“Cropping the Margins”
New Evidence for Urban Agriculture at Mid-3 Rd Millennium B.C.E. Tell Brak, Syria
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21339003 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Charlotte Diffey (0000-0003-2829-9908), Geoff Emberling (0000-0002-4811-4029), Amy Bogaard (0000-0002-6716-8890), Michael Charles (0000-0002-9630-7589) |
| Year | 2023 |
| Volume | 85 |
| Pages | 151-178 |
| Publication date | 2023-12-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Iraq (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0021-0889 • E-ISSN: 2053-4744 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/irq.2023.3 |
| OpenAlex | W4390698450 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 5 |
| References cited | 61 |
The excavation of a large administrative building at the city of Tell Brak in northern Syria saw the recovery of a considerable quantity of charred cereals dated to the mid-third millennium B.C.E. This remarkable discovery provides a rare snapshot into the nature of agriculture in Upper Mesopotamia during the Early Bronze Age. The material has been studied using a combination of primary archaeobotanical analysis, crop stable isotope determinations, and functional weed ecology to deliver new insights into cultivation strategies at Tell Brak as well as to contribute to the wider debate regarding trade and crop importation in this region. Specific crop regime choices also reveal how the farmers of Tell Brak were able to reduce the overall risk of crop failure by careful water management, a vitally important factor in this semi-arid region, with potential implications for the analysis of other large-scale urban agro-economies in the Middle East and beyond
Agriculture · Agroforestry · Archaeology · Arid · Biology · Bronze Age · Crop · Geography · Mesopotamia · Middle East · Paleoethnobotany · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Ecology · Forestry · Isotope Analysis in Ecology · Pacific and Southeast Asian Studies
The ‘King of Crops’
An Agroecological Perspective on Early Urban Forms and their Sustainability in Western Eurasia
Plant commodification in Northern Mesopotamia
Late Bronze – Early Iron Age Agro-systems in Northern Greece
New crop stable isotope evidence reveals the impact of the 3.2 ka rapid climate event on arable agricultural production at late Bronze Age – Iron Age Hattuşa, Central Anatolia
Vegetation development in the Middle Euphrates and Upper Jazirah (Syria/Turkey) during the Bronze Age
Excavations at Tell Brak 2001-2002
The Spatial Dimensions of Early Mesopotamian Urbanism
Excavations at Tell Brak 1998
Excavations at Tell Brak, 1978-81
Excavations at Tell Brak 2006–2007
Excavations at Tell Brak 2000
Two Oxen Ahead
Domestication of Plants in the Old World
Archaeological Landscapes of the Near East
Mapping patterns of long-term settlement in Northern Mesopotamia at a large scale
Very high resolution interpolated climate surfaces for global land areas
Drought stress variability in ancient Near Eastern agricultural systems evidenced by δ 13 C in barley grain
Impact of contamination and pre‐treatment on stable carbon and nitrogen isotopic composition of charred plant remains
Sea–land oxygen isotopic relationships from planktonic foraminifera and speleothems in the Eastern Mediterranean region and their implication for paleorainfall during interglacial intervals
Carbon Isotope Discrimination and Photosynthesis
Isotope evidence for agricultural extensification reveals how the world's first cities were fed
Changes in carbon isotope discrimination in grain cereals from different regions of the western Mediterranean Basin during the past seven millennia. Palaeoenvironmental evidence of a differential change in aridity during the late Holocene
Crop manuring and intensive land management by Europe’s first farmers
Salt and Silt in Ancient Mesopotamian Agriculture
Archaeology
Calculating a statistically robust δ 13 C and δ 15 N offset for charred cereal and pulse seeds
Climate change and early urbanism in Southwest Asia
Archaeobotanical evidence for the interrelationship of agricultural decision-making and climate change in the ancient Near East
Best practices for calibrating and reporting stable isotope measurements in archaeology
Exploring Diversity in Neolithic Agropastoral Management in Mainland Greece Using Stable Isotope Analysis
Tolerating change at Late Chalcolithic Tell Brak
From Traditional Farming in Morocco to Early Urban Agroecology in Northern Mesopotamia
Regional Approaches to Mesopotamian Archaeology
Cycles of Civilization in Northern Mesopotamia, 4400–2000 BC
Mid-Holocene climate variations revealed by high-resolution speleothem records from Soreq Cave, Israel and their correlation with cultural changes
Water management practices and climate in ancient agriculture
Combining functional weed ecology and crop stable isotope ratios to identify cultivation intensity
Measuring grain size and identifying Near Eastern cereal domestication
The impact of manuring on nitrogen isotope ratios in cereals
A statistical approach to the archaeological identification of crop processing
Manuring and stable nitrogen isotope ratios in cereals and pulses
Spatial and Temporal Variation in Mesopotamian Agricultural Practices in the Khabur Basin, Syrian Jazira
Distinguishing the Effects of Agricultural Practices Relating to Fertility and Disturbance
The Definition of Ancient Manured Zones by Means of Extensive Sherd-Sampling Techniques
Identifying the intensity of crop husbandry practices on the basis of weed floras
An Experiment in Water-Sieving
The Archaeology of Mesopotamia
Crop mimicry in weeds
Excavations at Tell Brak, vol. 4
Contextualizing Early Urbanization
The Structure and Dynamics of Dry-Farming States in Upper Mesopotamia [and Comments and Reply]
Innovations in mud-brick
Stable carbon isotope analysis as a direct means of inferring crop water status and water management practices
Excavation and Survey in the Jabbul Plain, Western Syria
Disentangling the effect of farming practice from aridity on crop stable isotope values
Corona Satellite Photography and Ancient Road Networks
Early Mesopotamian urbanism
The Social Construction of Ancient Cities
After the Revolution
| Citations per year | 5 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2025 - 2026 (2) |
| Highly cited | No |