Developments in food storage at late seventh millennium BCE Tell Sabi Abyad, Syria: buildings with suspended floors

Abstract

At Tell Sabi Abyad in Syria, large-scale excavations have revealed a continuous sequence of seventh and early sixth millennium settlements. This paper focuses on the appearance of suspended floors, in occupation layers dated to 6455-6375 BCE. These floors were supported by the foundations of previous buildings and helped control humidity and temperature by providing air circulation. This made them suitable for food storage, especially of grain or other plant foods with a long shelf-life. Two of the buildings with suspended floors had compartmentalized plastered or basin-shaped floors. It is proposed here that, although the evidence is indirect, storage practices can be inferred from the presence of suspended floors, and that buildings with such floors can be interpreted as granaries or storehouses. These buildings were located around or near the village square, along with many fire pits used for cooking, and a platform without architecture. These storage structures might have increased the scale of storage, and might have reinforced social cohesion through the sharing of surpluses and increased collaborations between households. Ultimately, this might have contributed to the community’s resilience by improving their ability to adapt to environmental changes.

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