ABSTRACT

The discussion presented in this chapter is based upon plant remains retrieved from settlement sites in the upper Balikh valley of northern Syria: Tell Hammam et-Turkman, Tell Sabi Abyad I and nearby Tell Sabi Abyad II (Figures 19.1 and 19.2). These sites provide good archaeobotanical evidence of possible agricultural change in this important area. Together the sites have yielded a long archaeological record of plants, from the Later Pre-Pottery Neolithic to the Late Bronze Age, although the record is not continuous. In addition, environmental conditions are the same for Sabi Abyad and

Figure 19.1 Location map. The framed area is shown in Figure 19.2. The isohyets for northern Syria are drawn after Alex (1984).