Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-8bhkd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-13T02:29:32.735Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Vegetation development in the Middle Euphrates and Upper Jazirah (Syria/Turkey) during the Bronze Age

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Katleen Deckers  and
Hugues Pessin
Katleen Deckers*
Affiliation:
University of Tübingen, Zentrum für Naturwissenschaftliche Archäologie, Rümelinstr. 23, 72070 Tübingen, Germany
Hugues Pessin
Affiliation:
University of Sheffield, Department of Archaeology, Northgate House, West St., Sheffield S1 4ET, UK
*
*Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: katleen.deckers@uni-tuebingen.de (K. Deckers), huguespessin@hotmail.com (H. Pessin).
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Vegetation changes are reconstructed based on more than 51,000 charcoal fragments of more than 380 samples from nine Bronze Age sites in northern Syria and southern Turkey. In addition to fragment proportions, special attention was paid to the frequency of Pistacia relative to Quercus and Populus/Salix relative to Tamarix, fruit-tree ubiquity, and riverine diversity in order to gain an improved understanding of the human versus climatic impact on the vegetation. The results indicate that human impacts first took place within the riverine forest. This phase was followed by land clearing within the woodland steppe, especially in the northern portion of the study area. In the south near Emar, the woodland steppe probably disappeared by the Late Bronze Age. It is uncertain whether this was caused by aridification and/or human clearing. The northward shift of the Pistacia-woodland steppe is very likely a result of climatic drying that occurred throughout the entire period under investigation. Although increased deforestation is evident through time, the small proportions of imported wood indicate that local resources were still available.

Keywords

AnthracologyWood resourcesDeforestationClimatic impact on vegetationSyriaTurkey
Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 74 , Issue 2 , September 2010 , pp. 216 - 226
Copyright
University of Washington

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Akkermans, P.M.M.G., and Schwartz, G.M. The Archaeology of Syria: From Complex Hunter–Gatherers to Early Urban Societies (c. 16,000–300 BC). (2003). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Algaze, G., Breuniger, R., and Knudstad, J. The Tigris–Euphrates Archaeological Reconnaissance Project: final report of the Birecik and Carchemish Dam survey areas. Anatolica 20, (1994). 1–77.Google Scholar
Asouti, E., and Austin, P. Reconstructing woodland vegetation and its exploitation by past societies, based on the analysis and interpretation of archaeological wood charcoal macro-remains. Environmental Archaeology 10, (2005). 1–18.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Becker, C. Small numbers, large potential—new prehistoric finds of elephant and beaver from the Khabur river/Syria. Munibe 57, (2005). 445–456.Google Scholar
Beckman, G. Texts from the vicinity of Emar in the collection of Jonathan Rosen. History of the Ancient Near East. Monographs II. (1996). Eisenbrauns, Padova.Google Scholar
Bottema, S. Notes on the prehistoric environment of the Syrian Djezireh. Haex, O.M.C., Curvers, H.H., and Akkermans, P.M.M.G. To the Euphrates and Beyond. Archaeological Studies in Honour of Maurits N. van Loon. (1989). A.A. Balkema, Amsterdam. 1–16.Google Scholar
Brandt, C.J., and Thornes, J.B. Mediterranean Desertification and Land Use. (1996). Wiley, Chichester.Google Scholar
Chabal, L., (1991). L´Homme et l´évolution de la végétation méditerranéenne, des âges des métaux à la période romaine. Unpublished thesis, Université de Montpellier II, .Google Scholar
Deckers, K. Anthracological research at the archaeological site of Emar on the Middle Euphrates, Syria. Paleorient 32, 2 (2005). 152–166.Google Scholar
Deckers, K., Doll, M., Pfälzner, P., Riehl, S., in press. Ausgrabungen 1998–2001 in der Zentralen Oberstadt von Tall Mozan / Urkeš: The Development of the Environment. Subsistence and Settlement of the City of Urkeš and its Region, SUN, Serie A, Vol. 3, . Harrossowitz Verlag, Wiesbaden., pp. 161–184.Google Scholar
Deckers, K., and Riehl, S. Fluvial environmental contexts for archaeological sites in the Upper Khabur Basin (Northeastern Syria). Quaternary Research 67, 3 (2007). 337–348.Google Scholar
Deckers, K., and Riehl, S. An evaluation of botanical assemblages from the 3rd to 2nd Millennium BC in Northern Syria. Kuzucuoğlu, C., and Marro, C. Sociétés humaines et changement climatique à la fin du troisième millénaire: Une crise a-t-elle eu lieu en Haute Mésopotamie? Actes du colloque de Lyon, 5–8 décembre 2005. Varia Anatolica 19, (2007). Institut Français d'Etudes Anatoliennes-Georges Dumezil, Istanbul. 481–502.Google Scholar
Deckers, K. Vegetation and wood use in the Bronze Age based on charcoals from Emar. Finkbeiner, U., and Sakal, F. Emar After the Closure of the Tabqa Dam. The Syrian–German Excavations 1996–2002. Volume I: Late Roman and Medieval Cemeteries and Environmental Studies. Subartu XXV (2010). Brepols, Turnhout. 225–244.Google Scholar
Engel, T. Archaeobotanical analysis of timber and firewood used in the third millennium houses at Tall Bderi/Northeast Syria. Veenhof, K.R. Houses and Households. (1993). Nederlands Instituut voor het Nabije Oosten, Leiden. 105–113.Google Scholar
Ergenzinger, P., and Kühne, H. Ein regionales Bewässerungssystem am Habur. Kühne, H. Die rezente Umwelt von Tell Sheikh Hamad und Daten zur Umweltrekonstruktion der assyrischen Stadt Dur-Katlimmu. Berichte aus der Ausgrabungen Tell Sheikh Hamad/Dur-Katlimmu 1. (1991). Reimer, Berlin. 163–190.Google Scholar
Frey, W., Jagiela, C., and Kürschner, H. Holzkohlefunde in Dur-Katlimmu/Tall Seh Hamad und ihre Interpretation. Kühne, H. Die rezente Umwelt von Tall Seh Hamad und Daten zur Umweltrekonstruktion der assyrischen Stadt Dūr-Katlimmu. (1991). Dietrich Reimer Verlag, Berlin. 137–161.Google Scholar
Gale, R., and Cutler, D. Plants in archaeology. Identification Manual of Vegetative Plant Materials used in Europe and the Southern Mediterranean to c. 1500. (2000). Westbury and Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.Google Scholar
Glenn, E.P., and Nagler, P.L. Comparative ecophysiology of Tamarix ramosissima and native trees in western U.S. riparian zones. Journal of Arid Environments 61, (2005). 419–446.Google Scholar
Gündem, C.Y., and Uerpmann, H.-P. Erste Beobachtungen an den Tierknochenfunden aus Emar (Syrien) Grabungen bis 2002. Baghdader Mitteilungen 34, (2003). 119–128.Google Scholar
Gündem, C.Y. Animal based subsistence economy of Emar during the Bronze Age. Finkbeiner, U., and Sakal, F. Emar after the Closure of the Tabqa Dam. The Syrian–German Excavations 1996–2002. Volume I: Late Roman and Medieval Cemeteries and Environmental Studies, Subartu 25 (2010). Brepols, Brussels. 125–176.Google Scholar
Hole, F. Agricultural sustainability in the semi-arid Near East. Climate of the Past Discussions 2, (2006). 485–518.Google Scholar
Lafont, B. Irrigation agriculture in Mari. Jas, R.M. Rainfall and Agriculture in Northern Mesopotamia. PIHANS vol. 88, (2000). Nederlands Instituut voor het Nabije Oosten, Leiden. 129–145.Google Scholar
Lemcke, G., and Sturm, M. δ18O and trace element measurement as proxy for the reconstruction of climate changes at Lake Van (Turkey): preliminary results. Dalfes, H.N., Kukla, G., and Weiss, H. Third Millennium BC Climate Change and Old World Collapse (Global Environmental Change 49). (1997). Springer Verlag, Heidelberg. 653–678.Google Scholar
McNeil, J.R. The Mountains of the Mediterranean World. (1992). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Michel, C. Le commerce dans les textes de Mari. Durand, J.-M. Amurru 1. Mari, Ebla et les Hourrites, dix ans de travaux. Actes du colloque international (Paris, mai 1993), Paris (1996). 385–426.Google Scholar
Miller, N.F. Paleoethnobotanical evidence for deforestation in Ancient Iran: a case study of urban Malyan. Journal of Ethnobiology 5, 1 (1985). 1–19.Google Scholar
Moore, A.M.T., Hillman, G.C., and Legge, A.J. Village on the Euphrates. (2000). Oxford University Press, Oxford.Google Scholar
Pessin, H., (2004). Stratégies d´approvisionnement et utilisation du bois dans le Moyen Euphrate et la Damascène. Approche Antracologique comparative de sites historiques et préhistoriques. Unpublished thesis, University of Paris I, .Google Scholar
Pessin, H. Analyses anthracologiques de deux sites du Moyen-Euphrate: Tilbeşar et Horum Höyük. Contribution à la problematique paléoclimatique de l'Holocène Moyen. Kuzucuoğlu, C., and Marro, C. Sociétés humaines et changement climatique à la fin du troisième millénaire: Une crise a-t-elle eu lieu en Haute Mésopotamie? Actes du colloque de Lyon, 5–8 décembre 2005. Varia Anatolica 19. (2007). Institut Français d'Etudes Anatoliennes-Georges Dumezil, Istanbul. 557–572.Google Scholar
Powell, M.A. Timber production in presargonic Lagaš. Bulletin on Sumerian Agriculture 6, (1992). 99–122.Google Scholar
Riehl, S. Maintenance of agricultural stability in a changing environment — the archaeobotanical evidence at Emar. Finkbeiner, U., and Sakal, F. Emar after the Closure of the Tabqa Dam. The Syrian–German Excavations 1996–2002. Volume I: Late Roman and Medieval Cemeteries and Environmental Studies. Subartu XXV (2010). Brepols, Turnhout. 177–224.Google Scholar
Riehl, S., Bryson, R., and Pustovoytov, K. Changing growing conditions for crops during the Near Eastern Bronze Age (3000–1200 BC): the stable carbon isotope evidence. Journal of Archaeological Science 35, 4 (2008). 1011–1022.Google Scholar
Risvet, L., (2005). Settlement, Economy, and Society in the Tell Leilan Region, Syria, 3000–1000 BC. Unpublished thesis, King's College, University of Cambridge.Google Scholar
Smart, T.L., and Hoffman, E.S. Environmental interpretation of archaeological charcoal. Hastorf, C.A., and Popper, V.S. Current Palaeoethnobotany. (1988). University of Chicago, Chicago. 165–205.Google Scholar
Taraqji, A.F. De relatie tussen Boven-Mesopotamië (de Jezireh) en de andere delen van Syrië in de Midden-Brons periode. In Syrië. Naar de oorsprong van het schrift, city. (1997). 135–137.Google Scholar
Westenholz, J.G. Cuneiform inscriptions in the collection of the Bible Lands Museum Jerusalem. The Emar Tablets. (2000). Styx publications, Groningen.Google Scholar
Wick, L., Lemcke, G., and Sturm, M. Evidence of Late Glacial and Holocene climatic change and human impact in Eastern Anatolia: high-resolution pollen, charcoal, isotopic and geochemical records from the laminated sediments of Lake Van, Turkey. Holocene 13, 5 (2003). 665–675.Google Scholar
Wilkinson, T.J. Excavations at Tell Es-Sweyhat, Syria. On the Margins of the Euphrates. Settlement and Land Use at Tell es-Sweyhat and in the Upper Lake Assad Area, Syria. Oriental Institute Publications 124 vol. 1, (2004). Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, Chicago.Google Scholar
Willcox, G. Evidence for ancient forest cover and deforestation from charcoal analysis of ten archaeological sites on the Euphrates. Thiébault, S. Charcoal Analysis. Methodological Approaches, Palaeoecological Results and Wood Uses. BAR Int. Series 1063 (2002). Archaeopress, Oxford. 141–145.Google Scholar
Willcox, G., and Roitel, V. Rapport archéobotanique préliminaire de trios sites précéramiques du Moyen-Euphrate (Syrie). Cahiers de l'Euphrate 8, (1998). 65–84.Google Scholar
Willcox, G. Preliminary Results from Tilbeshar (in condensed form) from the 2000 Season. (2010). http://pagesperso-orange.fr/g.willcox/first.htm (accessed June 10, 2010). Google Scholar
Zohary, M. Geobotanical Foundations of the Middle East vol. 1–2, (1973). Gustav Fischer, Stuttgart.Google Scholar
Zohary, D., and Hopf, M. Domestication of Plants in the Old World. (2000). Oxford University Press, Oxford.Google Scholar