Three-thousands-years records of climate and agriculture in Turkey: the stable isotopes approach to plant remains from Arslantepe

Based on the merely quantification of archaeobotanical remains, i.e. seeds, fruits and charcoals, palaeoecological reconstructions could lead to misleading conclusions. Thanks to the study of the stable isotopes, plant remains have been disclosed as a powerful tools to explore the role of climate in the evolution of both the environment and human communities and the past growing conditions of plants. The high-resolution isotope records from the long-lived archaeological site of Arslantepe in the Near East have been produced. The characterising features of Arslantepe (Turkey) are the long-term occupation, from 4700 to 2000 BCE, and the huge amount of plant remains preserved in situ. The improvement of the chronological framing by new 14C-AMS dates has been the base for building up the stable carbon and nitrogen isotope records from both charcoals and cereal grains. Deciduous Quercus and Juniperus isotopic signals have revealed that climate was wetter than nowadays, with regional fluctuations involved in the local cultural changes. The past crop management system has been reconstructed using the isotopic values of Hordeum vulgare, Triticum dicoccon and T. aestivum/durum grains, considering the relationship with social and cultural transformations