Socio-economic structure and material culture in Kastamonu in the light of probate inventories (1750–1890)

The study encompasses a dynamic period extending from the mid-18th to the late 19th century, during which center–periphery relations were reshaped, while wars, famines, and epidemics gave rise to economic and social crises, accompanied by profound transformations and ruptures. By systematically examining approximately 90% of the probate inventories from the central district of Kastamonu and its dependent settlements over this 140-year period, the continuities and changes in the socio-economic structure and material culture of the society are analyzed from a multifaceted, period-based perspective, centered on 5,535 records. The possibilities and limitations of the probate inventories as a source were tested by comparing the sample with other sources, critically questioning the representativeness of each finding and its reflection of historical reality. Within this framework, family and societal structures were examined through variables such as religion, gender, wealth, and type of settlement; the phenomenon of slavery was addressed within the context of slave ownership and the probates of enslaved and manumitted individuals. The study focuses on wealth levels, its components, redistribution, and wealth inequality; the structure of credit and debt, as well as insolvent estates, were also analyzed in conjunction with the economic fluctuations of the era. Furthermore, continuities and changes were analyzed based on the diversity, prevalence, and rarity of material culture items listed in the probates. Ultimately, through a multifaceted analysis of the period's concrete social realities based on demography, wealth, and material culture, and within the context of the relationship between local dynamics in Kastamonu and macro-level trends, the 1820s–40s, the 1830s–50s, and the 1850s–60s have been identified as critical thresholds -interconnected yet also distinct- for demographic developments, economic transformations, and changes in material culture, respectively.