The identification of wood charcoals from an Early Bronze Age mound (Yenibademli) in western Turkey

Abstract

Taxonomic identification on the basis of wood anatomy showed that 68.82% of wood charcoals from the Early Bronze Age Site at Yenibademli, on Gokceada Island (Imbros) in the Northern Aegean region of Turkey belong to the genus Quercus, 15.88% to Pinus, 13.51% to Phillyrea, 0.63% to Arbutus, 0.35% to Ulmus, and 0.23% to the Rosaceae family. The results revealed that the dominant tree genus was oak (Quercus sp.), 67.2% of which was deciduous oak, and the remaining 1.62% was evergreen oak. Quercus and Pinus as the most common two genera in the spectrum of taxa may have a link with oak and pine stands on Gokceada (Imbros) in the Early Bronze Age. Moreover, the evergreen Quercus (sec. Ilex) and the genus Phillyrea, which was third in the spectrum, suggest that maquis and open vegetation were also present in the Early Bronze Age on Gokceada.