Recent Discoveries and Results

2011

• 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 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. Don't miss Mudball: The Movie!

• 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) [pdf on-line]