Agriculture and Agricultural Tools in Antioch of Pisidia during the Antiquity

Abstract

The article discusses agriculture and agricultural tools in Antiocheia, based on findings from the excavations of agricultural and viticulture tools unearthed in Pisidia Antiocheia. Situated on the fertile Yalvaç Plain, which lies between the Sultan and Karakuş Mountains along the Phrygia-Pisidia border, settlement in this area has been continuous from the Neolithic Age to the present. This continuity is evident in the 38 villages within the Yalvaç district, each containing or bordering mound settlements that date back to the Bronze Age or earlier. Grinding stones and querns found in these mounds provide archaeological evidence of wheat, barley, and other crops produced in the area. The valleys carved by shallow rivers flowing from the livestock-suitable mountains were favored for settlements, where agricultural activities are known to have taken place. Excavations have revealed numerous iron agricultural tools, including plough parts, hoes, and shovels, as well as viticulture tools like sickles, axes, and saws. The article provides a detailed examination of agriculture and agricultural tools from the Eastern Roman Empire period.

In the city, storage jars in the pantry of the Atrium House, uncovered during the 2015 excavations, contained remnants of wheat, chickpeas, and lentils, providing insights into the types of crops cultivated during the Ancient Period. The abundance of viticulture tools found indicates that the people of Antiocheia possessed advanced knowledge and technology regarding vineyards and grape cultivation. Additionally, the presence of a blacksmith’s furnace and workshop in the city confirms that these tools were produced locally in Antiocheia. The large number of metal artifacts unearthed attests to a welldeveloped tradition of metal tool production in the city. This article introduces the tools found during the excavations, providing a chronological assessment based on similar examples and their archaeological contexts. While the majority of the tools date to the 10^th–11^th centuries AD, some can be attributed to the 6^th and 7^th centuries AD.

This work is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC).