Archive of Recent Discoveries and Results

2014

• Few archaeobotanical studies of Roman agricultural practices and their environmental impact in Anatolia (modern Turkey) have been published. New data from Roman levels at Gordion, a multi-period urban centre in central Anatolia, indicate that free-threshing wheat, most likely Triticum aestivum (bread wheat), was the focus of agricultural practice, in contrast to earlier periods when a more diverse agricultural system included greater amounts of barley and pulses. Evidence for increased levels of irrigation and wood fuel use relative to dung, along with regional overgrazing, provide further evidence for significant change in land-use practices during the Roman period. The emphasis on Triticum aestivum cultivation coupled with extensive grazing had significant environmental implications, leading to severe overgrazing and soil erosion on a regional scale. Historical sources and limited data from other Roman period sites suggest that similar patterns of agriculture may have been practiced across central Anatolia during the Roman period. We propose that this may have been due to externally imposed demands for taxation or military tribute in the form of wheat, and conclude that these demands led to the adoption of an unsustainable agricultural system at Gordion. Intensive Agriculture and Land Use at Roman Gordion, Central Turkey, by J.M. Marston and N.F. Miller (2014). Vegetation History and Archaeobotany.

2013

• Fertility and abundance are important themes of ancient Mesopotamian texts and images. The goddess Inanna and her consort Dumuzi personify these ideas in texts of the second millennium B.C.E. Excavated by Leonard Woolley in the 1920s, the Royal Cemetery at Ur dates to the mid- third millennium B.C.E. Among the tombs, that of Queen Puabi yielded many ornaments of gold, carnelian, and lapis. The plant imagery includes male and female date inflorescences and apples (Miller 2000). I propose here that the twisted wire pendants in the Puabi assemblage may literally represent rope, symbolically reference sheep, and narratively evoke the flocks of the shepherd Dumuzi. Pairing symbols of Inanna and Dumuzi evokes life in a place of death. Symbols of Fertility and Abundance in the Royal Cemetery at Ur, Iraq. American Journal of Archaeology 117: 127-133.

• One of the more intractable problems that archaeobiologists struggle with is how to characterize ancient subsistence systems when the plant and animal remains that we study are incommensurate in so many ways. Three examples from the upper Euphrates and Iran illustrate how changes in plant remains are associated with changes in animal exploitation. Two of them consider the agropastoral continuum on sites dating to the pre-pottery Neolithic (eighth to sixth millennium BC) and to the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age (fourth to third millennium BC) in the dry-farming zone along the Euphrates. The third example considers how changes in woodland allow one to infer the presence of pastoralists in the southern Zagros even in the absence of nomad campsites. Environmental Archaeology, published online July 31, 2013: DOI 10.1179/1749631413Y.0000000003. [Download pdf]

2012

• Open-air archaeological sites are subject to the vagaries of weather and potentially invasive plants. Managing a site as a kind of specialized garden involves encouraging plants that protect standing ruins (e.g., short grasses on wall stubs) and selectively weeding harmful ones (e.g., plants with deep tap roots). For a case study of this new approach, see "Working with Nature to Preserve Site and Landscape at Gordion," in The Archaeology of Phrygian Gordion, Royal City of Midas, pp. 243-258. [Download pdf]

2011

• In Naissance des divinités, naissance d'agriculture, Jacques Cauvin proposes that agriculture could not have begun without a prior sudden mental transformation, and that the Near East case is exceptional. His emphasis on the primacy of ideas leads him to devalue the influence that foragers have on their environment, and to erroneously assume that agriculture represented a "control" over nature that was qualitatively new. It is clear that ancient people had a deep understanding of their physical, biotic, and sociocultural environments, and societies that succeeded worked within the constraints imposed by all those domains. (See "Reconciling Nature and Culture after Naissance des divinités / naissance d'agriculture." Paléorient 37.1: 61-74. [Download pdf]

• Environmental variability has always been a factor in agricultural decision-making in the Sakarya valley, Turkey, the location of Gordion. Rather than the current regime concentrating on irrigation agriculture, a more sustainable future would include a diversified base of agriculture, animal husbandry, and ecotourism. (See "Managing Predictable Unpredictability: The Question of Agricultural Sustainability at Gordion," in Sustainable Lifeways: Cultural Persistence in an Ever-changing Environment, eds. N.F. Miller, K.M. Moore, and K. Ryan, pp. 310-324. University of Pennsylvania Museum, Philadelphia. [Download pdf])

2010

• Gordion was the capital of ancient Phrygia and reputed home of King Midas (c. 800 B.C.). Its monuments include the Midas Mound (Tumulus MM), over a hundred smaller burial mounds, and the ancient city of Gordion itself. In 1988 and 1989, excavations directed by Mary M. Voigt concentrated on a deep sounding that uncovered deposits dating between the Late Bronze Age and the Medieval period. The monograph, Botanical Aspects of Environment and Economy at Gordion, Turkey, Gordion Special Studies 5, University of Pennsylvania Museum, Philadelphia, includes discussion of the wood charcoal and seed data from those excavations. Substantial supporting documentation of the archaeobotanical remains and the present-day vegetation of the region are duplicated in digital format on the accompanying CD-rom, which also has some attractive photographs of landscape and plants. This book provides detailed discussion of and all the archaeobotanical data supporting Miller, Zeder and Arter (2009), description below.

2009

• Patterning in the archaeobiological remains from Gordion, Turkey, provides evidence of a continuum in agropastoral practice. At one end, high ratios of seeds of wild plants vs. cultivated cereal grains (calculated as count/weight) and high proportions of the bones of sheep, goat, and deer are signatures of a subsistence economy focussed on pastoral production. At the other, low wild:cereal ratios along with high proportions of the bones of cattle, pig, and hare indicate an economy more focused on agriculture. The highpoint of agricultural intensification occurs in the Middle Phrygian period, a time of great wealth, but the norm for the region shows shows that the most sustainable land use around the ancient settlement emphasized pastoral production. The signatures for agricultural or pastoral emphasis is remarkably similar to that seen on sites along the Euphrates, as reported in MRPS 1997. (See "From Food and Fuel to Farms and Flocks," by N.F. Miller, M.A. Zeder, and S.R. Arter, Current Anthropology 50: 915-924.)

• Several lines of evidence support, but do not prove, the view that the Sumerian KHALUB-tree of Mesopotamia (Akkadian: khaluppu refers to one of the stone fruits (genus Prunus sp., may be the mahlab cherry, Prunus mahaleb L. "The KHALUB-tree in Mesopotamia: Myth or Reality?"by Naomi F. Miller and Alhena Gadotti. In From Foragers to Farmer , eds. Andrew S. Fairbairn and Ehud Weiss, pp. 234

2008

• Emotional news for lovers of a dry white wine. The blissful Hippocrene was composed from wild grapes from the sixth millennium BC in the lands of its natural habitat. But, as the author shows, the cultivation, domestication and selective breeding of the grape following in the Late Neolithic to Early Bronze Age was aimed primarily at the enjoyment of its sweetness. Sweeter than Wine? The Use of the Grape in Early Western Asia. Antiquity 82:937-946.

2006

• The serendipitous discovery that the default shape of a mudball is biconical inspired research into spindle whorls. It turned out that all things being equal, center-weighted spindle whorls are most suited to fibers that need more twist; linen fibers need a lot of twist, and the crimped, scaly fibers of sheep wool need relatively little twist. Early west Asian ceramic spindle whorls are normally biconical. It may be no coincidence, therefore, that our first evidence for spindle whorls roughly coincides with our first evidence for spun fibers, i.e., flax! ("Serendipity: Secrets of the Mudballs," by Naomi F. Miller, Kimberly E. Leaman, and Julie Unruh. Expedition 48(3):40-41.
• Plant remains from three sites in the Kur River Basin spanning the late seventh to mid-fifth millennium B.C. suggest that the post-Pleistocene advance of the oak forest had not yet reached that area. ("Some Plant Remains from the 2004 Excavations of Tall-e Mushki, Tall-e Jari A and B, an Tall-e Bakun A and B," by Naomi F. Miller and Masoumeh Kimiaie, in The Origins of State Organizations in Prehistoric Highland Fars, Southern Iran, Excavations at Tall-e Bakun) [Download pdf]

2004

• Human impact on the vegetation of west Asia can be traced with the earliest archaeobotanical records to those of the Iron Age. Local deforestation is reflected in changes in proportions of dominant tree taxa as well as increasing seed:charcoal ratios (reflecting increases in dung fuel use relative to wood). Although long- and short-term climate fluctuations undoubtedly occurred, their impact on vegetation was negligible compared to human impact. ("Long-Term Vegetation Changes in the Near East." In The Archaeology of Global Change. The Impact of Humans on Their Environment , eds. C.L. Redman, S.R. James, P.R. Fish, and J.D. Rogers, pp. 130-140. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington D.C.) [ Download pdf])

2003

• Archaeological survey and excavation suggest that during much of the third millennium (between the Banesh [Proto-Elamite] and Kaftari [Elamite] periods), permanent settlements virtually disappeared in Fars province, Iran. Analysis of pottery and stratigraphy at Malyan, one of the few sites with both Banesh and Kaftari period deposits, suggests that the site may have been occupied by a small permanent population who had a ceramic tradition that eventually evolved into the mature Kaftari style; i.e., the Malyan Kaftari occupation is just a continuation, perhaps with some new influences, of the earlier Banesh tradition. The Banesh-Kaftari Interface. The View from Operation H5, Malyan." (corrected version, published 2004, 42:77-89)

• The people who lived at Anau North (Chalcolithic deposits, fifth and fourth millennia BC) settled in a landscape dominated by tugai vegetation (lots of Tamarix). Fields were probably cleared along the stream (a precursor of the Anau Su), perhaps interspersed with tugai thickets, and herds grazed on nearby steppe. The two main crops, six-row barley (Hordeum vulgare supsp. vulgare) and bread wheat (Triticum aestivum), almost undoubtedly were irrigated, perhaps by simple gravity flow. Human activities had only a negligible impact on the vegetation in the period considered here. Over time, however, fields may have expanded at the expense of pasture and tugai in the immediate vicinity of the settlement. ("The Use of Plants at Anau North." In A Central Asian Village at the Dawn of Civilization, Excavations at Anau, Turkmenistan, by F. Hiebert, pp. 127-138, Appendix C (pp. 201-215). University of Pennsylvania Museum, Philadelphia. [Download pdf]

2001 and 2002

• The gradual integration of animals into a mixed farming system can be traced in the Euphrates valley at the sites of Cafer, Gritille, and Abu Hureyra. During the PPNB (era of early farming), where people used pulses most, they decline over the period when animal domestication was becoming established. This makes some sense on nutritional grounds, since regardless of peoples' conscious knowledge, a steady supply of meat or milk satisfies the same human protein needs as the consumption of pulses together with cereals. As people integrated agricultural and pastoral production during the PPNB, they developed a subsistence system that, through its productivity and stability, allowed for large permanent settlements and promoted population expansion into zones previously occupied solely by foragers. (For details see Down the Garden Path: How Plant and Animal Husbandry Came Together in the Ancient Near East. Near Eastern Archaeology 64(1-2): 134-137, and "Tracing the Development of the Agropastoral Economy in Southeastern Anatolia and Northern Syria," in The Dawn of Farming in the Near East, 2002 [Download pdf])

2000

• As the Sumerian proverb puts it, "Food: that's the thing! Drink: that's the thing!" From bread and beer to wine and cheese, the people of the ancient Near East and North Africa developed a rich cuisine based on a set of crops and livestock domesticated in southwest Asia. Sophisticated technologies of food preservation transformed grapes into wine, milk into cheese, and many other foods into storable goods. Without that consistent food supply dependent on stored resources, the early civilizations could not have arisen. (Read all about it in The Beginnings of Agriculture: The Ancient Near East and North Africa," original, accurate title "Food and Drink in the Ancient Near East and North Africa," by N.F. Miller and W. Wetterstrom, in The Cambridge World History of Food.)

• Gold pendants associated with the grave of Puabi in the Royal Tombs at Ur, previously identified as wheat and a bush, in fact represent flowering and fruiting branches of the male and female date palm. Furthermore, the "pomegranate"-like fruit is probably apple ("Plant Forms in Jewellery from the Royal Cemetery at Ur" Iraq 62: 149-155 and " Date Sex in Mesopotamia." Expedition 41(1): 29-30. And check out the website, too!

1999

• Biodiversity preservation and archaeological conservation are coming together as we develop methods of reducing soil erosion on the Midas Mound (c. 800 B.C., Gordion, Turkey) by getting native plants to thrive on the steep slopes of this 53-m high monument ( Erosion, Biodiversity, and Archaeology: Preserving the Midas Tumulus at Gordion/ Erozyon, Bioçeşitlilik ve Arkeoloji Gordion'daki Midas Höyüğü'nün Korunması," in Arkeoloji ve Sanat 93: 12-17+plate). [Download pdf] See also "Archaeobotanists Preserve Midas's Wealth," Anthropology Newsletter 39(4): 14-15 (1998); for updated articles, see: "Plants and Mudbrick: Preserving the Midas Tumulus at Gordion, Turkey," by N.F. Miller and K. Bluemel (Conservation and Management of Archaeological Sites 3:225-237 [pdf online]) and Plants in the Service of Archaeological Preservation" Expedition 42(1): 30-36.

• Plausible evidence for irrigation of cereal crops in Central Asia occurs at Chalcolithic Anau, Turkmenistan, whose assemblage includes very plump examples of 6-row barley and bread wheat. Fruit and nuts do not seem to be of any significance until the Bronze Age--with grape at Anau South and Gonur (Turkmenistan) and Djarkutan (Uzbekistan) and Pistacia vera, the pistachio of commerce, at Djarkutan. ( Agricultural Development in Western Central Asia in the Chalcolithic and Bronze Ages. Vegetation History and Archaeobotany 8: 13-19.

• Between the Late Bronze Age and the Medieval period, the arboreal vegetation available to the people of Gordion changed. Although they always had access to woodland types, there was a gradual increase in the use of trees of secondary forest (e.g., hawthorn) and riparian types (e.g., willow/poplar). (Seeds, Charcoal and Archaeological Context: Interpreting Ancient Environment and Patterns of Land Use. TÜBA-AR 2: 15-27. [Download pdf]

1997

• During the glacial period, post-glacial warming and the Younger Dryas, vegetation does not seem to have been affected by human activities to any appreciable extent. Forest expansion at the beginning of the Holocene occurred independently of human agency, though early Neolithic farmers were able to take advantage of improved climatic conditions. Absence of macrobotanical remains precludes discussion of possible drought from 6000 to 5500 bc. By farming, herding, and fuel- cutting, human populations began to have an impact on the landscape at different different times and places. Deleterious effects of these activities became evident in the Tigris-Euphrates drainage during the third millennium bc based on macrobotanical evidence from archaeological sites. Even more widespread, permanent deforestation did not occur until the Iron Age. (The Macrobotanical Evidence for Vegetation in the Near East, c. 18 000/16 000 bc to 4 000 bc. Paléorient 23(2):197-207.)

• Spatial and temporal patterning in the distribution of Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age plant remains and animal bones reflects land use practices at several sites along the Euphrates (Kurban, Hacinebi, Sweyhat). In anyparticular period, from north to south, the proportion of wood charcoal declines. The proportion of wild seeds to cereals increases. The proportion of barley relative to wheat increases. And, significantly, the proportion of sheep and goat relative to cattle and pig also increases. That is, toward the steppe, pastoral production is more important, animals are sent out to graze, and dung fuel is burned, and toward the forest, agriculture is more secure, animals eat more cultigens, and dung fuel is less necessary. At Kurban, pastoral production seems to have been most important when the site was an independent small settlement and also when it was part of a much larger urban system. (Farming and Herding along the Euphrates: Environmental Constraint and Cultural Choice. MASCA Research Papers in Science and Archaeology 14, pp. 123-132) [Download pdf]

1996

• If the diverse seed assemblages of the Epipaleolithic come from gazelle dung burned as fuel, one would be hard-pressed to use the material to support the "Broad Spectrum Revolution" hypothesis for the origins of agriculture--Seed-Eaters of the Ancient Near East: Human or Herbivore?, Current Anthropology 37: 521-528, with criticism by G.C. Hillman, A.J. Legge, and P.A. Rowley-Conwy and response, CA 38: 651-660)

1995

• A plant/plant product known to Pliny as aspalathus, sometimes identfied as camelthorn, is most likely to be caper (Capparis, probably C. spinosa). (The Aspalathus Caper). Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 297: 55-60.)