gantulga J.O. High-precision dating of ceremonial activity around a large ritual complex in Late Bronze Age Mongolia. Am. Antiq. 2019;93(367):80–98.

Ananyevskaya E., Aytqaly A.K., Beisenov A.Z., Dmitriev E.A., Garbaras A., Kukushikin I.A., Loman V.G., Sapolaite J., Usmanova E.R., Varfolomeev V.V., Voyakin D.A., Zhuniskhanov A.S., Motuzaite Matuzeviciute G. Early indicators to C4 plant consumption in central Kazakhstan during the Final Bronze Age and Early Iron Age based on stable isotope analysis of human and animal bone collagen. Archaeol. Res. Asia. 2018;15:157–173.

Hermes T.R., Frachetti M.D., Doumani Dupuy P.N., Mar'yashev A., Nebel A., Makarewicz C.A. Early integration of pastoralism and millet cultivation in Bronze Age Eurasia. Proc. R. Soc. B Publ. 2019;286:1–9. PubMed PMC

Hermes T.R., Frachetti M.D., Bullion E.A., Maksudov F., Mustafokulov S., Makarewicz Urban and nomadic isotopic niches reveal dietary connectivities along Central Asia's Silk Roads. Sci. Rep. 2018;8(5177):1–11. PubMed PMC

Wilkin S., Ventresca Miller A., Miller B.K., Spengler lll R.N., Taylor W.T.T., Fernandes R., Hagan R.W., Bleasdale M., Zech J., Ulziibayar S., Myagmar E., Boivin N., Roberts P. Economic diversification supported the growth of Mongolia's nomadic empires. Sci. Rep. 2020;10(3916):1–12. PubMed PMC

Narasimhan V., Patterson N., Moorjani P., Lazaridis I., Lipson M., Mallick S., Rohland N., Bernardos R., Kim A.M., Nakatsuka N., Olalde I., Coppa A., Mallory J., Moiseyev V., Monge J., Olivieri L., Adamski N., Broomandkhoshbacht N., Candilio F., Cheronet O., Culleton B.J., Ferry M., Fernandes D., Gamarra B., Gaudio D., Hajdinjak M., Harney É., Harper T.K., Keating D., Lawson A.M., Michel M., Novak M., Oppenheimer J., Rai N., Sirak K., Slon V., Stewardson K., Zhang Z., Akhatov G., Bagashev A.N., Baitanayev B., Bonora G.L., Chikisheva T., Derevianko A., Dmitry E., Douka K., Dubova N., Epimakhov A., Freilich S., Fuller D., Goryachev A., Gromov A., Hanks B., Judd M., Kazizov E., Khokhlov A., Kitov E., Kupriyanova E., Kuznetsov P., Luiselli D., Maksudov F., Meiklejohn C., Merrett D., Micheli R., Mochalov O., Muhammed Z., Mustafokulov S., Nayak A., Petrovna R.M., Pettener D., Potts R., Razhev D., Sarno S., Sikhymbaeva K., Slepchenko S.M., Stepanova N., Svyatko S., Vasilyev S., Vidale M., Voyakin D., Yermolayeva A., Zubova A., Shinde V.S., Lalueza-Fox C., Meyer M., Anthony D., Boivin N., Thangaraj K., Kennett D.J., Frachetti M., Pinhasi R., Reich D. The genomic formation of South and Central Asia. Biorxiv. 2018

Kradin N.N., Khubanova A.M., Bazarov B.A., Miyagashev D.A., Khubanov V.B., Konovalov P.B., Klementiev A.M., Posokhov V.F., Ventresca Miller A.R. Iron age societies of Western Transbaikalia: Reconstruction of diet and lifeways. J. Archaeol. Sci. Rep. 2021;30

Svyatko S.V., Schulting R.J., Papin D., Reimer P.J. Millet consumption in Siberia prior to mid-second millennium bc? A review of recent developments'. Radiocarbon. 2021;63(5):1–8.

Motuzaite Matuzeviciute G., Ananyevskaya E., Sakalauskaite J., Soltobaev O., Tabaldiev K. The integration of millet into the diet of Central Asian populations in the third millennium BC. Am. Antiq. 2022:1–15.

Schulting R.J., Richards M.P. In: A Bronze Age Landscape in the Russian Steppes: the Samara Valley Project. Anthony DW, Brown DR, Kholov AA, Kuznetsov PF, Mochalov OD, editors. Cotsen Institute of Archaeology Press; Los Angeles, CA: 2016. Stable isotope analysis of neolithic to late Bronze Age populations in the Samara Valley; pp. 127–148.

Knipper C., Reinhold S., Gresky J., Belinskiy A., Kurt W. In: Isotopic Investigations of Pastoralism in Prehistory. Ventresca Miller AR, Makarewcz C, editors. Routledge; Abingdon, OX: 2017. Economic strategies at Bronze Age and Early Iron Age upland sites in the North Caucasus: Archaeological and stable isotope investigations; pp. 123–140.

Knipper C., Reinhold S., Gresky J., Berezina N., Gerling C., Pichler S.L., Buzhilova A.P., Kantorovich A.R., Maslov V.E., Petrenko V.G., Lyakhov S.V., Kalmykov A.A., Belinskiy A.B., Hansen S., Alt K.W. Diet and subsistence in Bronze Age pastoral communities from the southern Russian steppes and the North Caucasus. PLoS One. 2020;15(10) PubMed PMC