How ancient lentils reveal the origins of social inequality

Lentils might not sound like a spectacular archaeological find but at the prehistoric site of Gurga Chiya in Iraqi Kurdistan they hold the clues to social transformation

Related: Iraq: Kurdish leader Barzani claims win in independence referendum

I should be in the Kurdish region of Iraq right now knee-deep in Late Chalcolitic archaeology, but instead I'm watching Bake Off in Crewe. The autumn excavation season in the Kurdish region is cancelled and most of the international teams have left, including the University College London project I was working on and the British Museum's training excavation at Qalatga Darband. The cessation of international flights into and out of Iraqi Kurdistan, imposed by Baghdad after the Kurdish independence referendum on 25 September, has put a stop to archaeology in the region just at the best time of the year for digging.