Investigating domestic economy at the beginning of the Late Chalcolithic in Eastern Anatolia: the case of Arslantepe period VII

Published in Origini n. XXXVI/2014. Rivista annuale del Dipartimento di Scienze dell’Antichità – “Sapienza” Università di Roma | Preistoria e protostoria delle civiltà antiche – Prehistory and protohistory of ancient civilizations

The present article analyses the charred seeds and faunal remains from the Late Chalcolithic 2 (ca. 4200-3900 BCE) occupation at Arslantepe, in the Anatolian Malatya plain. Charred seeds are all found in situ, in a single room clearly interpretable as a kitchen on the basis of its installations and materials. Faunal remains are from all sealed and well stratified contexts dated to this period. The identification of species is here presented and evaluated within the broader framework of a reconstruction of primary economy at the site. Comparisons with later Late Chalcolithic agricultural and herding practices at the same site are made with the aim of investigating the changes undergone by the primary economy in the phases of increasing social complexity, along the path that brought to the origin of the first state systems in Upper Mesopotamia.