Vegetation development in the Middle Euphrates and Upper Jazirah (Syria/Turkey) during the Bronze Age

Abstract

Vegetation changes are reconstructed based on more than 51,000 charcoal fragments of more than 380 samples from nine Bronze Age sites in northern Syria and southern Turkey. In addition to fragment proportions, special attention was paid to the frequency of Pistacia relative to Quercus and Populus/Salix relative to Tamarix, fruit-tree ubiquity, and riverine diversity in order to gain an improved understanding of the human versus climatic impact on the vegetation. The results indicate that human impacts first took place within the riverine forest. This phase was followed by land clearing within the woodland steppe, especially in the northern portion of the study area. In the south near Emar, the woodland steppe probably disappeared by the Late Bronze Age. It is uncertain whether this was caused by aridification and/or human clearing. The northward shift of the Pistacia-woodland steppe is very likely a result of climatic drying that occurred throughout the entire period under investigation. Although increased deforestation is evident through time, the small proportions of imported wood indicate that local resources were still available.

What the pig ate: A microbotanical study of pig dental calculus from 10th–3rd millennium BC northern Mesopotamia

“…Occupations span the Ubaid through the 2 nd millennium BC, but samples in this study all date to the 3 rd millennium (Weiss, 1997). The site's catchment includes woodland, riparian, and steppic zones (Deckers and Pessin, 2010). Agricultural production focused on cerealsprimarily wheat and barleybut also included chickpeas, field peas, grass peas, lentils, bitter vetch, figs, flax and grapes.…”

Woodland modification in Bronze and Iron Age central Anatolia: an anthracological signature for the Hittite state?

“…18 Table 3 Analytical groups of identified taxa based on their habitat preference and/or structural quality used in the study. Table adapted from Asouti (2003), Asouti and Austin (2002), Asouti and Hather (2001), Barnes et al (1998), Cond e et al (2002), Davis (1965e1985), Davis et al (1988), Deckers and Pessin (2010), Riehl and Marinova (2008), Roberts et al (2001), Russell et al (2007). Taxonomic identification was achieved using a reference collection of the dominant taxa of Turkey housed at The University of Queensland, Australia, in conjunction with standard identification keys of European and South West Asian woodland taxa (Hather, 2000;Heiss, 2009;Schoch et al, 2004;Schweingruber, 1990;Schweingruber et al, 2006).…”

“…Weight data were not used to quantify the Kaman-Kaleh€ oyük wood charcoal assemblage as a pilot study (Wright, 2010) showed that weight data tracked count data (Asouti and Austin, 2005;Deckers and Pessin, 2010;cf. Nelle et al, 2010).…”

New Plants at Prague Castle and Hradčany in the Early Modern Period: a History of Selected Species

“…Pistachio trees combined with sweet almond formed the Early Neolithic forest-steppe (Willcox 1999) covering large parts of the Levant, Turkey and Afghanistan. Charcoal of P. vera is quite common in the Bronze Age of Turkey and Syria (Deckers, Pessin 2010). P. vera was introduced into Italy from Syria in 30 AD by the Roman Governor of that Province, Lucius Vitellio, at approximately the same time it was introduced into Spain, followed by its introduction into Sicily (Barone, Marra 2004).…”