The Archaeology of Midas and the Phrygians: Recent Work At Gordion

14 Ethnographic Lessons for Past Agro-Pastoral Systems in the Sakarya-Porsuk Valleys

Were the farmer not to plant, the builder would not build and the weaver would not weave. —Ibn Wahsiya, The Nabatean Book of Agriculture (in Watson 1983) Research on living pastoralists in southwest Asia has proliferated in the last two decades. Using ethnographic and historical sources to supplement archaeological surveys of campsites we have gained insights into the pastoral component of ancient economies. Hole’s (1979) pioneering work in Luristan, Iran, documented Tepe Tula’i as a prehistoric pastoral campsite and demonstrated the need to design guidelines derived in part from ethnographic observations to locate early pastoral sites. Although much has been learned since then about the archaeological correlates of pastoral behavior, especially the material indicators of pastoral sites and settlement patterns, more research lies ahead, particularly on the dynamics of pastoralists’ interactions with the agricultural sector. This chapter examines the process of transformation from a primarily pastoral to an agro-pastoral economy in the Sakarya-Porsuk River region of north-central Turkey over more than half a century. The ancient Phrygian capital of Gordion, Yassıhöyük, and other nearby villages provide the ethnographic context (Fig. 14-1). Contemporary economic strategies in the Gordion region vary significantly, reflecting, in part, responses to social and economic forces, primarily the availability of resources such as water and labor and the political decisions of local and state governments. Our surveys, conducted in the region from 1995 to 2000, point to striking changes in the overall land-use patterns from 1925 to 2000, with a dramatic increase in agriculture and the shrinking amount of pastoral land. Despite the reduced numbers of animals, the present pastoral sector appears economically viable when examined by total yield per animal per household. This discussion links economic strategies to changes in the agro-pastoral landscape. We shall then present some implications from the ethnographic data in order to aid archaeologists in interpreting the dynamics of socioeconomic behaviors of the ancient peoples at Gordion. The study examines a set of interlocking environmental and cultural parameters on a regional scale. The empirical data for this study include interactive 14 ETHNOGRAPHIC LESSONS FOR PAST AGRO-PASTORAL SYSTEMS IN THE SAKARYA-PORSUK VALLEYS AYŞE GÜRSAN-SALZMANN 173 interviews with individuals and groups from 14 villages, in their native Turkish, land-use surveys, and historical records. The information should provide rich cultural insights that would not be directly observable in the archaeological record or clearly etched on the landscape, and it is therefore of value in building an ethnoarchaeological model of pastoralism. ETHNOGRAPHIC CONTEXT History of Settlement and Land Tenure Pastoralism has long been a major component of the local economy in the Yassıhöyük region. Ottoman tax records from the 16th to 18th centuries, along with 19th century travelers’ accounts, indicate large shipments of Angora wool textiles to France, Britain, and Holland. The wool was obtained from local village herders and manufactured in Ankara (Ergenç 1988:514–18; Hamilton 1842:418, 434; Leiser 1994:5–23). The settlements in these valleys were sparse; at the turn of the 20th century a few families of Turkoman pastoralist ancestry (Türkmen Yörügü) settled at Yassıhöyük, and over time they became powerful feudal landlords [aghas]. As the land near the Sakarya River, teeming with wild boars, was cleared of thick stands of reeds for agricultural plots, herding was the major component of the economy. The Sakarya River’s frequent flooding, which destroyed fields and caused malaria, forced the village to move to its present location (Fig. 14-2). Following World War I and the Turkish War of Independence (1919–21), new settlements formed in the region, carved from state-owned grazing territories, and settled by the ethnic Turkish populations arriving from the Balkans. By the 1920s, the population of Figure 14-1 Yassıhöyük village and environs. ETHNOGRAPHIC LESSONS FOR PAST AGRO-PASTORAL SYSTEMS Gençali Y. Ömerler THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF MIDAS AND THE PHRYGIANS 174 Yassıhöyük had grown to 12 households, largely from the immigration of shepherds from the northern province of Bolu, who worked as hired laborers for the aghas. The dramatic turning point, however, in the demise of herding came in late 1950s and early 1960s when American-made tractors became available as part of the Marshall Plan Aid. This prompted the Turkish government to initiate land reform, distributing arable and grazing lands...