THE ETHNOBOTANY OF WILD FOOD PLANT USE IN THE KONYA BASIN: A QUANTITATIVE AND ETHNOARCHAEOLOGICAL APPROACH A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF NATURAL AND APPLIED SCIENCES OF MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY BY AYLAN ERKAL TSETSEKOS IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE IN ARCHAEOMETRY SEPTEMBER 2006 Approval of the Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences ____________________________ Prof. Dr. Canan Özgen Director I certify that this thesis satisfies all the requirements as a thesis for the degree of Master of Science. ____________________________ Prof. Dr. Şahinde Demirci Head of Department This is to certify that we have read this thesis and that in our opinion it is fully adequate, in scope and quality, as a thesis for the degree of Master of Science. _______________________ _______________________ Asst. Prof. Dr. Geoffrey Summers Prof. Musa Doğan Co-Supervisor Supervisor Examining Commitee Members Prof. Dr. Şahinde Demirci (METU, CHEM) __________________ Prof. Musa Doğan (METU, BIO) __________________ Asst. Prof. Dr. Geoffrey Summers (METU, SA) __________________ Prof. Dr. Ay Melek Özer (METU, ARME) __________________ Dr. Gencay Akgül (Kafkas Univ. Biology) _________________ I hereby declare that all information in this document has been obtained and presented in accordance with academic rules and ethical conduct. I also declare that, as required by these rules and conduct, I have fully cited and referenced all material and results that are not original to this work. Name, Last name: Aylan Erkal Tsetsekos Signature : iii ABSTRACT THE ETHNOBOTANY OF WILD FOOD PLANT USE IN THE KONYA BASIN: A QUANTITATIVE AND ETHNOARCHAEOLOGICAL APPROACH Erkal Tsetsekos, Aylan M.Sc., Department of Archaeometry Supervisor : Prof. Musa Doğan Co-Supervisor: Asst. Prof. Dr. Geoffrey Summers September 2006, 231 pages In this ethnobotanical study, an ethnoarchaeological approach was adopted for the archaeological implications of the importance of wild food plants and their dietary uses in the Neolithic and Chalcolithic Periods in Central Anatolia by exploring the dietary uses of these plants by the modern villagers of Konya Basin. The study was based on the indigenous knowledge of the modern villagers of Konya of managing wild food plant resource in their surroundings for the dietary uses. This knowledge was explored through ethnobotanical research strategies. The study was limited by both the research subject and the area for a better focus on the research. The geographical borders were limited to Central Anatolia as it included Neolithic and Chalcolithic sites with detailed archaeological investigations and it made a comparison available between different geographical zones. Because it was possible to study similar environments today in the Konya Basin, nine modern villages to collect ethnobotanical data were chosen from three different environmental zones in this area, which included wetland, forest and steppe zones. The wild fruit, nut and tuber species recovered from the archaeological excavations were selected for study in their current natural environments. The different strategies of harvesting, processing and storage local people used for the consumption of each plant species provided useful implications to archaeological recoveries. Key Words: Neolithic, Central Anatolia, Ethnobotany, Ethnoarchaeology, Konya Plain. iv ÖZ KONYA OVASINDA YENİLEBİLEN YABANi BiTKi KULLANIMLARININ ETNOBOTANiSİ: NİTEL VE ETNOARKEOLOJİK BİR YAKLAŞIM Erkal Tsetsekos, Aylan Yüksek Lisans, Arkeometri Bölümü Tez Yöneticisi : Prof. Musa Doğan Ortak Tez Yöneticisi: Yrd. Doç. Dr. Geoffrey Summers Eylül 2006, 231 sayfa Bu etnobotanik çalışmada, yenebilen yabani bitkilerin Konya Ovası’nda yaşayan yerel halkımız tarafından kullanımlarının araştırılması vasıtasıyla Neolitik ve Kalkolitik Çağlarda İç Anadolu’da yaşamış olan halklar için bu bitkilerin öneminin arkeolojik olarak saptanmasında etnoarkeolojik bir yaklaşım benimsenmiştir. Bu çalışma Konya ve Karaman yerel halklarının çevrelerindeki yabani bitki kaynaklarını yiyecek maddesi olarak geleneksel kullanımları üzerine kurulmuştur. Bu geleneksel bilgi ethnobotanik araştırma stratejileri ile çalışılmıştır. Çalışmanın daha iyi anlaşılabilmesi için araştırma konusuna sınırlamalar getirilmiştir. Detaylı Neolitik ve Kalkolitik arkeolojik kazı projeleri içeren ve farklı coğrafi alanların karşılaştırmasını sağlayan İç Anadolu Bölgesi bu tezde coğrafi sınırdır. Benzer doğal çevreleri günümüz Konya Ovası’nda bulmak mümkün olduğundan, sulak, bozkır ve dağlık alandan dokuz köy etnobotanik veri toplamak üzere seçilmiştir. Arkeolojik kazılarda rastlanan yabani meyve, kabuklu yemiş ve yumru köklü bitki türleri doğal çevrelerinde çalışılmıştır. Her bir bitki türünün yerel halk tarafından toplanması, ayıklanması ve depolanması arkeolojik bulgular için yararlı öneriler getirmiştir. Tez sonuçları arkeologlara, antropologlara ve etnobotanikçilere olduğu kadar botanikçilere, ekonomistlere ve sosyologlara da yararlı bilgiler sunmaktadır. Anahtar Kelimeler: Neolitik, İç Anadolu, Etnobotanik, Etnoarkeoloji, Konya Ovası. v To My Daughter and To Local People of Karaman and Konya vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The author of this study is truely indebted to the thesis supervisor Prof. Musa Doğan and co-supervisor Asst. Prof. Dr. Geoffrey Summers for their useful insight, guidance and encouragement in writing this thesis and for their faith in me accomplishing my aims in this research. The Head of the Department of Archaeometry Prof. Dr. Şahinde Demirci, and Prof. Dr. Ay Melek Özer are indebted for their useful advices. A study visit to British libraries, universities and botanical gardens as part of this thesis work was made possible by the grants from British Council and Çatalhöyük Research Funds to whom the author wish to thank. Prof. Dr. Mecit Vural, Prof. Dr. Hayri Duman and Prof. Dr. Zeki Aytaç from Gazi University Botany Department are gladly acknowledged for their volunteer identification of all the voucher specimens collected for this research. The voucher specimens to be identified were many and sometimes they lacked certain parts necessary for the identification. The author is thankful for the patience and kind tutoring accompanied identification sessions. The author is grateful to Dr. Mark Nesbitt, currently the botanist of Kew Botanical Gardens in London, without whom this project would never come to life. He introduced the author to the field of ethnobotany, taught many valuable information and guided for this study. Prof. Christine Hastorf from UC Berkeley is gratefully acknowledged for teaching many things in the field of archaeobotany both through the excavation project as well as in the first year of the author’s PhD education at UC Berkeley which transformed the author’s mind in viewing of the fields specialized on. Her allowing the author to be included in the archaeobotany team of Çatalhöyük Projects is appreciated too. Prof. Ian Hodder from Stanford for allowing the author to be included in the Çatalhöyük Projects, Prof. Ruth Tringham and Dr. Mira Stevanoviç for including the author in the BACH Projects between 1998-2003 are thanked. vii Begümşen Ergenekon and Dr. Linda Donley-Reid are gratefully thanked for their faith in the author and in this study, and for them never giving up on the author. Without them, this study would never be completed. Nurcan Yalman, the PhD candidate from İstanbul University, for prioritirizing this research over hers to supply transportation and useful guidance during the 1998 field season; Meltem Ağcabay, for her encouragements and for being the author’s colleague from the beginning of this study; Michele Wollstonecroft for her contributions in 1999 season on the collective experimental work and for sharing her literature resources; Drs. Delwen Samuel and Eleni Asouti for their help and hospitability during the author’s study visit in the UK; Dr. Gordon Hillman for his hospitability and his valuable guidance; British Institute of Archaeology staff for all their useful help; Drs. Sarah Mason and Ehud Weiss for sharing their literature resources; Dr. Mira Stevanoviç, Dr.Wendy Matthews, Dr. Başak Boz, Amanda Kennedy, Dr. Sonya Atalay, Adnan Baysal and Çatalhöyük Projects team members for their encouragements are heartily thanked. The author expresses her deepest gratitude to the local people of Konya and Karaman, especially to the family who taught and took care of the author during her stay in Madenşehir village, and to two local people who believed in the author and put their hearts in this research by supplying all kinds of transportations from tracks and donkeys to motorcycles for trips to dried lakes, abandoned lands and the peaks of the mountains in October 1998. Their rich knowledge of the plants and of their environment were the key elements of this research. The author’s family for emotional and financial support, her daughter for her existence, endurance and endless emotional support are indebted forever. This study is devoted to them. viii TABLE OF CONTENTS PLAGIARISM....................................................................................................iii ABSTRACT........................................................................................................iv ÖZ........................................................................................................................v DEDICATION....................................................................................................vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS...............................................................................vii