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The aim of this study is to present new data on vegetation dynamics and plant collecting practices during the Late Glacial and the Early Holocene in southwestern France. La Tourasse cave is located in the Pyrenean piedmont plain, where the Azilian cultural complex was initially defined. The last excavations of the site took place in the 1980s and 1990s and the recovered materials are currently being studied or revisited from a multidisciplinary perspective. We present here the results of the charcoal analysis performed on La Tourasse’s Azilian (ca. 13000–11500 cal. BP) and Mesolithic (ca. 10500–9000 cal. BP) levels, complemented by the study of a small seed assemblage. Our results document the shift from an open landscape towards a forested environment, with the gradual passage from open vegetation dominated by shrubs of the Rose family (Prunus spp.) to the mixed oak forest, which speaks in favor of the biochronological coherence of this sequence. However, marked differences in taxonomic richness and state of the wood from one level to another, unrelated to the prevailing environmental conditions, suggest variable behavior of humans toward wood that could be the result of differing mobility strategies, hearth functionalities, or taxonomic preferences.

Buildings destroyed by fire are frequently discovered at sites of the Neolithic Vinča culture of south-eastern Europe. The social context and practical aspects of prehistoric house burning have long been studied through the analyses of architectural and artefactual remains and through experimental building and firing of wattle-and-daub structures. In contrast, very few studies have used the remains of plant foodstuffs from within and under the house rubble to address the cultural and technical particulars of this widespread tradition. At the Neolithic Vinča tell, several burnt buildings preserved hoards of wild pear and emmer grain, along with minor traces of other plant foods. Three of these burnt buildings date to the final decades of the Neolithic Vinča settlement, whose dissolution and abandonment seem to have been abrupt and continue to puzzle archaeologists. We examine the find-context and morphological characteristics of the wild pears and emmer and use our observations to discuss whether the burning was deliberate or accidental. Based on the archaeological and other available evidence, we suggest that these Vinča houses were set ablaze intentionally. Further, we propose that the prominence of emmer and pear can reflect a possible economic differentiation among the households and perhaps even incipient specialisation in food production. Our assumption is that such tendencies would have, in effect, both increased and decreased the economic independence of individual households. This would have had (negative) implications for social relationships in the time of apparently eroding social cohesion of the Vinča community.

This study presents the plant economy reconstructed based on an analysis of charred plant remains from an Early Iron Age site, Malli, in Gondia district, Maharashtra, India. A radiocarbon date of 3400 ± 100 cal BP was obtained from a wood charcoal sample. Agricultural crops identified included Oryza sativa subsp. indica, Oryza cf. rufipogon; millets like Brachiaria ramosa, Echinochloa cf. colona, Paspalum scrobiculatum, Setaria italica and Setaria sp.; pulses such as Lablab purpureus, Lathyrus sativus, Macrotyloma uniflorum, Vigna mungo, Vigna radiata, grains of Vigna sp. and oilseeds of Brassica cf. juncea. The remains of wild and weedy taxa were also recovered, including seeds of Commelina sp., Cyperus sp., Elaeocharis sp., Scirpus sp., Scleretia sp., Fimbristylis sp., Solanum sp., Ischaemum rugosum and Indigofera cf. Linifolia. Fruit stone fragments of Ziziphus sp., along with tree species, include Bombax sp. and Ficus sp. The Malli was part of the agricultural mounded settlement group that existed during the Early Iron Age period in the Upper Wainganga Valley. This archaeobotanical dataset provides evidence of the typical summer crop pattern facilitated by wet environmental conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simulations indicated that reduced nodal root (NR) number (NRN) was promising for maize breeding, and were partially confirmed by relying on variation in NRN among inbreds. Using maize inbred line B73, experiments were conducted in hydroponics and tall mesocosms containing solid media with treatments involving no NR excision (0% NRE) or excising either 33% or 67% of the NRs as they emerged under high or low levels of nitrogen (N). Reduced NRN was hypothesized to increase elongation of all remaining root classes, N acquisition under low N, and shoot mass. Plants with 67% NRE had 12% and 19% less root mass fraction, 61% and 91% greater lateral to axial root length ratio regardless of N levels, and 61% and 182% greater biomass of embryonic roots under low N, compared with 0% NRE for hydroponics and mesocosms studies, respectively. Under low N in mesocosms, plants with 67% NRE had 52% greater shoot biomass, 450% greater root length at depth, and 232% greater deep-injected 15N content in the shoot relative to 0% NRE. These results reveal the mechanism by which plants with fewer NRs increase N capture and shoot mass by reallocation of biomass to lateral roots, embryonic roots, and first whorl NRs that increases foraging efficiency in solid media. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Until recently the plant economy of the Northern European Bronze Age was only investigated locally or within modern boundaries. New results from the project “Settlements of the Bronze Age” by the Academy of Science and Literature Mainz allow us to now fill part of the remaining gaps in research. Summarizing all available data concerning the plant economy of the Northern European Bronze Age has shown that it constitutes a time of innovation and continuous change. In addition to the omnipresent Triticum dicoccum (emmer) and Hordeum vulgare (barley), this period is marked by the emergence of various new cultivars like T. spelta (spelt) or Camelina sativa (gold-of-pleasure). A comparison between the cereal spectra from several regions in Northern Germany and Scandinavia revealed differences and similarities which allowed for the reconstruction of multiple possible contact zones and various influences from adjacent cultures. Northern Germany and especially Schleswig–Holstein served as an important link for trading over land and by water between the southern areas and Scandinavia. The rising diversity of crop plants in the Late Bronze Age, which is for the first time comparable to the southern regions, reflects the increased trade and therefore stronger influence from beyond the Northern European Bronze Age, which resulted in an accelerated assimilation of innovations and new technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The results of plant macroremains studies of the Eneolithic (c. 3160–3100 cal BC) lakeshore settlement at Stare gmajne on the Ljubljansko barje in Slovenia are presented. Archaeobotanical material was collected in two different ways: (1) systematic surface sampling from the cultural layer, and (2) judgement sampling from an incompletely burnt large loom-weight. The preservation state and the spectra of plant macroremains were different in both types of samples. The first study primarily deals with the waterlogged plant remains of various types and taxa, while the second deals with carbonised and half-carbonised cereal macroremains, mostly chaff. Both studies confirm the cultivation of main crops: emmer, einkorn and barley.

Major social and economical changes occurred in human societies during the Iron Age of Southeastern Europe: increasing structuring of societies, intensifying production and metal technologies and the establishment of a market economy. However, the related plant economy of the region is still poorly studied and understood. The Iron Age 'pit field sites' (groups of pits distributed over a certain area) in south-eastern Bulgaria were recently intensively excavated, and their study provides rich archaeobotanical assemblages, which are used for filling this gap in our knowledge. The current study presents the archaeobotanical information from 196 flotation samples from 50 Iron Age pits. The results show a wide range of annual crops, the most important of which seem to be hulled wheats (mainly einkorn), barley and also millet. A variety of pulses and fruits is retrieved, each in small quantities. Some species like Olea europaea and Cucumis melo are an indication for contacts with adjacent regions (especially the Mediterranean area) . The archaeobotanical assemblages also documented the environment and land use, revealing the exploitation of a variety of habitats like cropland, open grassland, shrub land and wetland. The archaeobotanical analyses of the Iron Age pit fields show that this type of structures can be an important source of information on the Iron Age plant economy in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent archaeobotanical investigations (2013-2015) at three sites situated in the southeastern part of the Lake Sevan basin (Sotk-2, Norabak-1 and Sotk-1 settlements, and Sotk-10 cemetery) revealed important data on plant economy, agriculture, diet, and environment of the region during the Early Bronze Age, Middle-Late Bronze Age and Mediaeval periods. These materials show that agriculture was the main direction of plant economy to gain vegetal food staple, but it was likely accompanied also by gathering of wild plants. The principal direction of agriculture at the studied region was the cultivation of cereals for all the above-mentioned periods. Correspondingly, the main source of vegetal food were cereal-based products (presumably bread, porridges, etc). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Results of the initial analysis of wood charcoal and on-site pollen from the large, long-used Neolithic Vinča tell are combined with the data from wild-gathered seed/fruit assemblage towards the reconstruction of the vegetation composition around the Neolithic settlement in its final phases of occupation (around 4500 cal BC). The ecology of the identified vegetation forms, in conjunction with the published geological and botanical information, is used to infer the distribution of plant resources in the vicinity of the site. Further, the potential roles of different vegetation types in the economy of the settlement are explored, and possible responses of palaeovegetation to the anthropogenic disturbance assessed. The evidence from Vinča suggests the presence of a range of vegetation formations and the limited human impact on their availability. The abundance and careful management of the natural resources may have been the key to the longevity of this site. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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An integrated archaeobotanical study carried out in the medieval village of Gasteiz (Basque Country, Northern Iberian Peninsula) was able to establish a diachronic view of the evolution of the vegetal landscape, the plant economy and the forest management in this rural community between the 8th and 12th centuries ad, through the study of seeds, fruits, firewood, pollen, spores and non-pollen palynomorphs. The main results show the presence of an anthropogenic vegetal landscape, shaped by the economic activities of the inhabitants of the village, based on cereal crops, legumes and animal husbandry. Also new data are provided about forest management related to metallurgical activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Until recently the recovery of plant remains in Croatia was rare, resulting in few studies addressing the nature of Neolithic crop cultivation. This paper presents new archaeobotanical data from eleven Neolithic settlements in coastal and continental Croatia. Within continental Croatia, three sites dating to the Starčevo culture (early/middle Neolithic; ca. 6000-5300 cal bc) and six to the Sopot culture (late Neolithic; ca. 5300-4000 cal bc) are examined along with two Hvar culture sites (late Neolithic; ca. 4800-4000 cal bc) located along the coast. Different settlement types are included in the study: open air sites, tells and cave sites. From the data collected the most common crops identified were einkorn, emmer, barley, lentil, pea and flax, as well as the fruits Cornus mas (Cornelian cherry) and Physalis alkekengi (Chinese lantern), which were particularly dominant in the Sopot culture settlements. By examining formation processes, sieved crop processing products and by-products were identified at six of the sites, suggesting that cereals were processed on a day-to-day basis at the household level. In contrast, the remains from the late Neolithic coastal cave site of Turska Peć suggest two distinct formation processes. At the eastern side of the cave the plant remains suggest that episodes of dung burning occurred, possibly to clear the cave of excess waste during seasonal habitation of the cave by herders and livestock. Towards the back of the cave, cereal remains and higher charcoal densities may suggest an area used for food preparation or cooking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New archaeobotanical results from 15 Neolithic sites in northern Germany are presented in a review of the Neolithic plant economy in northern and north-western Europe. Available archaeobotanical data from north-western Europe are evaluated and compared with our new results. In the whole region, barley and emmer were the main crops. Regional and diachronic differences are observed in the cultivation of einkorn, spelt and naked wheat. For oil plants and pulses only rare information from macro remains is available, as we mainly deal with charred material. It is noticeable that gathered plants played an important role in the Funnel Beaker economy. Plant choice, especially the relevance of cultivated versus gathered plants is discussed, based on new and existing data. Based on a structural comparison of charred plant assemblages from domestic sites and tombs, we develop a research hypothesis that settlement finds provide insight into production and consumption of food from crops, while tombs mainly yield evidence of plants gathered in the wild or in semi-wild areas in the vicinity of former settlements. Therefore, we suggest a model of different purposes and meanings of plants, depending on whether primarily an economic or a social/ritual sphere is regarded. But, for all evaluations and interpretations, it is essential to consider the taphonomic processes and conditions. Therefore, further research is necessary to verify our hypothesis, which derives from first insights into new material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]