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The encounters between the immigrant populations of the Levant and the local communities of the south and east of the Iberian peninsula occurring from the beginning of the first millennium led to the transformation of diet and agricultural production. The arrival of new products such as chickpeas and different fruit trees, including in particular the vine, increased the variety and quality of the food consumed. It was at this specific moment that the so-called ‘Mediterranean agricultural model’ was defined, upon which the identity of the different communities living in this territory was built.

[EN] This study focuses on the chronostratigraphic sequence of the Cave of Kaf Taht el-Ghar (Dar Ben Karrich, Tétouan, Morocco) excavated in 2012 in the framework of the AGRIWESTMED research project. The broad sequence reveals a series of occupations ranging from the Pleistocene (Moroccan Aterian) to recent historical times. Our research identifies a rich Early Neolithic phase (sixth millennium cal BC) containing the earliest pottery and domesticated animal and plant remains in the western Maghreb. However, this Early Neolithic level is not an immediate successor of the last traces of the Epipalaeolithic hunter-gatherer occupation, which started at the end of the Younger Dryas (10,900–9700 cal BC). An abandonment phase, spanning more than a millennium, separated them. This hiatus appears to originate from a cold climatic event that began in the late seventh millennium cal BC (ca. 6200 BC) and ended around the mid-sixth millennium cal BC., [FR] La présente étude est centrée sur la séquence chronostratigraphique de la grotte de Kaf Taht el-Ghar (Dar Ben Karrich, Tétouan, Maroc), fouillée pour la dernière fois en 2012 dans le cadre du projet de recherche AGRIWESTMED. La séquence générale révèle une série d’occupations allant du Pléistocène (Atérien marocain) jusqu’aux temps historiques récents. Parmi les résultats les plus remarquables, on peut souligner l’identification d’une riche phase du Néolithique Ancien (6ème millénaire avant JC) contenant les plus anciens restes de poteries et de plantes et animaux domestiques datés au Maghreb occidental. Cette phase n’est. pas consécutive à l’occupation épipaléolithique, car il existe une nette rupture entre les deux phases, qui s’étend sur plus d’un millénaire. Cela semble coïncider en partie avec l’événement climatique froid de 6200 cal av. J.-C. Le début de l´ occupation épipaléolithique commencerait à son tour avec la fin du Dryas récent (10,900-9,700 cal av. J.-C.)

Agricultural activities, including practices, crops and techniques have evolved throughout history undergoing tremendous changes. From the early Neolithic farmers in the Mediterranean focused on cereal agriculture and only later, during the 4th/3rd millennium cal. BC in the Eastern basin, other species such as fruit trees were introduced into the agrarian system transforming the model that had been in use for millennia. Fruit tree management required innovation and investment and more importantly multi-year foresight as the new crops entailed a new pace of work with delayed returns and, thus, a greater entanglement with the land. Processes of social complexity and urbanization accompanied the emergence of arboriculture which occurred at different pace at both ends of the Mediterranean. This paper focuses on the Iberian Peninsula, the most western Mediterranean region, during the 1st millennium cal. BC when arboriculture spread after commercial encounters with oriental seafarers. Here we report the earliest archaeobotanical evidence (seeds and fruits) for the introduction of fruit cultivation in Iberia. Results from several sites indicate that the spread of fruit cultivation was a long process that varied regionally. In some areas the new crops were rapidly adopted and integrated into the Mediterranean trading networks while in other regions arboriculture was not developed until the end of the millennium. Of the various fruit products that were commercialized, wine occupied a most relevant role.

This work is a starting point for rethinking the role of the Iberian Peninsula in the neolithisation of northern Morocco. It focuses on the similarities and divergences between the first pottery productions and their decorations in both territories. This relationship is supported by the existence of an accurate chronological gradation between the first evidence of Neolithisation in Iberian Peninsula and that of northern Morocco which suggests a north–south direction. We also present arguments on the possible links between the early ceramics from the north of Morocco and those from the south of Iberia, providing a first approach to an issue that will need to be carefully analysed in future research.

In this paper we present the results of phytolith investigations at two archaeological sites in northwestern Morocco: Khil (Tangier) and Kaf Taht el-Ghar (Tétouan). The two sites located in Western Maghreb, one on the Atlantic and one on the Mediterranean coast, were investigated in the framework of the AGRIWESTMED project. Phytolith analysis complemented archaeobotanical, geoarchaeological and archaeological investigations to better identify plant use during the entire occupation sequence. At Khil 16 samples have been studied, coming from two profiles excavated in two different caves of the same system – grotte B and grotte C – that span a chronology comprised between the early Neolithic and the historic period. At Kaf Taht el-Ghar, 15 samples were analysed spanning from the Palaeolithic to the Historic period. Results show that at Khil plants are widely used from the very beginning of the Early Neolithic sequence. The surrounding vegetation was exploited and both C3 and C4 grasses were used, inside the cave. At the same time a wide array of other plants was utilised, such as palms and woody taxa. Phytolith analysis at the site of Kaf Taht el-Ghar indicates that crop processing was most probably not taking place on site. However, the predominance in the samples of C3 grasses morphologies agrees with the finding of previous macro botanical studies that identified cultivated wheat and barley in this cave deposits. A very interesting aspect of the phytolith assemblages of Kaf Taht el-Ghar is the widespread use of palm leaves and their gradual disappearance through time that coincides with an increase in the use of woody species.

This paper offers a general survey of the transformation of the plant diet in prehistoric Iberia from an archaeobotanical perspective. The journey starts in 5500 cal BC when the first farmers arrived into the Iberian Peninsula bringing with them a set of cereals, legumes and oil plants, and it ends at the end of the 1st mill BC after Mediterranean traders introduced tree cultivation in Iberia. Focusing on the archaeobotanical record, this work highlights the profound changes that occurred in the diet and the agricultural transformation and developments that took place. To a lesser extent, general information is also provided on food preparation and cooking equipment highlighting the need for undertaking new fresh research into food remains which has the potential for breakthroughs in our understanding of food preparation and consumption.

This paper focuses on the agrarian landscape of a small area of the Upper Ebro Valley, and more precisely, on the small farm of La Noguera. Through the analysis of its archaeological features and the study of the plant and animal remains recovered from the various occupation phases (Roman-Medieval-Modern and Contemporary periods) of the site we hope to contribute to a better understanding of human-environment interactions in this region.

Of all the plants that were used in early medieval times, many were grown in gardens and orchards and contributed to the subsistence of medieval communities. Archaeobotany provides direct evidence of the range of species used either for food or for other purposes. In this contribution, we explore the evidence of garden produce in early medieval Iberia focusing on archaeobotanical data. First, we will analyse the available data, taking into consideration different types of preservation. Second, we will examine the diversity of species, trying to establish the uses and purposes of the taxa identified. Finally, we will discuss results within the better‐known wider European context.

Objective: To investigate the types of intestinal parasites that infected people living in Islamic period southern Iberia (al-Andalus), and compare with other regions of Europe. Materials: Four cesspits from 10–11 century CE Córdoba (Spain), and two from 12–13 century Mértola (Portugal). Methods: Sediment from each cesspit was analyzed using digital light microscopy and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Results: Analysis revealed eggs of roundworm (Ascaris lumbricoides) in every cesspit analyzed, but no evidence of other species of helminth or protozoal parasites. Conclusion: Differences were noted between parasite species found in Mediterranean Europe and northern Europe, where a range of zoonotic parasites were endemic alongside sanitation-related parasites. We suggest that the scarcity of zoonotic parasites in southern Europe in the medieval period may reflect contrasts in climate between northern and southern Europe. Significance: The repeated identification of roundworm eggs suggests that al-Andalus was less hygienic than historically depicted. We did not note a difference between parasites found in Muslim and Christian regions of Iberia, and the predominance of parasites spread by fecal contamination of food is consistent with past research. Limitations: The eggs of some species of parasite are fragile, so may theoretically have been present in the population but did not survive for us to identify them. Suggestions for further research: To further investigate the role of climate upon the parasites that affected past human populations.

This paper presents an overview of the current state of research on Roman, Late Antique and medieval agriculture in the Iberian Peninsula through the study of archaeobotanical samples (seeds and fruits) collected on a large number of rural and urban sites spread throughout Iberia's geography. It includes published and unpublished data. The plant taxa of economic interest are grouped into various categories: cereals, cereal chaff, legumes, domesticated fruits, oil/fibre plants, condiments and spices, and wild species. According to the data, naked wheats and hulled barley are the dominant cereal species throughout the Iberian Peninsula. There are, nonetheless, particularities like the prevalence of hulled wheats (mainly emmer and spelt) in the North-west. Cultivated fruits also show a great diversity, and new species such as Morus nigra or Prunus armeniaca appear for the first time in the archaeobotanical record. There are also novelties regarding herbs and spices.

This paper presents the archaeobotanical and archaeozoological data of the 6th to 4th millennia cal BC sequence recently documented at Dehesilla Cave, and puts forward an interdisciplinary approach to the significant ecological patterns from this key archaeological site in the Southern Iberian Peninsula throughout the entire Neolithic period. Results indicate an ecological scenario characterised mainly by oak and wild olive forests, and human populations with agricultural practices and herds of mainly sheep and goats. However, this general panorama must have undergone several remarkable fluctuations. The first Neolithic populations of Dehesilla Cave, dated around the mid-6th millennium cal BC and linked to the Mediterranean impressa pottery complex, do not yet display evidences of agriculture, while all of the subsequent Early Neolithic levels indicate a model of small-scale populations with a mixed economy but still with a greater component of livestock. The second quarter of the 5th millennium cal BC shows a marked accentuation of the monoculture of naked wheats, which could have been related to the transition from an intensive to an extensive farming system. This may have entailed a selective pressure on the environment, leading to a large deforestation spanning the second half of the 5th millennium cal BC and the constitution of relatively open thermo-Mediterranean forests with a physiognomy similar to that of the dehesa. These ecological patterns are discussed within a review of the current state of the art of the use of plant and animal resources by the Neolithic human populations in the southern regions of the Iberian Peninsula

Presentamos el estudio de los restos cerámicos de la fase neolítica de Kaf Taht el-Ghar (Mechrouha, Tetuán, Marruecos), enfocado principalmente en el análisis de técnicas y patrones decorativos. Ello cuenta con el interés añadido de corresponder, en su fase antigua, a las cerámicas asociadas a las primeras evidencias de agricultura y ganadería en el Magreb Occidental, encuadradas en el tercer cuarto del VI milenio cal AC. En dichas decoraciones dominan impresiones variadas, en particular las realizadas con concha estriada y lisa, peine y de cypraea. El uso de tales técnicas podría incluir estas primeras producciones cerámicas dentro del mundo impresso-cardial de la Europa mediterránea centro-occidental. A una fase avanzada, atribuida al Neolítico Medio, corresponde un conjunto de cerámicas con fuertes analogías y conexiones con la denominada Achakar Ware, de rasgos técnico-estilísticos marcadamente diferenciados. Entre estos se cuenta el uso de engobe colorante y la aplicación de impresiones con roulette cordada, lo que parece relacionar estas ultimas producciones con tradiciones propias del actual territorio del Sahara.

This paper presents the history of the introduction and expansion of arboriculture during the 1st millennium BC from the South of the Iberian Peninsula to the South of France. The earliest evidence of arboriculture at the beginning of the 1st millennium hails from the south of the Iberia from where it spread northward along the peninsula’s eastern edge. The different fruits (grape, olive, fig, almond, pomegranate and apple/pear) arrived together in certain areas in spite of uneven distribution and acceptance by local communities. Grape was the crop with the greatest diffusion. The greater diversity of crops in the southern half of the peninsula is also noteworthy. Their development paved the way for a commercial agricultural model in some territories where fruits and their derivatives, such as wine and oil, played vital roles.

This work considers the results of the excavation of Tomb 2016B in the Phoenician necropolis at Pani Loriga (Santadi, Sardinia). A multidisciplinary methodology was adopted, involving different professional figures, from geologists to archaeologists, anthropologists, palaeobotanists and chemists. Object of the analysis is a double grave in an elongated rectangular pit cut into a rhyolite bed. The inhumation rite – very rare at Pani Loriga, where cremation predominates –, the monumental type of tomb, with a cover of worked slabs resting on ledges and two symmetrical cavities at the bottom of the pit near the short sides, and the funerary vases allow us to link Tomb 2016B to Tomb 33, excavated in the last century by Ferruccio Barreca, and to a group of Monte Sirai burials, including Tomb 88, the suggested burial place of a person from Carthage. In fact, the new discoveries highlight the movement – in the first half of the 6th c. BC – of wealthy individuals, probably merchants, from the Gulf of Tunis area to central and south-western Sardinia.

This work presents the anthracological and archeopalynological results obtained within the project AGRIWESTMED (ERC AdG 230561), which has involved a comprehensive retrieval of archeobiological remains based on a systematic sampling strategy, beyond the recovery of the usual archeological materials. These surveys were conducted on three sites located in the North of Morocco: the cave of Kaf Taht-el-Ghar, 8 km southeast from Tetuan, and two caves within the El Khil complex, close to Tanger. Both plant micro- and macro-remains (charred wood) were studied through palynological and anthracological analyses, respectively., Our goal was to assess the vegetation composition of the area as well as the impact of human activities on the landscape. In Kaf Taht-el-Ghar the dynamics of vegetation and land use is recorded over the Paleolithic, Epipaleolithic, Neolithic and Historic times. Clear changes such as the demise of ancient Paleolithic pine and juniper woods during the Epipaleolithic and the subsequent spread of grasslands are shown. Other conifers like Abies pinsapo, Cedrus atlantica and Taxus baccata also disappeared from the pollen and charred wood records. In the palynological study, cereal and broad beans (Vicia faba) are already detected in the Early Neolithic, as well as a lowering of grazing pressure. Both cereal and broad beans, along with the development of grazing activities are also documented around El Khil caves since the Early Neolithic. Throughout the whole pollen and anthracological sequences a progressive retreat of the tree cover and an extensive spread of grasslands could be set as the main features of the vegetation dynamics in this area.

The present study aims to contribute to the investigation of the role of Phoenicians in the spreading and trade of the grapevine through the morphometric analysis of grape pips. Waterlogged and charred samples were selected from three Iron Age sites in the Western Mediterranean: Motya (Sicily, Italy), Nuraghe S’Urachi (Sardinia, Italy) and Huelva (Andalusia, Spain). While only Motya is a Phoenician foundation, all three were nevertheless associated with Phoenician expansion and cultural interaction. Ten cultivars from the “Vivaio Federico Paulsen” in Marsala (western Sicily) were chosen as modern reference material. The key challenge was the comparison of archaeological pips preserved through different fossilization processes, which was overcome using two reference datasets of the same modern cultivars, one uncharred and one charred. Statistical analyses of pip outlines show that archaeological remains from these sites is morphologically comparable to that of modern varieties, suggesting that the archaeological finds represent domesticated grapevines. PCA analyses allowed an inter-site comparison, showing that samples from the three sites are clearly distinguishable based on their morphology. This indicates the use of different varieties which may be due to different factors. Our analysis represents a first step towards a better understanding of diachronic and synchronic relationship between vines grown in the ancient West Mediterranean, which could be expanded by analysing grape pips from more contexts and more sites, compared against a wider selection of modern cultivars.

El “Proyecto Djehuty” tiene como objetivo la excavación, restauración, publicación científica y divulgación de un conjunto de monumentos funerarios y enterramientos de individuos de clase media y alta, en la colina de Dra Abu el-Naga, en el extremo norte de la necrópolis de la antigua ciudad de Tebas, hoy Luxor, Egipto. Destacan las capillas-tumbas de Djehuty y de Hery, altos funcionarios al servicio de la administración real en torno al año 1500 a. C.

[EN] 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 northwestern 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 ElKhil Caves B and C that yield materials allowing reevaluation 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., [FR] La fin du Néolithique ancien et le Néolithique moyen, correspondant au Ve millénaire av. n. è. (dates calibrées), demeure largement méconnue à l’extrême nord-ouest de l’Afrique. Cette situation contraste avec le Néolithique ancien qui est marqué par les premiers indices de la diffusion d’une économie de production basée sur la culture des plantes et la domestication. Le manque de données pour ces phases plus récentes peut notamment s’expliquer par l’absence de contextes sûrs ainsi que la rareté des datations radiocarbones d’échantillons organiques de courte durée de vie. Cette étude présente les données issues des fouilles des grottes El-Khil B et C (Maroc) qui ont livré des assemblages mobiliers qui permettent de revoir la chronologie de la céramique de type Achakar. L’étude met également en évidence deux traditions dans le nord du Maroc au cours du Néolithique moyen. La première découle de la tradition de la céramique imprimée et est enracinée dans le néolithique Cardial connu dans le monde méditerranéen. La seconde est caractérisée par des céramiques décorées à roulette de cordelette enroulée, un engobe rouge et des anses « funiculaires ». Ces influences seraient probablement originaires de la région saharienne et sont sans précédents technologiques dans la zone d’étude

This study is an overview of the state of research on the process of neolithisation of the northwesterncorner of Morocco. Particularly noteworthy are the recentfindings of a Spanish-Moroccan team in theframework of the AGRIWESTMED project carried out between 2011 and 2013 for the most part at thecaves of Magharat el-Khil (Tangier), Kaf Taht el-Ghar (Tetouan) and Ifri n'Amr or Moussa (Khemisset).These excavations brought to light occupations from the Moroccan Early Neolithic Impressed-Cardialware complex, levels that correspond to the earliest horizon of agricultural and animal husbandrypractices in the northwestern corner of Africa.