Plant use in three Pre-Pottery Neolithic sites of the northern and eastern Fertile Crescent: a preliminary report

Abstract

The beginnings of agriculture throughout the Fertile Crescent are still not completely understood, particularly at the eastern end of the Fertile Crescent in the area of modern Iran. Archaeobotanical samples from Epipalaeolithic/PPNA Kortik Tepe in southeastern Turkey and from the Pre-Pottery Neolithic sites of Chogha Golan and East Chia Sabz in south western Iran were studied in order to define the status of cultivation at these sites. Preliminary results show the presence of abundant wild progenitor species of crops at the Iranian sites before 10600 cal. b.p., and very few wild progenitor species at Kortik Tepe dated to 11700–11250 cal. b.p. The Iranian sites also indicate size increase of wild barley grain across a sequence of 400 years through either cultivation or changing moisture conditions.