Exchange networks and agro-economy at Kinet Höyük (Türkiye) from the 3rd–1st millennium BC traced through prized wood, olive, and grape charcoal remains

Bibliographic Data

ID6433363
AuthorsKatleen Deckers (0000-0001-8087-5306, University of Tübingen, corresponding author), Marie‐henriette Gates (0000-0001-7534-923X, Bilkent University)
Year2025
Volume69
Pages105472-105472
Publication date2025-11-20
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Archaeological Science Reports (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2352-409X • E-ISSN: 2352-4103
PublisherElsevier BV (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1016/j.jasrep.2025.105472
OpenAlexW4416377333
LanguageEN
References cited53

First systematic diachronic charcoal results from Kinet Höyük from 3rd-1st mill. BC. • Kinet region played a role in long-distance precious wood trade, possibly as far as Egypt. • Olive and grape cultivation shaped Kinet́s economy and identity, but show fluctuations. • Indications for irrigation of grape (3rd-1st mill. BC) and olive (3rd-2nd mill. BC) • Strong reduction of olive connected with Late Bronze Age trade collapse. This paper presents the first systematic and diachronic synthesis of charcoal results from the Early Bronze to Iron Age excavations at Kinet Höyük, a Mediterranean seaport at the foot of the Amanus Mountains in southern Türkiye. The analyzed remains highlight the fuelscapes of exploitation of precious wood, olive and grape resources at the site, and how this particular supply of commodities responded to trade and exchange networks under fluctuating circumstances, from historical shifts in political power to environmental constraints. Although cedar seems not to have been available in the immediate vicinity, Kinet’s inhabitants had access to other prized woods like pine, yew, boxwood, fir, and juniper, which were distributed over considerable distances throughout the Near East and even Egypt. Olive and grape cultivation also played important roles in Kinet’s economy and its cultural and commercial identity to varying degrees over time. During much of the Bronze Age, Kinet Höyük was actively engaged in the Mediterranean’s interlocking trade network. The subsequent breakdown of this network disrupted the site’s economy, as recorded in the anthracological profile by an evident decline in olive, probably irrigated. In contrast, the Late Bronze Age Hittite grape and wine tradition, which also may have relied on irrigation, continued despite a short hiatus at the site and its probable resettlement by newcomers. Viticulture played an important role in Iron Age Kinet and was especially stimulated under the Neo-Assyrians, together with olive production. After the Neo-Assyrian withdrawal, large-scale olive and grape cultivation continued, plausibly oriented toward the Mediterranean trade, even as declining rainfall increasingly affected olive production.

Bronze · Bronze Age · Charcoal · Consumption (sociology) · Firewood · Mediterranean climate · Paleoethnobotany · Ancient Near East History · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Cultural Heritage Materials Analysis