Food an fodder from the Early Bronze Age I village at Arslantepe (Malatya, Turkey): an archaebotanical approach

Abstract: The eastern Anatolian site of Arslantepe has a very long sequence of occupation with the evidence of an early centralized society with socio-economic elites in the Late Chalcolithic 5 (3400-3100 cal. BCE). It is followed by a phase, in the Early Bronze Age Ib (3000-2800), where manifestations of centralized social structure have not been evidenced so far. At this time, named Arslantepe period VI B2, the site is occupied by local farming communities who lived in the area before, with some influence coming from Transcaucasia. The reconstruction of socio-economic development, with need for further investigation, is being here addressed through an archaeobotanical approach. The village‟s life was ended by a severe fire which preserved a vast amount of carpological material, i.e. seeds and fruits which are being analyzed in the present work. By addressing the archaeological contexts the material was recovered from, and artifacts it was related to, functions of the rooms and cereal-based diet are being discussed. By comparing the data with the previous periods of occupation at the site, agricultural activities, like growing of the crops and foddering of animals, are further discussed, and in that way further tackling the economy of Early Bronze Age societies of the Near East