bronze age environment and economy in the troad - Universität ...

The geographical position of the Troad between the Black Sea
region, the Aegean and the prehistoric settlements of Inner
Anatolia, defines it as a focal point of cultural and economic
relations between these regions. However, no comprehensive
studies of Bronze Age environment and economy have been
conducted before in the Troad.
This archaeobotanical investigation is based on the study of
c. 270000 seed remains, belonging to some 336 types (186
species of 43 plant families) collected by the author in three
years of fieldwork between 1993 and 1995. In all, 38 samples
were studied from Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age levels at
Kumtepe, and 325 samples from Early, Middle and Late
Bronze Age levels at Troy. The overall sequence offers a rich
dataset for study of agricultural economy and impact of
humans on the environment over a span of approximately 3800
years.
Increasing human influence will be demonstrated from
Kumtepe B. It will be shown that the resulting scarcity of wood
forced the use of dung for fuel, but this could not stop heavy
soil erosion processes occurring at least from Late Bronze Age
Troy onwards.
This publication is based on my PhD thesis submitted at the
Faculty of Geosiences (University of Tübingen) in June 1997.
The work benefited from the advice of my examiners Prof. Dr.
Dr. Hans-Peter Uerpmann (Inst. für Ur- und Frühgeschichte,
Univ. Tübingen) and Dr. Glynis Jones (Dept. of Archaeology
and Prehistory, Sheffield).
Abstract
Acknowledgments
abstract
This work will demonstrate that changes occurred not solely in
the range and relative proportions of crop species and the
associated weed spectra, but also in the locations of fields for
various reasons. The diversity in crops and the exploitation of a
new range of species increased from the Neolithic to Late
Bronze Age, and different cultivation methods such as
polycropping during Middle Bronze Age Troy, and changing
intensity in field management during different periods,
determined the development of agriculture in the Troad.
Overall, the economic patterns at Troy are striking similar to
those of the simultaneous Aegean sites, particularly during the
Late Bronze Age. An archaeobotanical perspective is offered
for the socio-economic development of Troy. During Early
Bronze Age the settlement was rural but with a stratified social
structure, and was engaged in subsistence farming. In Middle
Bronze Age there is evidence for the production of surplus on
the household level, with the appearance of small-scale
storage. During Troy VI and VIIa (Late Bronze Age) surplus
supplies from large-scale, specialised crop production were
probably appropriated from surrounding villages.
namely Amy Bogaard and John Meadows, who also helped
with improving the English.
Dr. Konstantin Pustovoytov (RAS Moscow) provided
information and results of soil science and realised the
radiocarbon dating of grape pips.
The people of the Troy project (Prof. Dr. Manfred Korfmann
and collaborators), namely Dr. Peter Jablonka and Utta
Gabriel, M.A., helped with answering archaeological questions
at Troy and Kumtepe and provided samples and meticulous
documentation.
I’m thankful for interesting discussions and encouragement
from the colleagues and friends in Tübingen and Sheffield,
Special thanks I owe Dr. Mark Nesbitt (Dept. of Archaeology,
London), who helped with valuable comments and his untiring
patience in reading the first drafts of this work. Mark also
provided access to his comparative collection of Turkish
grasses and the SEM apparatus in the Institute of Archaeology
of UC London.
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