The Nitrogen Challenge at Çatalhöyük

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Challenges and Future Directions in Plant Stable Isotope Analysis in Archaeology" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Stable carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) isotopic values of archaeobotanical remains from the Neolithic site of Çatalhöyük have presented us with a series of challenges for interpreting ancient crop management systems in a complex environment. An exceptionally wide range of δ15N values (0 to 18‰) obtained from charred domestic and wild plant species preserved across the Neolithic sequence raise the question of whether the plants were grown in soils with strikingly different biogeochemical properties or whether the variable values were the result of post-depositional processes. Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometry (FTIR) was carried out in order to investigate whether nitrate contamination may have been responsible for the elevated δ15N values, but the results showed that the samples did not contain the characteristic nitrate peak on the infrared spectrum. The discussion will present a tentative interpretation of ancient crop cultivation strategies developed in a landscape characterized (according to the latest geoarchaeological model) as an anabranching channel system, which offered the farmers opportunities for cultivating a range of wetter and drier soils. In addition, the implications of properly understanding the plant isotope data will be discussed in relation to better interpreting the nature of human and animal diets at the site.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Challenges and Future Directions in Plant Stable Isotope Analysis in Archaeology   •
• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 25582