Archaeological fuel remains as indicators of ancient west Asian agropastoral and land-use systems

Author(s):

Journal or Book Title: Journal of Arid Environments

Volume/Issue: 86

Page Number(s): 97-103

Year Published: 2012

Abstract:

Most botanical remains found in archaeological sites are preserved by charring. This material, when excavated from ordinary occupation debris, often represents the remnants of ancient fuel use. Over much of west Asia the primary ancient fuels were wood and dung, which serve as a proxy for woodland cover, animal diet, and by further inference, land-use patterns. This contribution shows how archaeobotanical data can be used to reconstruct agropastoral systems in the different rainfall agriculture environments of northern Mesopotamia and central Anatolia. We specifically consider archaeobotanical proxies for land use intensity: seed to charcoal ratios as indicators of deforestation, wild to cereal ratios as indicators of agricultural or pastoral intensification, and wild and weedy seed evidence as indicators of irrigation.

DOI: 10.1016/j.jaridenv.2011.11.021

Type of Publication: Journal Article

Sponsors

National Science Foundation (NSF) - The only federal agency whose mission includes support for all fields of fundamental science and engineering, except for medical sciences. We are tasked with keeping the United States at the leading edge of discovery in areas from astronomy to geology to zoology. So, in addition to funding research in the traditional academic areas, the agency also supports "high-risk, high pay-off" ideas, novel collaborations and numerous projects that may seem like science fiction today, but which the public will take for granted tomorrow.

Center for Systems Integration and Sustainability, Michigan State University - A center of excellence that integrates ecology with socioeconomics, demography, and other disciplines for ecological sustainability from local, national, to global scales.

Global Land Project - A joint research project for land systems in the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme and the International Human Dimensions Programme.

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Archaeological fuel remains as indicators of ancient west Asian agropastoral and land-use systems

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