Diversity of plant and land use during the Near Eastern Neolithic : phytolith perspectives from Çatalhöyük

Based in the Konya Basin of Central Anatolia, the Neolithic site of Çatalhöyük \n(East Mound) is important to our understanding of the development of early \nagricultural societies. Occupied between 7400-7100 cal BC to 6200-5900 cal BC, \nthe site is notable for its extended period of occupation, large size and densely \npacked architecture. Research into Neolithic plant and land use has generally \nfocused upon agricultural crops and the environments in which they are grown, \nand less is known about the role of wild plants and the non-food use of plants in \nthe later Neolithic. This project used phytolith analysis, a micro-botanical \ntechnique, as a way of exploring patterns of plant and land use. \nPhytoliths present in sediments collected from middens and buildings were \nanalysed to investigate plants exploited for food, fuel, craft activities, and \nconstruction. Unusually abundant macroscopically visible silicified (phytolith) \nremains, including from plant artifacts, also offered direct evidence for certain \ntypes and locations of plant-use. A wide range of plant-uses and pathways has \nhighlighted how phytolith assemblages relate to different kinds of ‘input sources’, \nand how certain environmental habitats may be reflected in the different types of \noriginal materials found in archaeological contexts. Quantified analysis of \nsediments has detected temporal changes in plants present throughout the site \noccupation, including a dramatic increase in amounts of Phragmites australis. \nThis increase probably reflects the invasive potential of that particular wetland \nreed, and may be the result of anthropogenic impact. Whilst the use of cereals, in \nparticular wheat, is emphasised, wild plants were also stored for food and used for \na wide range of other purposes. The role of wild plants in diversification \nstrategies, together with the sustainability of their exploitation, should be further \nconsidered at other Neolithic sites and may have varied in relation to the diversity \nof Near Eastern environments.