A Study of Neolithic Age Dietary Habits through Organic Remains in Ceramics: The Case of Ekşi Höyük
Project no. 23851 · Status: Kapanmış (Yayın bekleniyor) · 2022
Summary
<p>Depending on subsistence strategies in different periods and regions of prehistoric times, food sources and consequently consumption differ. The western part of Anatolia is key to the transmission of the Neolithic lifestyle of the first farming communities to Europe. Although the number of studies of Neolithic sites in western Anatolia has increased in the last decade, they are still insufficient. In this context, Ekşi Höyük, along with Ulucak and Gökçeada-Uğurlu, is one of the few sites that has produced active data not only for its own basin, but also for the whole of Western Anatolia, in order to understand the lifestyle of the first farming communities. Ekşi Höyük is also important because of its location as a link between the Neolithic settlements of the Göller region (Hacılar, Kuruçay, Bademağacı, Höyücek) in central western Anatolia and the Neolithic cultures of the Aegean coast. The project's aim to reveal the dietary patterns of Neolithic communities through the Ekşi Höyük settlement is unique in terms of both methodology and approach. In recent years, new methods have been developed to determine dietary habits. The analysis of atoms in collagen and trace elements in human bones is one of these methods for determining animal and plant diets. Another is the analysis of organic residues preserved on everyday utensils. The ability of non-polar lipids to survive intact in the pores of pottery makes it possible to identify the products consumed. The study of lipids of animal origin also plays an important role in the identification of high-energy fats derived from milk, which were essential for early farming communities. The analyses and evaluations to be carried out during the project should both serve as a model for new studies in this field and fill an important gap in the literature.</p>