Eating at Home and "Dining" Out? Commensalities in the Neolithic and Late Chalcolithic in the Near East

This paper attempts to draw a picture of different kinds of commensalities in the Near Eastern Pottery Neolithic (7th millennium BC) through an analysis of consumption vessels. The case study will be the Syrian and Turkish regions of the Northern Levant. I shall underline the strong symbolic function of vessels in distinguishing commensal events and argue that the basic role of commensality remains largely unmodified until the end of the Ubaid period (2nd half of 5th millennium BC). The beginning of the Late Chalcolithic then marks a major change. At this point, the development of different types of commensalities leads to a decrease in the role of pottery as symbolic marker of commensal events

Commensalities in the Neolithic and Late Chalcolithic in the Near East

This paper attempts to draw a picture of different kinds of commensalities in the Near Eastern Pottery Neolithic (7th millennium BC) through an analysis of consumption vessels. The case study will be the Syrian and Turkish regions of the Northern Levant. I shall underline the strong symbolic function of vessels in distinguishing commensal events and argue that the basic role of commensality remains largely unmodified until the end of the Ubaid period (2nd half of the 5th millennium BC). The beginning of the Late Chalcolithic then marks a major change. At this point, the development of different types of commensalities leads to a decrease in the role of pottery as symbolic marker of commensal events

Lime production in the Late Chalcolithic period: the case of Arslantepe (Eastern Anatolia)

Plaster and mortar samples from Arslantepe (Turkey) hold potential to provide unique information about the lime production and adhibition during the Late Chalcolithic period (4th millennium BCE). A multi-analytical approach including polarized light microscopy (PLM), X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD), and scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy dispersive spectroscopy (SEM-EDS) has been applied to characterize mortar samples from temple C and elite residences dated back to the late Chalcolithic 3–4 (3800–3400 BCE). A marly limestone has been identified as starting raw material for the lime production, probably coming from two different sources (local and brought from a different part of the Malatya plain). Moreover, different aggregate selection and the use of different production techniques were also detected in the samples, which are probably related to the function of the buildings. Evidence of a re-plastering process was also detected in the two elite houses, which probably refers to a routine maintenance process

Genomic history of Neolithic to Bronze Age Anatolia, Northern Levant, and Southern Caucasus

Here, we report genome-wide data analyses from 110 ancient Near Eastern individuals spanning the Late Neolithic to Late Bronze Age, a period characterized by intense interregional interactions for the Near East. We find that 6th millennium BCE populations of North/Central Anatolia and the Southern Caucasus shared mixed ancestry on a genetic cline that formed during the Neolithic between Western Anatolia and regions in today’s Southern Caucasus/Zagros. During the Late Chalcolithic and/or the Early Bronze Age, more than half of the Northern Levantine gene pool was replaced, while in the rest of Anatolia and the Southern Caucasus, we document genetic continuity with only transient gene flow. Additionally, we reveal a genetically distinct individual within the Late Bronze Age Northern Levant. Overall, our study uncovers multiple scales of population dynamics through time, from extensive admixture during the Neolithic period to long-distance mobility within the globalized societies of the Late Bronze Age. Video Abstrac

Eating at Home and 'Dining' Out?

Dieser Beitrag versucht, anhand der Analyse von Ess- und Trinkgefäßen ein Bild verschiedener Arten von Kommensalität im vorderasiatischen Keramischen Neolithikum (7. Jt. v. Chr.) zu zeichnen. Als Fallbeispiel dienen die syrischen und türkischen Regionen der nördlichen Levante. Ich erörtere die stark symbolische Funktion von Gefäßen zur Abgrenzung von unterschiedlichen kommensalen Anlässen und argumentiere, dass die grundlegende Rolle von Kommensalität bis zum Ende der Ubaid-Zeit (2. Hälte des 5. Jt. v. Chr.) weitgehend unverändert bleibt. Der Beginn des späten Chalkolithikums markiert dann einen entscheidenden Wendepunkt. Zu diesem Zeitpunkt führt die Entwicklung von unterschiedlichen Arten von Kommensalität dazu, dass die Bedeutung von Keramik als symbolisches Zeichen für kommensale Anlässe an Bedeutung verliert.This paper attempts to draw a picture of different kinds of commensalities in the Near Eastern Pottery Neolithic (7th millennium BC) through an analysis of consumption vessels. The case study will be the Syrian and Turkish regions of the Northern Levant. I shall underline the strong symbolic function of vessels in distinguishing commensal events and argue that the basic role of commensality remains largely unmodified until the end of the Ubaid period (2nd half of the 5th millennium BC). The beginning of the Late Chalcolithic then marks a major change. At this point, the development of different types of commensalities leads to a decrease in the role of pottery as symbolic marker of commensal events

Pottery analysis and the archaeological context. Chosing samples, Counting, weighing and interpreting materials in context

Most dig houses in the world and certainly all those in the Near East are characterised by thousands of crates with millions of pottery sherds. At the nearly 60-year-campaign-long Arslantepe dig house crates are wooden boxes lined up along the edge of the mound, that overshadow our work area and that get regularly spread out on a more than 100m long line of tables: our “sherd yard” and the “mega puzzle area” for the restorers (Bollati and Ghedin present volume, fig. 1). The pottery specialists - each of us dedicated to one of the periods of occupation of Arslantepe - spend hours, days, weeks, months on these tables, again, like at many other excavations. Differently to other excavations though, we have Marcella Frangipane: forty-three years at the site and it is nearly impossible that she hasn’t noticed something before you and rare that you have an intuition before she does. The work of a potter analyst may be repetitive and tedious, but with Marcella there is little automatism in this activity. She has showed us why not to embrace an a priori methodology; every choice should be weighted and evaluated on the basis of the character of the assemblage and of the context of retrieval. Every data collection should spring from specific questions. How should we choose the contexts to analyse in detail? Should sherds be counted, weighted? Should vessel num- bers be estimated? Should diagnostic sherds and amorphous ones be treated differently? The choice of one or the other depends on the aim with which the count is done and on the type of context analysed. The present paper shall explain how the processing of pottery material at Arslantepe is carried out as to aid its analysis, and then use the case of Late Chalcolithic 3-4 (Arslantepe period VII, 3900-3400 BCE) to discuss why specific methodological choices in pottery analysis have been adopted

En Eski Saray. Aslantepe Açik Hava Müzesi

Viene presentato il progetto di musealizzazione eseguito presso il sito archeologico di Arslantepe, Turchia, dalla Missione Archeologica Italiana in Anatolia Orientale. Il sito è stato inaugurato e aperto al pubblico nell'estate del 2011.It is presented the design of a museum run at the archaeological site of Arslantepe, Turkey, by the Italian Archaeological Mission in Eastern Anatolia. The site was inaugurated and opened to the public in the summer of 2011

Gli utensili della cucina. Pentole, piatti, focolari e la preparazione e consumo del cibo nell’Anatolia preistorica

Il testo tratta delle modalità di preparazione e consumo del cibo durante il periodo Tardo Calcolitico (4200-3400 a.C.) in Anatolia Orientale, partendo dai dati ceramici e attingendo anche a dati di tipo paleobotanico e archeozoologico.Analysis of the modes of food manipulation and production during the Late Chalcolithic in Anatolia (case sites of Arslantepe and Zeytinli Bahçe) on the basis of the ceramics, botanical and zoological remains

Periodo di studio e ricerca presso la Freie Universitaet Berlin (Germania) relativo a progetto: Foodways in the development of inequalities

The aim of the present research is to investigate the dynamics of development of institutionalised hierarchies and inequality in Greater Mesopotamia through the analysis of food politics. The first definitive appearance of social inequalities in this region can be attributed to the 5th millennium BCE Ubaid period, but it is in the 4th millennium, no later than 3300 BCE that the first centralised states were born. These states were based around institutions that controlled production and distribution of primary resources. The aim of my project is to investigate the process that brought the first social hierarchies to the point of being institutionalised, a development that lasted over a millennium. The period in question is the Late Chalcolithic (LC) specifically phases 1-4 (c. 4500-3300 BCE) preceding state formation in LC5. My project is centred around the theme of food. The analysis of food consumption and preparation can give us insights into commensal groups and socio-economic relations within communities, and thus be essential for the recognition of inequalities. With this in mind, the aim of the present research is to investigate food-related practices to understand how and when food relations became an element of social and political diversification employed as a means for defining and reinforcing differences.Congedo per motivi di studio. Consiglio di Dipartimento del 27/4/2016. richiesta di congedo uffici competenti sapienza protocollo 29086, 28/4/201

ARSLANTEPE. Arkeolojinin değişmez sürprizi

In questo articolo si presentano le recenti scoperte presso il sito di Arslantepe discutendo le implicazioni che queste hanno sul problema delle relazioni tra Anatolia Orientale e regione Transcaucasica durante le prime fasi dell'età del Bronzo Antico.In this article we present recent findings at the site of Arslantepe discussing the implications that these have on the issue of relations between Eastern Anatolia and Transcaucasia region during the early stages of the Early Bronze Age