false safflower (Carthamus tinctorius)

Ingredients

Carthamus tinctorius seeds

Preparation Steps

Original Recipe Text

The plant identified is Carthamus tinctorius (safflower/false saffron). While recovered as carbonized seeds from archaeological contexts at Tell Shiukh Fawqani (p. 115), its historical use in the region included both dyeing and oil production (p. 121). The seeds were retrieved through archaeobotanical sampling using flotation with a Siraf-type system (1 mm mesh inside, 0.5 mm mesh outside) (p. 116). Processing involved drying the sieved remains in the shade before sorting under a binocular microscope at 10x to 50x magnification. Detailed measurement and observation were supported by a HIROX RH-2000 3D digital system (p. 117). Sorting and identification were carried out at the Laboratory of Oriental Prehistory in Jalès-France and the laboratory of the German Archaeological Institute (DAI) in Berlin (p. 117).

Evidence

"According to McCorriston, false saffron was used both for dyeing and oil production. This was likely the case at the sites sampled above as well."

Remarks

Safflower is noted as a crop particularly well-adapted to the semi-arid Mediterranean climate of Northern Syria due to its high tolerance for drought and soil salinity (p. 119). The presence of oil and dye crops like Carthamus tinctorius at Tell Shiukh Fawqani suggests agricultural diversification during the Early Bronze Age (p. 115). The author indicates that evidence for saffron cultivation in Mesopotamia dates back to the Uruk period, with increasing attestations in later sites, confirming it as a regular cultivated crop rather than just a wild plant (p. 119-121). The samples from Tell Shiukh Fawqani were specifically found in Sector D, associated with three levels of occupation dated to the 3rd millennium BC (p. 115).