Agriculture at Arslantepe at the end of the IV millennium B.C. Did the centralised political institutions have an influence on farming practices?

The reconstruction of the economy, meaning the modes of production and distribution of goods, at Arslantepe, at the end of the IV millennium BC, when we assist to major social and political changes that bring to the development and then collapse of the first proto-state in Anatolia, is central for understanding the role of the central institutions occupying the public complex and the true essence and functioning of the proto-state system. At Arslantepe, where environmental conditions are completely different from those of lower Mesopotamia and irrigation is not as fundamental for crop cultivation, is the role of the central institution in the organisation of agricultural production as strong as it was at Uruk, in lower Mesopotamia? Did the central institution own the lands? Did it organise the production? Or, did it centralise the products of autonomous farmers, by collecting tribute? Did the smaller dimension of the site, and thus a smaller population in comparison to the southern sites and the more favourable environmental conditions bring to a distinct economic organisation of the Arslantepe proto-state? How much did the presence of the central institution influence the choice of the products, the quantities produced and the organisation of production? And what happens to the economy when the central institutions disappear? We might expect only minor changes if the system had not a total control over production and distribution, but major differences if it had strongly determined modes and choices of agricultural production. We shall try to discuss these issues in the present paper.