Book Chapter

Storage and Food Control in the ‘Amuq from the Late Bronze to the Iron Age: The Archaeological Evidence

  • Marina Pucci

Ongoing study of the pottery assemblage and its surrounding context in Area 4 at the site of Alalakh has again brought to light a phenomenon that is considered typical for the Iron Age I Levant: the construction of pits/silo installations in open areas. This phenomenon has been interpreted as a sign of ruralisation or insecure economic conditions, a possible marker for the political instability in the area during the 13th-12th centuries BCE. This article examines the similarities and differences between the examples from the Iron Age I in the ‘Amuq and contemporary sites in the Levant, and also considers later similar installations from the Iron Age II. Keeping in mind the functions usually ascribed to these structures, this study also analyses the so-called ‘Anatolian’ tradition of grain storage in the Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age in order to address the role of these installations in understanding possible food control strategies and their possible impact in the Levant.

  • Keywords:
  • Storage system,
  • Late bronze,
  • Iron age,
  • 'Amuq,
  • Grain pits,
+ Show More

Marina Pucci

University of Florence, Italy - ORCID: 0000-0001-6553-1679

  1. Adamson P.B. 1985, Problems over Storing Food in the Ancient Near East, Die Welt des Orients 16: 5-15.
  2. Akar M. 2019, Excavation Results, in K.A. Yener, M. Akar, M.T. Horowitz (eds), Tell Atchana, Alalakh. The 2006-2010 Seasons. Volume 2: The Late Bronze Age II City, İstanbul, Koç University Press: 11-76.
  3. Alonso N., Bouby L. 2017, Plant Resources from the Bronze Age and the First Iron Age in the Northwestern Arc of the Mediterranean Basin, Comptes Rendus Palevol 16: 363-377.
  4. Bang S.H. 2013, ‘Is there any seed left in the barn?’ (Hag 2: 19) – What could grain storage tell us about Yehud during the late sixth centurz B.C.E.?, Revue Biblique 120: 388-404.
  5. Blaylock S.R. 2009, Tille Höyük 3.1. The Iron Age. Introduction, Stratification and Architecture, London, British Institute at Ankara.
  6. Blaylock S.R. 2016, Tille Höyük 3.2. The Iron Age. Pottery Objects and Conclusions, London, British Institute at Ankara.
  7. Borowski O. 1987, Agriculture in Iron Age Israel, Winona Lake (IN), Eisenbrauns.
  8. Castellano L. 2018, Staple Economies and Storage in Post-Hittite Anatolia: Considerations in the Light of New Data from Niğde-Kınık Höyük (Southern Cappadocia), Journal of Eastern Mediterranean Archaeology and Heritage Studies 6: 259-284.
  9. Christiansen B. 2019, Granaries in Urartu and Neighboring States and the Monumentalization of Administrative Records, in P.S. Avetisyan, R. Dan, Y.H. Grekyan (eds), Over the Mountains and Far Away, Oxford, Archaeopress: 134-143.
  10. Currid J.D., Navon, A. 1989, Iron Age Pits and the Lahav (Tell Halif) Grain Storage Project, Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 273: 67-78.
  11. Czichon R.M., Klinger J., Hnila P., Mielke D.P., Böhm H., Forster C., Griggs C., Jkähler M., Kunst G.K., Lehmann M., Lorentyen B., Manning S., Merklein K., Marquardt H., Reichmuth S., Richter J., Rössner C., Sadiklar B., Seufer K., Sobott R., Traub-Sobott I., von der Osten-Woldenburg H., Weber M., Wolter H., Yılmaz, M.A. 2016, Archäologische Forschungen am Oymaağaç Höyük/Nerik 2011-2015, Mitteilungen der Deutchen Orient-Gesellschaft zu Berlin 148: 5-131.
  12. Czichon R.M., Yılmaz M.A. 2014, Vezirköprü/Oymaağaç (Nerik?) Projesi, in H. Kasapoğlu, M.A. Yılmaz (eds), Anadolu’nun Zirvesinde Türk arkeolojisinin 40 Yili, Ankara, Atatürk Üniversitesi Edebiyat: 339-346.
  13. d’Alfonso L., Matessi A. 2021, Extracting Cohesion: Fiscal Strategies in the Hittite Staple Economy, in J. Valk, I. Soto Marín (eds), Ancient Taxation. The Mechanics of Extraction in Comparative Perspective, New York, New York University Press: 128-159.
  14. Dee M., Higham T., Postgate J.N. 2017, Section 2: The 14C Determinations, in J.N. Postgate (ed.) Excavations at Kilise Tepe 2007-2011: The Late Bronze and Iron Ages, London, British Institute at Ankara.
  15. Diffey C., Neef R., Seeher J., Bogaard A. 2020, The Agroecology of an early state: new results from Hattusha, Antiquity 94: 1204-1223.
  16. Fairbairn A., Omura, S. 2005, Archaeological Identification and Significance of ÉSAG (Agricultural Storage Pits) at Kaman-Kalehöyük, Central Anatolia, Anatolian Studies 55: 15-23.
  17. Faist B., Llop J. 2012, The Assyrian Royal Granary (karmu), in G. Del Olmo Lete, J. Vidal, N. Wyatt (eds), The Perfumes of Seven Tamarisks. Studies in Honour of Wilfred G.E. Watson, Münster, Ugarit-Verlag: 19-35.
  18. Fugmann E. 1958, Hama 2.1: L’architecture des périodes pré-hellenistiques, Copenhague, Nationalmuseet.
  19. Gates M.-H. 2013, From Late Bronze to Iron Age on Syria’s Northwest Frontier: Cilicia and the Amuq, in S. Mazzoni, S. Soldi (eds), Syrian Archaeology in Perspective Celebrating 20 Years of Excavations at Tell Afis: Proceedings of the International Meeting: Percorsi di Archeologia Siriana: Giornate di studio Pisa 27-28 Novembre 2006, Gipsoteca di Arte Antica – S. Paolo all’Orto, Pisa, Edizioni ETS: 95-116.
  20. Haines R.C. 1971, Excavations in the Plain of Antioch, Volume 2. The Structural Remains of the Later Phases: Chatal Hüyük, Tell al-Judaidah, and Tell Ta’yinat, Chicago, University of Chicago Press.
  21. Harrison T.P. 2009, Neo-Hittites in the ‘Land of Palistin’: Renewed Investigations at Tell Ta’yinat on the Plain of Antioch, Near Eastern Archaeology 72/4: 174-189.
  22. Harrison T.P. 2010, The LateBronze Age/Early Iron Age Transition in the North Orontes Valley, in F. Venturi (ed.), Societies in Transition, Bologna, Clueb: 83-102.
  23. Harrison T.P. 2021, The Iron Age I-II Transition in the Northern Levant: An Emerging Consensus?, Jerusalem Journal of Archaeology 1: 325-351.
  24. Heffron Y., Şerifoǧlu E., Steele C., Stone, A. 2017, Section 7.2: The J/K/L14 Sounding, in J.N. Postgate (ed.) Excavations at Kilise Tepe 2007-2011: The Late Bronze and Iron Ages, London, British Institute at Ankara.
  25. Horowitz M.T. 2019, The Local Ceramics of Late Bronze Age II Alalakh, in K.A. Yener, M. Akar, M.T. Horowitz (eds), Tell Atchana, Alalakh. The 2006-2010 Seasons. Volume 2: The Late Bronze Age II City, İstanbul, Koç University Press: 193-249.
  26. Ilan D. 2008, The Socioeconomic Implication of Grain Storage in Early Iron Age Canaan: The Case of Tel Dan, in A. Fantalkin, A. Yasur-Landau (eds), Bene Israel. Studies in the Archaeology of Israel and the Levant during the Bronze and Iron Ages in Honour of Israel Finkelstein, Leiden – Boston, Brill: 87-104.
  27. Klinger J. 2022, Hittite Economics, in S. de Martino (ed.), Handbook Hittite Empire. Power Structures, Berlin, De Gruyter: 605-648.
  28. Korfmann M. 1983, Demircihüyük I. Architektur, Stratigraphie und Befunde, Mainz am Rhein, von Zabern.
  29. Lackenbacher S., Malbran-Labat F. 2016, Lettres en Akkadien de la Maison d’Urtenu. Fouilles de 1994, Leuven, Peeters.
  30. Lamon R.S., Shipton, G.M. 1939, Megiddo I: Seasons of 1925-34, Strata I-V, Chicago, University of Chicago Press.
  31. Makal M. 1954, A village in Anatolia, London, Stirling.
  32. Manuelli F., Vignola C., Marzaioli F., Passariello I., Terrasi F. 2021, The Beginning of the Iron Age at Arslantepe: a 14C perspective, Radiocarbon 63: 885-903.
  33. Marchetti N. (ed.) 2019-2020, Recent archaeological discoveries at Karkemish. Anatomy and trajectories of a capital city on the Middle Euphrates, News from the Land of the Hittites 3-4: 251-400.
  34. Montesanto M., Pucci M. 2019-2020, The Iron Age at Alalakh, Archaeology and History of the Lebanon 50-51: 93-135.
  35. Pucci M. 2019, Excavations in the Plain of Antioch, Volume 3. Stratigraphy, Pottery, and Small Finds from Chatal Höyük in the Amuq Plain, Chicago, Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago.
  36. Pucci M. 2020a, The Amuq region during the Iron Age I-II: Formation, Organization and Development of a Community, in A. Sollee (ed.), Formation, Organization and Development of Iron Age Societies: A Comparative View, Wien, Austrian Academy of Sciences: 131-150.
  37. Pucci M. 2020b, Economic Decay and Urban Rebirth in the Amuq. The Hittite Conquest of Hatay and the End of the Late Bronze Age (Mid-14th to the 12th Century BC), in S. de Martino, E. Devecchi (eds), Anatolia Between the 13th and the 12th Century B.C.E., Firenze, LoGisma: 327-360.
  38. Reynolds P.J. 2011, Ancient Farming. Reprint 1987, Oxford, Shire Publications.
  39. Seeher J. 2008, Getreidelagerung in unterirdischen Grossspeichern zur methode und ihrer anwendung im 2. Jahrtausend v. Chr. am Beispiel der Befunde in Hattusa, Studi Micenei ed Egeo-Anatolici 42: 261-301.
  40. Seeher J. 2017, BÜYÜKKAYA II. Bauwerke und Befunde der Grabungskampagnen 1952-1955 und 1993-1998, Berlin, De Gruyter.
  41. Venturi F. 2015, Storage Jars and Household Storage Methods in Tell Afis between Late Bronze Age II and Iron Age II, in P. Ciafardoni, D. Giannessi (eds), From the Treasures of Syria. Essays on Art and Archaeology in Honour of Stefania Mazzoni, Leiden, Nederlands Instituut voor het Nabije Oosten: 75-110.
  42. Venturi F. 2020, Tell Afis. The Excavations of Areas E2-E4. Phases V-I. The End of the Late Bronze /Iron Age I Sequence. Stratigraphy, Pottery and Small Finds, Firenze, Le Lettere.
  43. Welton L., Harrison T.P., Batiuk S., Ünlü E., Janeway B., Karakaya D., Lipovitch D., Lumb D., Roames J. 2019, Shifting Networks and Community Identity at Tell Tayinat in the Iron I (ca. 12th to mid 10th century B.C.E.), American Journal of Archaeology 123: 291-333.
  44. Whittaker J.C., Kamp K.A., Brenton B., Scott Cummings L. 2014, 6.3 Maize storage in simple pits, in A. van Gijn, J.C. Whittaker, P.C. Anderson (eds), Explaining and Exploring Diversity in Agricultural Technology, Oxford, Oxbow: 197-222.
  45. Yener K.A. (ed.) 2010, Tell Atchana, Ancient Alalakh. Volume 1: The 2003-2004 Excavations Seasons, İstanbul: Koç University Press.
PDF
  • Publication Year: 2023
  • Pages: 161-176
  • Content License: CC BY 4.0
  • © 2023 Author(s)

XML
  • Publication Year: 2023
  • Content License: CC BY 4.0
  • © 2023 Author(s)

Chapter Information

Chapter Title

Storage and Food Control in the ‘Amuq from the Late Bronze to the Iron Age: The Archaeological Evidence

Authors

Marina Pucci

Language

English

DOI

10.36253/979-12-215-0042-4.10

Peer Reviewed

Publication Year

2023

Copyright Information

© 2023 Author(s)

Content License

CC BY 4.0

Metadata License

CC0 1.0

Bibliographic Information

Book Title

Administrative Practices and Political Control in Anatolian and Syro-Anatolian Polities in the 2nd and 1st Millennium BCE

Editors

Clelia Mora, Giulia Torri

Peer Reviewed

Number of Pages

216

Publication Year

2023

Copyright Information

© 2023 Author(s)

Content License

CC BY 4.0

Metadata License

CC0 1.0

Publisher Name

Firenze University Press

DOI

10.36253/979-12-215-0042-4

ISBN Print

979-12-215-0041-7

eISBN (pdf)

979-12-215-0042-4

Series Title

Studia Asiana

Series ISSN

1974-7837

Series E-ISSN

2612-808X

313

Fulltext
downloads

181

Views

Export Citation

1,346

Open Access Books

in the Catalogue

2,262

Book Chapters

3,790,127

Fulltext
downloads

4,420

Authors

from 923 Research Institutions

of 65 Nations

65

scientific boards

from 348 Research Institutions

of 43 Nations

1,248

Referees

from 381 Research Institutions

of 38 Nations