Iron Age diet in light of the archaeobotanical data of Zincirli Höyük, Tatarlı Höyük and Ovaören-Yassıhöyük

The archaeobotanical samples of Zincirli Höyük which is one of the Late Hittite archaeological settlements in the Middle Euphrates region of the Southeastern Anatolia region has been studied. The plant is usually preserved in a charred state and protected by a mineralization process. After the identification, it has been photographed. For comparison purposes, archaeobotanical samples of Tatarlı Höyük and Ovaören, Yassıhöyük were also used. Zincirli Höyük was inhabited from the Early Bronze Age to the Hellenistic period due to its geographical location, natural resources, and fertile soil. Archaeobotanical results are important to understand the settlements of paleoenvironmental landscape, dietary habits, agricultural activities, and ritual practices. As a result of the archaeobotanical studies conducted to reveal the nutritional practices, a total number of sixteen plant taxa were identified on the basis of family, species, and genus. As a result of the Iron Age samples examined in Ovaören-Yassıhöyük, which has terrestrial climate characteristics with fourteen taxa. According to the results of the analysis of samples taken from the Iron Age levels in Tatarlı Höyük, which is located in the Mediterranean region and has Mediterranean climate characteristics has six taxa. According to the survey, grains and legumes are the predominantly consumed crops by Iron Age. Also, wheatgrass (Poaceae); barley (Hordeum sp.), bread wheat (Triticum aestivum / durum) appears to be dominant. Furthermore, legumes (Fabaceae), lentils (Lens culinaris), and black vetch (Vicia ervilia) were common too. Grapes (Vitis vinifera) and olives (Olea europaea) were seen as other nutritionally important archaeobotanical data. The wild plant remains of Tatarlı Höyük and Ovaören-Yassıhöyük are also included in this study. In Ovaören-Yassıhöyük, a total of 15 different wild taxa have been identified on the basis of family, genus and species. In Tatarlı Höyük, a total of 4 different wild taxa were seen on the basis of family, genus and species.