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Sowing, harvesting and tilling at the end of the Pleistocene/beginning of the Holocene in northern Syria: a reassessment of cereal and pulse exploitation

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Abstract

More than 10 years have passed since a number of publications presented evidence for the possible cultivation of wild cereals based on charred remains of potential arable weeds and spikelet bases from late Pleistocene/early Holocene sites in northern Syria. Since then, a number of publications concerning the beginnings of cultivation have appeared which used results from the Syrian sites. This paper was inspired by issues raised in these publications, which will be addressed through an empirical approach, first by discussing the possible techniques and methods used for sowing, harvesting and tilling at sites that produced remains of wild cereals and pulses with reference to experimental cultivation and field observations of wild cereal habitats. Secondly, taking into account the range of possible methods of exploitation demonstrates the complexity of distinguishing between the gathering and the cultivation of morphologically wild cereals and the probability that these two modes were practiced intermittently and interchangeably. In addition to this the inadequacy of evidence obtained from charred plant remains, suggests that the concept of “predomestic” cultivation as used for northern Syria needs to be revised. Thirdly, the causes of the varying proportions of shattering and non-shattering spikelets occurring together are examined and found to be multiple, suggesting that selection rates obtained from ratios of charred spikelet bases need to be reconsidered.

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Acknowledgements

I would like to thank the late Gordon Hillman for introducing me to the vegetation of eastern Anatolia, in particular the wild einkorn stands, also Patricia Anderson for setting up the experimental cultivation of wild cereals at Jalès. I am grateful to Sue Colledge who pioneered the study of wild/weed taxa on early Neolithic sites. My appreciation goes to several members of the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas, formerly based in Aleppo, who guided me to numerous wild cereal and pulse habitats in northern and southern Syria. During on-site field work in eastern Anatolia, northern and southern Syria, Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Armenia, supportive excavation directors provided transport and precious time for me to sample a wide range of vegetation types. My thanks also go to Dr Jean-Paul Mandin, formerly of the Lycée Agricole Oliver de Serres who with his students carried out the germination tests.

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    George Willcox

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Willcox, G. Sowing, harvesting and tilling at the end of the Pleistocene/beginning of the Holocene in northern Syria: a reassessment of cereal and pulse exploitation. Veget Hist Archaeobot (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00334-023-00984-4

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