The alluvial plain of the Ceyhan River (SE Turkey) has been populated since the Neolithic. In 1954, Marjory Veronica Seton-Williams described for this area several archeological mounds (höyük), which are the remains of ancient settlements. Today, according to the archeological research carried out in the area, some of these mounds result to have been leveled by agricultural activities. In this ...

the vegetation covering of a region has a direct correlation with climate. so if data is available for vegetation cover, the second variable (climate) can be easily predicted and in reverse. the dominant species in a region are indication of its climatic conditions and vice versa. accordingly, this is of significance in the science of historical botany. fortunately, from the first millennium ad...

ilam civilization is the most important ancient and indigenous civilization of iran prior to the formation of aryan rule and the achaemenid empire. the capital of this civilization, susa, joinedurbanization in 3200 b.c. and was put aside from history in 646 b.c. by assyrian empire. one of the most significant part of this civilization was  ilamidreligion and worldview as represented in their te...

The beginnings of food production—animal husbandry and crop cultivation—and a sedentary way life represent one the most drastic changes in human history. Likewise, this is accompanied by an increasing impact on nature, which mainly caused agricultural practices. Agriculture related to clearing forests, tillage, maintenance cultivated land, finally harvesting, alters not only vegetation cover bu...

The impact of rapid climate change on contemporary human populations is of global concern. To contextualize our understanding of human responses to rapid climate change it is necessary to examine the archeological record during past climate transitions. One episode of abrupt climate change has been correlated with societal collapse at the end of the northwestern European Bronze Age. We apply ne...

The presence, forms and techniques used in artificial cranial deformation and dental decoration were studied in 1,515 skeletons found in 94 mostly pre-Hispanic archeological sites (in Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras) dating from the Preclassical, Classic and Postclassic periods. Biographical and associated archeological information was analyzed, based on a theoretical model of biocultural intera...

The article analyzes the economic reasons behind the rise of Neolithic agriculture some 10,000 years ago in consideration of evidence that agriculture was not associated with increasing standards of living. On the basis of archeological and anthropological literature, the article presents a modelling framework that allows for four broad explanations to the agricultural transition; (i) environme...