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In this study we present evidence of braided plant fibres and basketry imprints on clay recovered from Coves de Santa Maira, a Palaeolithic-Mesolithic cave site located in the Mediterranean region of Spain. The anatomical features of these organic fibre remains were identified in the archaeological material and compared with modern Stipa tenacissima (esparto grass). Based on direct dating, the fragments of esparto cord from our site are the oldest worked plant fibres in Europe. Sixty fragments of fired clay are described. The clay impressions have allowed us to discuss the making of baskets and containers. According to their attributes and their functional interpretation, we have grouped them into five types within two broad categories, hearth plates and baskets or containers. The clay pieces identified as fragments of containers with basketry impressions are less common than those of hearth plate remains and they are concentrated in the Epipalaeolithic occupation material (13.2–10.2 ka cal bp). The clay impressions from Santa Maira indicate that some fibres were treated or flattened, a preparation process that is known from historical and ethnological sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The period comprising the end of the Early Neolithic and the Middle Neolithic, dated broadly within the fifth millennium cal BC, corresponds to an interval that remains largely unknown in the extreme north-western tip of Africa. This situation contrasts with that of the Early Neolithic, a period characterised by the earliest evidence of the diffusion of a productive economy, cultivated plants and domestic animals. The paucity of data for these later phases can be explained in part by the lack of secure contexts and sequences based on radiocarbon datings of short-lived samples. The current study presents the results of the excavations of El-Khil Caves B and C that yield materials allowing re-evaluation of the chronology of a type of ceramic known as Ashakar ware. The study also identifies two traditions in the northern Moroccan Middle Neolithic. The first is heir to the so-called Impressa Mediterranean ware and rooted in the Cardial Neolithic, while the second is characterised by roulette cord impressions, red slip and tunnel lugs and probably rooted in the region of the Sahara, and has no technological precedents in the study area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 1st millennium ce in the Iberian peninsula was characterized by a continuous exchange of people, goods, food, technology, etc. which led to the transformation of agriculture and the introduction of new crops there. This paper presents the archaeobotanical evidence of the plants that were introduced there during the Roman and medieval periods. Cereals such as Secale cereale (rye), Pennisetum glaucum (pearl millet) and Oryza sativa (rice) appeared for the first time in the archaeological record together with new fruit taxa, Prunus persica (peach), Morus nigra (black mulberry), Prunus armeniaca (apricot), Cydonia oblonga (quince), Mespilus germanica (medlar) and Citrus species, enriching the diet of the Iberian people. There were also fibre plants such as Cannabis sativa (hemp) that are now first recorded. The paper provides the first records of these taxa while awaiting further research that can offer more detailed information on whether some of them may also have been present in earlier periods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents new data regarding agricultural developments in the Balearic Islands between the end of the third millennium bc and the arrival of the Romans in the 2nd century bc. Data available so far reveals that agriculture, together with raising livestock, were the population’s source of livelihood. Agriculture in the third and second millennium consisted essentially of growing cereals and legumes. The available data point to an agricultural development similar to that of the continent, in the region stretching between the south of France and the south of the Iberian Peninsula. The similarities, in fact, possibly reflect contacts. Arboriculture was first introduced in the island of Ibiza in the first millennium in contexts linked to Phoenician colonisation. Olive oil and wine production developed remarkably on this island and were oriented toward export. Although the chronology of this process is still unclear, it seems that in Mallorca and Menorca it took place at a later period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The combination of an archaeobotanical analysis from two different sites in the city of Huelva (Spain) and the identification of vine fields in the same area suggests that different fruit tree species (grapevine, olive, almond and pomegranate) and vegetables such as melon were introduced into the Iberian peninsula in the transition from the 9th to the 8th century cal bc. These dates represent the earliest chronology for arboriculture within the Iberian Peninsula. The material has been preserved by waterlogging allowing the preservation of a wide variety of species which indicate the development of fruit tree cultivation. The archaeological context provides information on the connections between this innovation and the Phoenician communities that established in the region in search of metal resources. Fruit tree cultivation, and particularly wine production, had a great impact on the local agriculture which was traditionally based on the production of annual crops. The new crops soon became an essential agricultural element of the communities that lived in the south and east of the Iberian Peninsula. From the 8th century cal bc onwards, agricultural production would be mostly market oriented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]