Search

The number of species of crop plants in Central Europe increased constantly during the Bronze Age. The structure of the composition of cultivated plants was probably connected to the cultural contacts of human populations. During the Bronze Age (2300/2000–800 BC), the region of South Bohemia (Czech Republic) increasingly became the focus of long-distance trade and exchange networks with regions to the east and many other regions (the Eastern Alps, the Alpine Foreland, the central lowlands of the Czech Republic, Hungary and Western Slovakia). The aim of the paper is to examine archaeobotanical assemblages of charred plant remains to see if these changes within Bronze Age societies, and their spheres of interaction, are also recorded within their agricultural practices. In particular, the importance of specific individual crop species can be reflected in the study region in comparison with other individual regions of Central Europe. Humans in the region of South Bohemia had more connections with the Eastern Alps and the Alpine Foreland region during the Early and Middle Bronze Ages. Regarding the structure of crop species, the composition of sub/dominant crops in South Bohemia and the Eastern Alps and the Alpine Foreland had many similarities. The cultural trajectory of the human populations of the South Bohemian region changed substantially in the Late and Final Bronze Ages: intensive contacts are documented, primarily with the region of Central Bohemia. This is reflected in the composition of the sub/dominant crops in South Bohemia, which shows many similarities to the other regions of the Czech Republic. Changes in migration and exchange networks—in particular those that involved more formalised trade—are associated with a large number of innovations and specific goods and led to much wider levels of cultural and social integration within Bronze Age Europe than had been previously seen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents the archaeobotanical study of Taï, a Neolithic settlement located in Languedoc, southern France. In the western Mediterranean, the Neolithization process occurred during the 6th millennium BC and is supposed to have induced a fundamental change in the subsistence economy, with the development of agriculture and animal husbandry. Unfortunately, the Neolithic farming economy is still poorly known in southern France, mostly from old archaeobotanical studies. At Taï, soil flotation of 127 samples provided the largest dataset available for the Early Neolithic in southern France, which testifies to the changes occurring in cultivated plants and in the subsistence economy during the Neolithic. Sampling also allowed comparisons between the archaeobotanical record inside the cave and from the outside settlement. Naked barley and naked wheat were the most cultivated plants throughout the Neolithic sequence. The contribution of emmer and the probable use of opium poppy during the Early Neolithic should also be highlighted. This encourages us to reconsider the role of glume wheats during the early stages of agriculture in the area. Einkorn was more common in the Late Neolithic, in agreement with results from other sites in the region. Chaff remains were always underrepresented. Remains of weeds and wild fruits were very abundant in the Early Neolithic samples from the cave. Wild plants were probably brought to the site for the tending of domestic animals or by the animals themselves (dung, fodder and/or litter). Livestock was most probably occasionally kept at the site. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract—: This work presents the history of study of the Neopleistocene Singil deposits, results of analysis the drilling data, and different points of view on the stratigraphy of reference sections of the Lower Volga Region. A large volume of drilling core data indicate that the Singil deposits lie between the Lower Khazar and Upper Khazar deposits, which contradicts a traditional point of view that they lie under the Khazar deposits. As an analysis of faunistical data shows a high level of similarity between the Singil and Khazar assemblages of mammals, it is proposed to consider the Singil mammal assemblage as an analog of the Khazar faunistical assemblage, probably its early phase. The main conclusion of our research is that the accumulation of the Singil deposits occurred at the terminal regressive stage of the Early Khazar basin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several major cereal groups have been identified as staples used by the pre-urban, urban and post-urban phase populations of the Indus Civilisation (3200-1500 BCE): wheat, barley, a range of small hulled millets and also rice, though their proportional exploitation is variable across space and over time. Traditional quantification methods examine the frequency, intensity and proportionality of the use of these crops and help ascertain the ‘relative importance’ of these cereals for Indus populations. However, this notion of ‘importance’ is abstracted from the daily lives of the people using these crops and may be biased by the differential production (as well as archaeological survival) of individual cereals. This paper outlines an alternative approach to quantifying Indus cereals by investigating proportions of calories. Cereals are predominantly composed of carbohydrates and therefore provided much of the daily caloric intake among many late Holocene farming populations. The four major cereal groups cultivated by Indus farmers, however, vary greatly in terms of calories per grain, and this has an impact on their proportional input to past diets. This paper demonstrates that, when converted to proportions of calories, the perceived ‘importance’ of cereals from five Indus sites changes dramatically, reducing the role of the previously dominant small hulled millet species and elevating the role of Triticoid grains. Although other factors will also have affected how a farmer perceived the role and importance of a crop, including its ecological tolerances, investments required to grow it, and the crop’s role in the economy, this papers suggests that some consideration of what cereals meant in terms of daily lives is needed alongside the more abstracted quantification methods that have traditionally been applied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports the archaeobotanical investigation of the early medieval lake site near Nowy Dworek, in the west of Poland, focussing on the role of plants on and around the site. The construction of a small, artificial island in a lake similar to Irish crannogs, traces of a wooden bridge and archaeological artefacts all indicate that the site was a special place for the local Slav community in the 9th–10th centuries ad. Plant macroremains and pollen also demonstrate the uniqueness of the place. A large number of the cultivated and wild plant taxa are connected with the local environment and reveal an interest in plants as an element of beliefs. Pollen from dung pellets provides information about plants used as fodder and complements the picture of plant communities on the land around the island. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent archaeobotanical studies on hunter-gatherer sites in the steppes of central western Patagonia, Chile, reveal new data on the use of plant resources throughout the Holocene, often previously assumed to be unimportant. The plant macroremains from two cave sites, El Chueco 1 (~11,500-180 cal bp) and Baño Nuevo 1 (∼10,800-3,000 cal bp), indicate that hunter-gatherers used locally available plants, of both restricted and extensive distributions, during the entire occupational sequences there. Due to the nature of these remains, we may indirectly infer their potential use as food, food sub-products, for fuel, or for making artefacts. Plant taxa, used as a seasonal indicator, suggest spring-summer occupations in the different periods of time defined for each site. Archaeobotanical data have proven valuable in complementing our view of the subsistence economy of prehistoric Patagonian steppe hunter-gatherer groups, not only by defining the botanical assemblages associated with the occupations, but also by contributing to define seasonality and the mobility strategies related to plant use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents bed-by-bed description and paleofloristic characterization (on the basis of plant macroremains) of the Jurassic continental deposits of the Irkutsk Coal Basin, in the sections of the stratotype region where the lithostrata now widely used for the geological mapping works were established for the first time. The characteristics of these units are refined along with their age and occurrences. Newly obtained taphofloras are comparatively analyzed and established to be synchronous. The spatial distribution of Jurassic deposits from different outcrops is correlated with sections of the reference boreholes. Two successive phytostratigraphic assemblages, Cheremkhovo and Prisayan, are recognized. These assemblages are correlated based on the taxonomic composition of the dominant plant groups, with the assemblages of the end of the Early Jurassic and the beginning of the Middle Jurassic of Western Siberia, which are dated using coastal marine fauna. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the archaeobotanical study of several Neolithic settlements located in the Valais, the upper part of the Rhone Valley, in Switzerland. The archaeological sites are dated between 5000 and 4200 cal bc, which corresponds to the Early and the Middle Neolithic. Most of the sites are situated around 500-600 m, overhanging the alluvial plain of the Rhone. First results of the macroremains analysis show that cereals, comprising mainly naked wheat ( Triticum aestivum s.l. /durum/turgidum) and barley ( Hordeum distichum/vulgare), are predominant. In addition, pea ( Pisum sativum) and opium poppy ( Papaver somniferum) are recorded. Gathered plants are sparse, and this from the first establishment of farmers around 5000 cal bc. If we compare the obtained results with data from the Northern French Alps, not far from the Valais, we get a completely different picture of the Neolithic plant economy. In the northern French Alps the communities exploited all vegetation levels from the collinean to the subalpine belt, gathered plants playing an important role alongside the cultivated species. Our first results are giving a new insight into the first agro-pastoral communities in the Swiss Alps; they are allowing us to understand how plant resources were exploited in a mountainous context and to outline the catchment area of the settlements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2000, remains of an unknown Triticum species-later named 'new glume wheat' (NGW)-were identified in the archaeobotanical material of Neolithic and Bronze Age Greek sites. The presence of NGW was later reported from several other locations across Europe, from the seventh to the first millennium cal. b.c. During the systematic archaeobotanical survey of the multiperiod site of Hódmezővásárhely-Kopáncs I., Olasz-tanya (5310-2936 cal. b.c.) more than 2,000 cereal remains were recovered. During the morphological analyses, ten spikelet forks showed the distinctive traits of NGW, therefore morphometric analyses were conducted on the remains to reinforce the morphological identification. The results suggest that both approaches-morphological and morphometric-should be applied in parallel to securely separate the NGW remains from Triticum turgidum L. ssp. dicoccum (Schrank) Thell. (emmer) and T. monococcum L. ssp. monococcum (einkorn). All NGW glume bases were recovered from Late Copper Age features (3338-3264 cal. b.c.) of the settlement, which represent the Baden culture of the Great Hungarian Plain. Similarly to other Baden culture sites of the Carpathian Basin einkorn and emmer dominated the crop production of the settlement. The ratio of the NGW remains within the cereal assemblage was measured to be 0.48 %, which suggests that NGW did not have the status of a regular crop; still it may have been part of the accompanying weed flora of the cereal fields during the fourth millennium in the south-eastern Great Hungarian Plain landscape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pollen analysis of sediments from three lakes and analysis of plant macroremains including charcoal from archaeological sites in the Mazurian Lake District provide new data for the reconstruction of vegetation changes related to human activity between the 1st and 13th century ad. At that time settlements of the Bogaczewo culture (from the turn of the 1st century ad to the first part of the 5th century ad), the Olsztyn Group (second part of the 5th century ad to the 7th or beginning of the 8th century ad), and the Prussian Galinditae tribes (8th/9th-13th century ad) developed. The most intensive woodland clearing occurred between the 1st and 6th/7th century ad. Presence of Cerealia-type, Secale cereale and Cannabis-type pollen, as well as macroremains of Hordeum vulgare, S. cereale, Triticum spelta, T. cf. monococcum, T. cf. dicoccum, Avena sp. and Panicum miliaceum documented local agriculture. High Betula representation synchronous with microcharcoal occurrence suggests shifting agriculture. After forest regeneration between c. ad 650 and 1100, the area was strongly deforested due to the early medieval occupation by Prussian tribes. The archaeobotanical examination of samples taken in a cemetery and a large settlement of the Roman Iron Age revealed strong differences in the taxonomic composition of the fossil plant remains. An absolute dominance of birch charcoal in the samples from the cemetery indicates its selective use for funeral pyre construction. There is a difference between cereals found in both contexts: numerous grains of Triticum have been found in the cemetery, while in the settlement crops were represented mostly by Secale and Hordeum. Grass tubers, belonging probably to Phleum pratense, are among the particularly interesting plant remains found in the cemetery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pollen was analysed from a sediment sequence collected in the close vicinity of the Mesolithic settlement Tågerup, southern Sweden. Macroremains were also retrieved from numerous samples taken at the site of the archaeological excavations of Kongemose and Ertebølle settlement phases, 6700-6000 b.c. and 5500-4900 b.c. respectively. Plants and other organic remains were well preserved in the refuse layers from the settlements embedded in the gyttja. The pollen record includes no clear indications of human impact on the vegetation during the Mesolithic. The occurrence of charcoal particles and pollen of grass and herbs associated with nutrient-rich soils are contemporaneous with the Kongemose settlement. The Ertebølle settlement phase, although characterised by considerable dwelling activities less than a hundred metres from the pollen sampling site, is scarcely seen in the pollen data. Numerous finds of crushed dogwood stones from the Kongemose phase, often partly carbonised, suggest that these stones were used for the extraction of oil. Other plants found in the Kongemose refuse layers that may have been used are apples, cherries, raspberries, acorns and rowan-berries. Based on the abundance of hazelnut shells found at the studied site and in other studies of Mesolithic sites in southern Scandinavia it is proposed that these remains may testify to an important food supply rather than just use as a supplement to animal protein. It is also hypothesised that a regional decrease in hazel populations and thus hazelnut availability at the end of the Mesolithic may have motivated the adoption of Neolithic subsistence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At the late Neolithic site Torwiesen II (3283 and 3279 cal. b.c.) a systematic sampling programme was carried out, covering the entire settlement area. Plastic tubes, 10 cm in diameter and 20-30 cm long were used for sampling, in which one sample per square metre was taken. For each plant species in every analysed sample the concentration, in remains per litre of sediment, was calculated and plotted with AutoCAD. Every plot shows the quantitative distribution of a taxon on the site and indicates a special pattern that may reflect economic conditions or even social differences within the settlement. With the plots, areas of special activity inside and outside the houses were detected: zones of crop processing, cooking areas and rubbish deposits. The socio-economic structure of the settlement with unspecialised farmers, crop specialists and gatherers is indicated by the content of crops and edible wild plants inside the houses. On the basis of the systematic sampling programme it could be shown that Torwiesen II was not a consistent community, but much more a structured one. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present the results of a plant macroremain study of the late Neolithic lakeshore settlement Stare gmajne (SG) at Ljubljansko barje, Slovenia, with cultural horizons that ended around 3330 and 3110 cal. b. c., as obtained by dendrochronological and radiocarbon dating of the most frequent construction timbers of Quercus sp. (oak) and Fraxinus sp. (ash). Fourteen systematically taken samples were investigated, using standard methods for studying waterlogged plant remains, which had been developed during lake dwelling research north of the Alps. Most of the remains were preserved in a waterlogged state, and we identified a total of 93 taxa. The most important cultivated plants were Triticum dicoccum (emmer), Hordeum vulgare (six-rowed naked barley), T. monococcum (einkorn), Linum usitatissimum (flax) and Papaver somniferum (opium poppy). The numerous possibly gathered plants also included Trapa natans (water chestnut) and Vitis vinifera ssp. sylvestris (wild grapevine). Chenopodium album (goosefoot) and Brassica rapa (turnip) with seeds/fruits rich in oil and starch were probably gathered as well. Comparisons of the Stare gmajne results with contemporary north Alpine sites (NA) showed, among other things, that Triticum durum/turgidum (tetraploid naked wheat), frequent at NA, was not found at SG. Trapa natans (water chestnut) was rare and Vitis (grapevine) was not found at NA. The observed differences in the wild plant spectra may have ecological causes, for example a warmer climate south of the Alps, but differences in cultivar spectra are more likely for cultural-historical reasons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Neolithic site at Hidden Valley, Farafra Oasis, Egypt (6028±150 – 5163±374 cal B. C.) on the shores of a playa (dry lake basin in the desert), yielded a large quantity of carbonized plant remains from post-holes, hearths, querns and a corridor. The plant remains could have become carbonised during food preparation, or when fuel included seeds. Rich and diverse floras were retrieved from 40 soil samples, in all 534 seeds, grains, spikelets, culm fragments and leaflet fragments which were attributed to 30 taxa in the flora of Egypt. Wild grasses from almost all samples represent 83% of the plant remains. Quantitative correlation between plants remains and archaeological contexts is discussed. The highest density of plant remains was recorded from pot-holes (in which pots were stood), while sediments recovered near querns show the lowest. The economy of the site was apparently based mainly on herding associated with the gathering of grasses which suggests that the climate at Farafra during the middle Holocene (6077–4511 cal B. C.) was wetter than today's, with winter and summer rainfall. A reconstruction of the vegetation around the site comprises reed plant cover, aquatic and wetland plants and desert savanna. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]