Crop Husbandry After the Assyrian Conquest: The Case Study of Tel Kinrot (Kinneret, Tell el ʿ Orēme )

In 733/732 BCE, the Neo-Assyrian Empire conquered the Kingdom of Israel in the southern Levant, transforming settlement patterns and local economies. Scholars continue to debate the Assyrian economic agenda: some emphasise neglect, agricultural decline, and tribute extraction, while others argue that the Assyrian administration strategically reorganised agricultural production to meet local administrative and military needs. Archaeobotanical material from Tel Kinrot (Kinneret, Tell el ʿOrēme) provides a key case study for evaluating these perspectives. We also compiled a broader Levantine Iron Age archaeobotanical dataset for comparison. Using quantitative methods, including correspondence analysis, we show that post-conquest crop assemblages at Tel Kinrot retained the typical Mediterranean crop spectrum and relied on resilient crops such as barley and bitter vetch, alongside reduced representation of economically important fruits, particularly olive, grape, and fig. These patterns likely reflect a contraction in agricultural activity, possibly resulting from reduced labor availability following the Assyrian conquest. Regional comparisons further demonstrate geographic structuring in crop selection, with inland areas dominated by cereals and pulses, and coastal and southern regions characterised by fruit cultivation. Overall, the evidence from Tel Kinrot suggests a recalibration of agricultural production toward local provisioning rather than complete agricultural decline or a primary focus on tribute extraction.