Grinding, Burning and Trading at Kültepe: Archaeobotanical Evidence for Economic Differences between Settlements in Anatolia's Middle Bronze Age

Trade is part of the social glue that sticks human society together, linking people near and far into interdependent relationships of economy, appetite, cultural expression and power (Adams 1992; Oka - Kusimba 2008). As in neighbouring regions, Anatolia's Bronze Age saw the emergence of populous and urbanised societies linked to others through long distance trade networks overseen by elites who increasingly dominated the social order (Steadman 2011). Common with all populous, sedentary societies, securing a reliable and adequate supply of food and fuel was a fundamental pre-requisite for the maintenance of the social fabric and trade was a key strategy in the maintenance of that supply. Historical records provide ample evidence for the importance of producing, trading and consuming plant products in the Bronze Age world, with documents from Middle Bronze Age (hereafter MBA) Kültepe and Late Bronze Age Hattusas (Fig. 1) giving important early Anatolian insights into this phenomenon (e.g. Hoffner 1974; Dercksen 2008a, b; Barjamovic 2014). Yet, these documents also show that, beyond the daily bread, trade also supplied exotic plant products, including resins, wine, spices, fruits and oils, that, it has been hypothesised, were fundamentally important for social and ritual participation by emerging elites and the demand for which may have driven increasing investment in the whole trade system (Wengrow 2010).