Change and Continuity in Agricultural Production in Iraqi Kurdistan, ca. 4000 BCE–1000 CE

Summary

The archaeological site of Kani Shaie is a small (<3ha) tell site located in Iraqi Kurdistan not far from contemporary Sulaymaniyah. Archaeological evidence as well as radiocarbon dates procured from excavations at the site indicate in-habitation from at least 3500 BCE until the Middle Islamic period, ca. 1400 CE. Excavations in 2015 and especially 2016 included a substantial archaeobotanical sampling component, which entailed the sampling of every archaeological deposit and the subsequent spatial recording of those samples using electronic digital mapping methods. The paper presents the analysis of over 150 samples collected at the site, comprising about 800L of analyzed archaeological sediment. The paper identifies continuities and discontinuities in major food crops (emmer wheat, barley, fig, etc.) through time and the inferred relationships of Kani Shaie communities with the site in terms of agricultural production and food consumption, especially with respect to new foods that appeared in the later historic periods such as rice. The shifts in Kani Shaie's different modes of agricultural production, especially ca. 3500 BCE and later in 500 CE, reflect the interplay of new modes of social organization and local environmental realities.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 22717