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Paleoethnobotany
Paleoethnobotany is the study
of the relationship between people and plants in the past.
The paleoethnobotany section research focuses primarily on
the reconstruction of ancient environments and land use in southwest
Asia and Central Asia through the study of plant macroremains (primarily
charred seeds and wood). Our major projects are in central Anatolia
(at Gordion), in the rainfall agriculture zone along the Euphrates
in northeastern Syria and southeastern Turkey (at Tell es-Sweyhat
and other sites), and in the lower piedmont of the Kopet Dag in
Turkmenistan (at Anau). An outgrowth of the Gordion archaeobotanical
project is a conservation and conservation education project centered
on the main burial mound in the region, Tumulus MM.
Much of the botanical material is currently being analyzed with
the goal of publication and ultimately the integration of the results
in the cultural interpretation of the sites. For example, did the
political changes signaled in the historical record at Gordion affect
its agricultural economy? To what extent can the differences in
plant and animal husbandry among 3rd millennium sites in the Euphrates
valley be attributed to their geographic positions? How did
the agricultural base of the piedmont societies of the Kopet Dag
pave the way for the oasis civilizations of the Bronze Age?
e-mail: Naomi Miller
Website link: http://www.sas.upenn.edu/~nmiller0/
Ethnobotanical Laboratory Reports
Long-term Vegetation Changes in the Near East
The Use of Plants at Anau North
Tracing the Development of the Agropastoral Economy in Southeastern Anatolia and Northern Syria
Plant Forms in Jewelry from the Royal Cemetery at Ur
Plants and Mudbrick: Preserving the Midas Tumulus at Gordion, Turkey
Agricultural Development in Western Central Asia in the Chalcolithic and Bronze Ages
Seeds, Charcoal and Archaeological Context: Interpreting Ancient Environment and Patterns of Land Use
Farming and Herding along the Euphrates: Environmental Constraint and Cultural Choice
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