Voluminous Evidence for an Elusive Period: Storage Pits and Surplus from Middle Chalcolithic Anatolia

Fokke Gerritsen*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to JournalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

Pit clusters have not received systematic attention from archaeologists working in Anatolia and the Near East, in contrast to many other parts of the world. This paper presents a case study of Middle Chalcolithic pits from the prehistoric site of Barcın Höyük in northwestern Anatolia to show how pit clusters, interpreted as underground grain silos, can inform us about ancient food economies, social organization, and inhabited landscapes. It is argued that the silos at Barcın Höyük were used by small family-sized groups to store surplus grain. Dated to the first quarter of the 5th millennium b.c., the silos present evidence for agricultural productivity during a period that has largely eluded archaeological investigation in western Anatolia.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)210-222
Number of pages13
JournalJournal of Field Archaeology
Volume46
Issue number4
Early online date21 Apr 2021
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2021

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This work was supported by the Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek [grant number 380-62-005] and National Geographic Society [grant number 9728-15]. The author would like to thank Laurens Thissen, Ren? Cappers, Rana ?zbal, and two anonymous reviewers for sharing their insights that helped improve this paper. Any remaining errors remain the responsibility of the author.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Copyright:
Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.

Funding

This work was supported by the Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek [grant number 380-62-005] and National Geographic Society [grant number 9728-15]. The author would like to thank Laurens Thissen, René Cappers, Rana Özbal, and two anonymous reviewers for sharing their insights that helped improve this paper. Any remaining errors remain the responsibility of the author.

Keywords

  • agricultural economy
  • Barcın Höyük
  • grain silos
  • prehistory
  • Turkey
  • underground storage

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