Here be dragonshead: a rare Bronze Age oilseed crop at Kaman-Kalehöyük (Kırşehir), Turkey
Abstract
Dragonshead (Lallemantia spp.) is a relict oilseed plant, now cultivated only rarely in patches of eastern Europe and western-central Asia. Archaeological evidence for its economic use is similarly scant, but its presence in economic contexts at a handful of southern European Bronze Age sites, well outside the extent of its wild range, suggests that it played an important role as an ancient trade crop. In this presentation I report on the discovery of a well-preserved cache of dragonshead from an Early Bronze Age pantry at Kaman-Kalehöyük in central Turkey, the first unequivocally economic find from within the plant’s wild range. After exploring the probable culinary role of dragonshead at this site, I go on to examine the chronology of evidence for its ancient exploitation, and the potential factors behind its functional extinction as a cultigen in western Asia.
About the Presenter
Dr Rhona Fenwick is an Honorary Research Fellow in the School of Social Sciences at the University of Queensland. Her doctoral research sought to use archaeobotanical evidence to reconstruct the economic system of Kaman-Kalehöyük, a central Turkish multiperiod tell site, during its Ottoman-era occupation. She has continued working at Kaman-Kalehöyük for fifteen years—most recently focusing upon its exceptional suite of Early Bronze Age plant remains—as well as having worked on material from sites in Croatia, Israel, and Papua New Guinea. Rhona is also an acknowledged world authority on the recently-extinct Ubykh language, and an advocate for LGBTQIA+ and disabled inclusivity in archaeology and other sciences.
About Archaeology Working Papers
The Working Papers in Archaeology seminar series provides a forum for dissemination of archaeological research and ideas amongst UQ archaeology students and staff. All students are invited to attend the series and postgraduate students, from honours upwards, are invited to present their research. The aim is to provide opportunities for students, staff and those from outside UQ, to present and discuss their work in an informal environment. It is hoped that anyone interested in current archaeological directions, both within and outside the School and University, will be able to attend and contribute to the series.