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“CROPPING THE MARGINS”: NEW EVIDENCE FOR URBAN AGRICULTURE AT MID-3RD MILLENNIUM B.C.E. TELL BRAK, SYRIA
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 January 2024
Abstract
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.
خلاصة:
أدت أعمال التنقيب في مبنى إداري كبير في مدينة تل براك في شمال سوريا إلى استخلاص كمية كبيرة من الحبوب المتفحمة التي يعود تاريخها إلى منتصف الألفية الثالثة قبل الميلاد. يقدم هذا الاكتشاف الرائع لمحة نادرة عن طبيعة الزراعة في بلاد ما بين النهرين العليا خلال العصر البرونزي المبكر. وقد تمت دراسة المواد المستخلصة باستخدام مزيج من التحليل النباتي الأولي (دراسة التفاعلات السابقة بين الإنسان والنبات من خلال استعادة وتحليل بقايا النباتات القديمة)، وتحديد النظائر المستقرة للمحاصيل، وبيئة الأعشاب الوظيفية لتقديم رؤى جديدة حول استراتيجيات الزراعة في تل براك وكذلك للمساهمة في النقاش الأوسع بشأن التجارة واستيراد المحاصيل في هذه المنطقة. تكشف اختيارات نظام المحاصيل المحددة أيضًا كيف تمكن مزارعو تل براك من تقليل المخاطر الإجمالية لفشل المحاصيل من خلال الإدارة الدقيقة للمياه، وهو عامل مهم للغاية في هذه المنطقة شبه القاحلة، مع ما يترتب على ذلك من آثار محتملة على الدراسة التحليلية للمناطق الحضرية الأخرى الواسعة النطاق للاقتصادات الزراعية في الشرق الأوسط وخارجه .
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