During the 4th-3rd millennia B.C in Mesopotamia, communities previously living in small egalitarian villages progressively grew into large cities, ruled by political, religious and economic institutions. Cultural expansions and climate change contributed to socioeconomic transformations and adaptations including in crop production. The development of an intensive irrigated farming system in southern Mesopotamia enabled the rise of early cities there; simultaneously, in rain-fed northern Mesopotamia, an extensive, low-input farming system supported early cities. But while agriculture appears to be one of the main drivers behind the emergence and development of the first Near Eastern cities, the evidence mostly consists of indirect sources such as 3rd and 2nd mill. BC cuneiform texts. The study of charred macrobotanical remains (seeds, fruits, chaff) recovered from newly excavated archaeological sites, located in northern and southern Mesopotamia, offers a unique opportunity to reconstruct the evolution and regional variability of plant production between the 7th and the 1st mill. BC. This project will study the role and the impact of the development of agriculture in the emergence of the urban centres.
