“Cropping the margins”: new evidence for urban agriculture at mid-3 rd millennium B.C.E. Tell Brak, Syria

The excavation of a large administrative building at the city of Tell Brak in northern Syria saw the recovery of a considerable quantity of charred cereals dated to the mid-third millennium B.C.E. This remarkable discovery provides a rare snapshot into the nature of agriculture in Upper Mesopotamia...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Diffey, Charlotte, Emberling, Geoff, Bogaard, Amy, Charles, Michael
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2023
País:España
Institución:Varias* (Consorci de Biblioteques Universitáries de Catalunya, Centre de Serveis Científics i Acadèmics de Catalunya)
Repositorio:Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunya
OAI Identifier:oai:recercat.cat:2072/537833
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/2072/537833
https://doi.org/10.1017/irq.2023.3
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Restes de plantes (Arqueologia) -- Síria
Tall Birak (Síria : Jaciment arqueològic)
Síria -- Arqueologia
90
Descripción
Sumario:The excavation of a large administrative building at the city of Tell Brak in northern Syria saw the recovery of a considerable quantity of charred cereals dated to the mid-third millennium B.C.E. This remarkable discovery provides a rare snapshot into the nature of agriculture in Upper Mesopotamia during the Early Bronze Age. The material has been studied using a combination of primary archaeobotanical analysis, crop stable isotope determinations, and functional weed ecology to deliver new insights into cultivation strategies at Tell Brak as well as to contribute to the wider debate regarding trade and crop importation in this region. Specific crop regime choices also reveal how the farmers of Tell Brak were able to reduce the overall risk of crop failure by careful water management, a vitally important factor in this semi-arid region, with potential implications for the analysis of other large-scale urban agro-economies in the Middle East and beyond.