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The settlement of Ust-Voikar is one of the unique multilayered archaeological sites of north-west Siberia. The settlement was inhabited in the late Middle Ages and the early modern period by the Ob Ugrian or northern Khanty ethnographic group. Due to the presence of a frozen cultural layer ruins of wooden residential buildings and other organic materials are well preserved. Plant macroremain, pollen and non-pollen palynomorph (NPP) analyses were applied to samples of the cultural layer from different parts of buildings and from space between them to establish the vegetation cover, plants used by the population, and differences between functional zones in the buildings. For the first time, the NPP analysis combined with statistical methods were used to clarify the settlement planning and human economic activity. Plant communities around the Ust-Voikar settlement were typical for the northern taiga subzone, some settlement's areas were overgrown with weed vegetation. Residents did not engage in agriculture and used local plant resources for construction, medicinal and food purposes. According to macroremain and NPP data were reconstructed (i) the use of spruce branches and cereal bedding indoors and outdoors on wet sites; (ii) the careful use of fire indoors; (iii) the presence of animals indoors; and (iv) whipworm infection. The cluster analysis and principal component analysis of NPPs helped to clarify the planning affiliations of several samples with the unclear origin and to suggest ways in which archaeological objects were used by the inhabitants.

The paper analyses plant macroremains on clay sherds containing organic inclusions from the Nadin – Gradina site in northern Dalmatia. Sherds of a large pottery vessel intended for storage have been found in a closed settlement context (SU 419), dated using radiocarbon method to the Early Iron Age, that is, to the period between the last quarter of the 9th century BC and the middle of the 8th century BC. Organic inclusions in pottery pastes have been used since the earliest times with the intention of influencing the properties of the final ceramic product. Such dried or fired pottery contains traces of the plant temper employed, in the form of imprints and plant remains. The identified plant remains consist mainly of remains of cereal threshing: grains, stems and leaves, glumes and remains of ears. The analysis of the imprints and remains of plant temper allowed us to identify largegrained cereals – barley (Hordeum sp.) and wheat (Triticum sp.) – and small-grained cereals: broomcorn/foxtail millet (Panicum/Setaria sp.). Among other finds, there are traces of olive (Olea europaea) and cornelian cherry (cf. Cornus mas), and of grasses (Poaceae). The imprints and plant inclusions in pottery often remain unnoticed, but they are a valuable complement to the classical analysis of plant macrofossils, and provide additional information on the economic strategies and environment of the community which produced the pottery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Against the background of climate change during the late Pleistocene and early Holocene, human society gradually transitioned from a hunting/foraging economy to an agricultural economy. The role of climate change in the development of millet-based agriculture, which originated in northern China, is of major scientific interest. Millet agriculture is thought to have originated in areas of hilly terrain, because most of the early millet agricultural sites in northern China occur in such areas. Hence, understanding the ecological background of hilly terrain during the early Holocene is important for understanding the climatic and ecological mechanisms associated with the origin of millet agriculture. In this study, we reconstructed the ecological background of Ping'an Cave, an early Neolithic site in the hilly area of Beijing, based on analyses of pollen, fungal spores, and plant macrofossils recovered from the cave sediments. At ~ 11,000 cal kyr BP, deciduous broadleaved forest-grassland developed in the hilly areas of northern China, where the climate was warm and relatively dry. Nut shells of Juglans and Celtis were found, associated with an increase in Quercus pollen, indicating the development of a wetter climate at ~ 8000 cal kyr BP. Open deciduous broadleaved forest–grassland was the main vegetation type in the hilly areas of northern China during the early Holocene. The geographical characteristics of these areas were favorable for prehistoric humans, providing ecological resources from both forest and grassland. • We investigated plant remains from Ping'an Cave site in hilly areas, northern China. • Deciduous broadleaved forest-grassland developed during early Holocene. • The vegetation became closer around 8000 years than it in 11,000 years. • Hilly terrain provided both forest and grassland resources for prehistoric humans. • This study offered ecological background for understanding millet agriculture origin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Roman port of Portus was the most important in the Mediterranean during the imperial period (27 BC–476 AD). It was made up of an outer port or Claudius basin and an inner hexagon or Trajan's port, joined by the Canale di Imbocco. The archaeobotanical record obtained in a continuos sediment core taken in this channel is made up of 19 types of plant macroremains, with a predominance of fibers of the seagrass Posidonia oceanica L., replaced by fluvial sediments in the upper part of the core. Seeds, fruits and thorns of aquatic species from marine or brackish waters, halophyte species, edible species, freshwater riparian vegetation and remains of charcoal and wood also appear regularly. According to the inferred palaeoenviromental evolution of this core, Portus was an area of fluvial-marine interaction during the Roman Empire, with brackish water conditions interrupted by stormy periods deduced from the record of P. oceanica. The archaeobotanical and sedimentary evolution points to a restriction of marine contributions and a final implantation of a fluvial environment. In this evolution, a specific interval with abundant charcoal and caryopses of Triticum could correspond to a fire, which was followed by a possible period of greater construction activity linked with large fragments of wood. • Fibers and Neptune balls of Posidonia oceanica dominated the filling of Portus. • The archaeobotanical record indicates an evolution from an initial marine domain to a final fluvial/anthropic phase. • High abundance of Neptune balls are tentatively correlated with stormy periods. • The joint presence of charcoal, caryopses of Triticum and larger wood fragments is associated with a fire. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vegetation dynamics during the Pleistocene–Holocene transition and the beginning of farming are major topics for palaeoenvironmental sciences, especially interesting in ecologically sensitive areas, such as in North Africa. However, there are still important geographic and chronological gaps of environmental information in this region. Archaeobotanical record from Gueldaman GLD 1 deals with these issues, as it presents the longest archaeobotanical sequence available nowadays for Algeria, which includes these moments of major changes in landscapes. This topic has been approached from an interdisciplinary point of view, focused on the analysis of various types of plant remains that result in the reconstruction of both environment and use of plant resources. Results reveal the existence of a postglacial phase of plant colonization with Cupressaceae formations, which are gradually integrating some elements of sclerophyllous vegetation, such as several species of Pistacia , well documented both in charcoal and seed records. Neolithic levels show a shift in vegetation composition, as Olea europaea dominates the spectra, accompanied by strawberry tree and evergreen Quercus , among others. The presence of Olea in earlier chronologies has resulted from intrusions from the Neolithic levels: a set of radiocarbon dates has made it possible to evidence this process and detect the extent of the intrusions, which are inherent to cave records. • North Africa is a key region to know the dynamics of postglacial vegetation in the Mediterranean. • Gueldaman has provided archeobotanical information for a long sequence in Algeria. • Postglacial plant colonization and a later spread of sclerophyllous vegetation have been documented. • A taphonomic analysis has shown that the pre-Neolithic presence of Olea has resulted from intrusions from upper levels. • During Neolithic, Olea is a species of great economic relevance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]