Abstract
Plant remains were recovered from an Urartian settlement, Yoncatepe, situated in the Van province of eastern Turkey and dating to the Iron Age period (first millennium B.C.E.). Large quantities of hulled barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) and of bread/macaroni wheat (free-threshing wheat) Triticum aestivum L./T. durum Desf.), both mixed with small quantities of domesticated emmer wheat (T. dicoccum Schübl.), were found in the storerooms of the Yoncatepe palace, indicating the storage of agricultural surplus. Rye (Secale cereale L.) grains occur very occasionally, while pulses include lentil (Lens culinaris Medik.), chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.), and bitter vetch (Vicia ervilia [L.] Willd.). Grape seeds unearthed in a tomb at Yoncatepe provide physical evidence supporting written records of vineyards. Numerous seeds of gold of pleasure (Camelina sativa [L.] Crantz), found in a storage vessel, provide evidence of the cultivation of this plant. It is likely, that the Urartians used the seeds for oil extraction.
Similar content being viewed by others
Literature Cited
Bedigian, D. 1985. Is še-giš-i sesame or flax? Bulletin on Sumerian Agriculture 2:159–178.
Belli, O. 1999. Dams, reservoirs and irrigation channels of the Van plain in the period of the Urartian Kingdom. Anatolian Studies 49:11–26.
— 2005. Van-Yocatepe kalesi ve nekropolü kazilari. (Van-Yoncatepe fortress and necropolis excavations.) Türkiye Bilimler Akademisi Arkeoloji Dergisi-Turkish Academy of Sciences Journal of Archaeology 8:187–192.
— 2006a. Yoncatepe sarayi ve nekropolü. Anadolu Medeniyetleri Müzesi 2005 Yilliĝi 20:381–431.
— 2006b. Van Bölgesi’nin en eski tahil, bakliyat ve meyve türleri (The earliest grain, pulse and fruit species of Van region). Pages 41–55 in O. Belli, ed. I. Van Gölü Havzasi Sempozyumu. Van Valiliĝi, Van.
—, and Erkan Konyar. 2001. Excavations at Van-Yoncatepe fortress and necropolis. Tel Aviv. Journal of the Institute of Archaeology of Tel Aviv University 28(2):169–212.
— 2003. Doĝu Anadolu Bölgesi’nde Erken Demir Çaĝi kale ve nekropolleri. (Early Iron Age fortress and necropolises in Eastern Anatolia.) Arkeoloji ve Sanat Yayinlari, Istanbul.
Burney, C. A. 1972. Urartian irrigation works. Anatolian Studies 22:179–186.
Çilingiroĝlu, A. 2004. Silah, tohum ve ateş. Pages 257–267 in T. Korkut, ed. 60. Yaşinda Fahri Işik’a Armaĝan Anadolu’da doĝdu (Festschrift für Fahri I§ik zum 60. geburtstag). Ege Yayinlari, Istanbul.
Cocharro, L. P., A. Rigamonti, L. Castelletti, and A. Maspero. 2001. Preliminary report on the plant remains from Ayanis. Pages 391–396 in A. Çilingiroĝlu and M. Salvini, eds. Ayanis I. Ten years’ excavations at Rusahinili Eiduru-kai 1889–1998. CNR, Rome.
Hopf, M., and U. Willerding. 1989. Pflanzenreste. Pages 263–318 in W. Kleiss, ed. Bastam II ausgrabungen in den Urartäischen anglagen 1977–1978. Gebr. Mann Verlag, Berlin.
Koyuncu, M., N. Demirkuş, A. Kaya, and A. Aziret. 1999. Van ve çevresi geofitleri üzerinde floristik bir araştirma. Yüzüncü Yil Üniversitesi, Araştirma Fonu Başkanliĝi, Van.
—, N. Demirkuş, and S. Alp. 2005. Van Gölü Adalari’nin resimli florasi. Yüzüncü Yil Üniversitesi, Araştirma Fonu Başkanliĝi, Van.
Nesbitt, M. 2005. Grains. Pages 45–60 in G. Prance and M. Nesbitt, eds. The cultural history of plants. Routledge, London.
—, and D. Samuel. 1996. Archaeobotany in Turkey: A review of current research. Orient-Express 3:91–96.
Oybak Dönmez, E. 2003. Urartian crop plant remains from Patnos (Aĝri), eastern Turkey. Anatolian Studies 53:89–95.
Postgate, J. N. 1987. Notes on fruit in the cuneiform sources. Bulletin on Sumerian Agriculture 3:115–144.
Riehl, S. 1999. Bronze Age environment and economy in the Troad: The archaeobotany of Kumtepe and Troy. Mo Vince Verlag, Tübingen.
—, and M. Nesbitt. 2003. Crops and cultivation in the Iron Age Near East: Change or continuity? Pages 301–312 in B. Fischer, H. Genz, E Jean, and K. Köroĝlu, eds. Identifying changes: The transition from Bronze Age to Iron Ages in Anatolia and its neighbouring regions. Ege Yayinlari, Istanbul.
Tumanian, M. G. 1944. Cultivated plants of the Urartian period in the Armenian SSR. Proceedings of the Academy of Science of the Armenian SSR 1:73–82.
van Zeist, W., and J. A. H. Bakker-Heeres. 1985. Archaeobotanical studies in the Levant 4. Bronze Age sites on the North Syrian Euphrates. Palaeohistoria 27:247–316.
Wick, L., G. Lemcke, and M. Sturm. 2003. Evidence of Lateglacial and Holocene climatic change and human impact in eastern Anatolia: High resolution pollen, charcoal, isotopic and geochemical data from the laminated sediments of Lake Van, eastern Turkey. Holocene 13(5):665–675.
Zhukovsky, P. M. 1951. Türkiye’nin zirai bünyesi (Anadolu). Türkiye Şeker Fabrikalari A.Ş. Neşriyati No. 2, Ankara.
Zimansky, P. E. 1998. Ancient Ararat: A handbook of Urartian studies. Cravan Books, New York.
Zohary, D., and M. Hopf. 2000 Domestication of plants in the Old World: The origin and spread of cultivated plants in west Asia, Europe and the Nile valley. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Dönmez, E.O., Belli, O. Urartian plant cultivation at Yoncatepe (Van), eastern Turkey. Econ Bot 61, 290–298 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1663/0013-0001(2007)61[290:UPCAYV]2.0.CO;2
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1663/0013-0001(2007)61[290:UPCAYV]2.0.CO;2