A phytolith study from Kinet Höyük Hatay

Abstract

Phytolith studies are now an established subbranch of archaeobotanical studies. However, there is a very limited number of phytolith studies focused on Anatolia. Kinet H oyük is one of the eligible sites since extensive archaeobotanical studies were conducted and studies are ongoing. From Kinet, 23 samples are studied for phytolith analysis. 13 of them are extractions from soil samples and 10 of them are samples which are suspected to contain phytolith fibers. The contexts vary between room floor sediments to storage pits. For this study, the focus is on the multicellular phytoliths, since they can be used for a higher resolution of identification (Rosen, 1992). This study aims to observe the chronological changes in storage pit use, if there are any, and the variation between contexts. Another focus will be the use of reed in these contexts and the possible reasons for their use. For this thesis, quantifiable data was obtained and they were subject to statistical analysis. The results suggest that there are no contextual difference in the phytolith assemblage of Kinet; however, chronological changes were observed.