Similar Journals
|
Vegetation History and Archaeobotany
Journal Prestige (SJR): 1.206  Citation Impact (citeScore): 2 Number of Followers: 4  Hybrid journal (It can contain Open Access articles)ISSN (Print) 1617-6278 - ISSN (Online) 0939-6314 Published by Springer-Verlag  [2468 journals]
|
- Morphometric approaches to Cannabis evolution and differentiation from
archaeological sites: interpreting the archaeobotanical evidence from
bronze age Haimenkou, Yunnan-
Free pre-print version: Loading...Rate this result: What is this?Please help us test our new pre-print finding feature by giving the pre-print link a rating.
A 5 star rating indicates the linked pre-print has the exact same content as the published article.
Abstract: Abstract Cannabis grains are frequently reported from archaeological sites in Asia, and hypothesized centers of origins are China and Central Asia. Chinese early cannabis remains are often interpreted as evidence of hemp fabric production, in line with early textual evidence describing ritualistic hemp cloth use and hemp cultivation as a grain crop. Modern measurements on cannabis varieties show distinct sizes between fibre or oil/fibre and psychoactive varieties, the former having larger seeds on average than the latter. This paper reviews the current macro-botanical evidence for cannabis across East, Central and South Asia and builds a comparative framework based on modern cannabis seed measurements to help identify cannabis use in the past, through the metric analysis of archaeologically preserved seeds. Over 800 grains of cannabis were retrieved from the 2008 excavation of Haimenkou, Yunnan, Southwest China, dating to between 1650 and 400 bc. These are compared with other known archaeological cannabis and interpreted through the metric framework. This offers a basis for exploration of the seed morphometrics potential to infer cannabis cultivation and diversification in uses. At Haimenkou, cannabis seeds size mostly plot in the range of overlapping psychoactive/fibre types; we therefore suggest that the cannabis assemblage from Haimenkou is indicative of a crop beginning to undergo evolution from its early domesticated form towards a diversified crop specialized for alternative uses, including larger oilseed/fibre adapted varieties.
PubDate: 2023-11-30
-
- Plants from distant places: the 1st millennium ce archaeobotanical record
from Iberia-
Free pre-print version: Loading...Rate this result: What is this?Please help us test our new pre-print finding feature by giving the pre-print link a rating.
A 5 star rating indicates the linked pre-print has the exact same content as the published article.
Abstract: Abstract 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.
PubDate: 2023-11-21
-
- Wild foods, woodland fuels, and cultivation through the Ceramic and Early
Historical periods in Araucanía, Southern Chile (400–1850 ce)-
Free pre-print version: Loading...Rate this result: What is this?Please help us test our new pre-print finding feature by giving the pre-print link a rating.
A 5 star rating indicates the linked pre-print has the exact same content as the published article.
Abstract: Abstract This paper re-evaluates the economic organization of native populations living in Southern Chile through the Ceramic and Early Historical periods (400–1850 ce), by redressing the imbalance between the carpological and the anthracological record in archaeobotanical research. Through both lines of evidence, we present a new synthesis about how the past populations who inhabited a southern temperate forest environment through the Late Holocene utilized plant resources. We present new archaeobotanical data from the archaeological site of Los Catalanes cave, which exhibits a long-term sequence through the studied periods. Cultivation practices incorporated both foreign and locally domesticated plants, including Zea mays, Chenopodium quinoa and Phaseolus vulgaris from the Early Ceramic Period, chili (Capsicum sp.) from the later Ceramic period, and wheat (Triticum aestivum) from the Historic Period. However, substantial quantities of wild foods, fruits and nuts from woodland plants as well as herbaceous seed plants are found, while many more taxa represented in wood charcoal have a range of potential additional uses beyond fuel. Woodland taxa indicate an open mosaic, suggesting human shaping of woodlands from at least the Early Ceramic Period. We propose that during the Ceramic Period populations from Southern Chile practiced intermediate economies combining foraging and farming until as late as the start of the last millennium (~ 1000 ce), and that these economies managed a mosaic of human shaped woodlands.
PubDate: 2023-11-11
-
- Water and landscape management for 3,000 years in a mid-mountain area:
evolution of the Gourgon mires complex (Massif Central, France) under
anthropogenic and climate forcing-
Free pre-print version: Loading...Rate this result: What is this?Please help us test our new pre-print finding feature by giving the pre-print link a rating.
A 5 star rating indicates the linked pre-print has the exact same content as the published article.
Abstract: Abstract In order to better understand the long-term management of water resource and its relationship with peatlands in mid-mountain areas, a research project was conducted in the mire complex of Gourgon, in the Forez Mountains (Eastern Massif Central, France). The peat growth response to global and local changes was reconstructed based (1) on the radiocarbon dating of basal peat layers, (2) on the study of macrofossils and (3) on palynological analyses of key peat cores. This palaeoecological approach provided new answers to understand the development of the uplands and to fill the gaps between archaeological sites. Three major steps were identified during the last 3,000 years: (i) cultivation and pastoral activities from the Iron Age to the Roman Times; (ii) afforestation and predominant grazing during Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages; and (iii) major forest clearing motivated by cultivation needs (winter crops including rye – Secale cereale) during the Middle Ages. Comparison of lithological and palaeoecological data with topographical data and regional archaeological information highlighted that the anthropogenic diversion of streams, created to supply high-altitude farms, reduced the water flow in the valley and favoured the accumulation of peat for centuries. Thus, human activities were involved in the development of mire-valley ecosystems. This response of peatland ecosystems to human activities fits with a wider pattern of anthropogenically-induced peatlands in Central France. It underlines the importance of multidisciplinary and retrospective scientific studies in understanding the mechanisms of wetland evolution in the long-term.
PubDate: 2023-11-03
-
- The history of phytolith research in Australasian archaeology and
palaeoecology-
Free pre-print version: Loading...Rate this result: What is this?Please help us test our new pre-print finding feature by giving the pre-print link a rating.
A 5 star rating indicates the linked pre-print has the exact same content as the published article.
Abstract: Abstract Although phytolith research has come of age in archaeology and palaeoecology internationally, it has remained relatively marginalised from mainstream practice in Australasia. The region’s initial isolation from international scientific communities and uniqueness of its vegetation communities, has led to an exclusive set of challenges and interruptions in phytolith research. Examining a history of Australasian phytolith research presents the opportunity to recognise developments that have made phytoliths a powerful tool in reconstructing past environments and human uses of plants. Phytolith research arrived early in Australia (1903), after a convoluted journey from Germany (1835–1895) and Europe (1895–1943), but phytoliths were initially misidentified as sponge spicules (1931–1959). Formal understanding of phytoliths and their applications began in Australasia during the late 1950s, continuing throughout the 1960s and 1970s (1959–1980). After a brief hiatus, the modern period of phytolith analyses in Australasian archaeological and palaeoenvironmental research began in the 1980s (1984–1992), focusing on investigating the deep past. Advancements continued into the 1990s and early 2000s. Wallis and Hart declared in 2003 that Australian phytolith research had finally come of age, but more a fitting description would be that it had peaked. Since then phytolith research in Australasia slowed down considerably (2005-present). Local phytolith reference collections for Australasian flora, critical for identifying ancient phytoliths, are essentially no longer produced.
PubDate: 2023-11-01
-
- Were prehistoric cereal fields in western Norway manured' Evidence from
stable isotope values (δ15N) of charred modern and fossil cereals-
Free pre-print version: Loading...Rate this result: What is this?Please help us test our new pre-print finding feature by giving the pre-print link a rating.
A 5 star rating indicates the linked pre-print has the exact same content as the published article.
Abstract: Abstract Charred cereal grains from archaeological contexts in western Norway were selected for stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis. Single grain analysis was used on 76 grains from 16 sites covering the Late Neolithic (2300–1800 bce) to the Middle Ages (1030–1537 ce). The cereals from archaeological contexts (postholes and agricultural layers in soil profiles) indicate increasing δ15N values with time. In the Late Neolithic–Early Bronze Age δ15N values for Hordeum vulgare var. nudum range from 1.2 to 8.9‰, and in the Early Iron Age the values range from 0.7 to 13.6‰. The values of Hordeum vulgare var. vulgare range from 4.3 to 6.1‰ in the Pre-Roman Iron Age to 3.3–8.7‰ in the Middle Ages. The δ15N values of fossil cereals were compared to modern cereals grown in test-plots in western and north-western Norway. The results from the modern cereals show a clear difference between cereals grown in low level and high-level manured fields. Hordeum vulgare var. nudum dated to the Late Neolithic, show δ15N values mostly falling within the range of modern day ecologically grown cereals with a low-level manuring regime. Cereals from later time-periods show higher δ15N values equivalent to modern day moderate- to high-level manuring regimes. Our results indicate manuring and possible use of marine resources and the existence of permanent fields from the Late Bronze Age (1200 bce) onwards.
PubDate: 2023-11-01
-
- Hunter-gatherer farming during the first millennium bce in inland, boreal
landscapes: new pollen analytical and archaeological evidence from
Dalarna, central Sweden-
Free pre-print version: Loading...Rate this result: What is this?Please help us test our new pre-print finding feature by giving the pre-print link a rating.
A 5 star rating indicates the linked pre-print has the exact same content as the published article.
Abstract: Abstract The archaeological evidence of a sedentary hunter-gatherer society during the early metal ages, i.e. the first and second millennia bce, in the central Scandinavian boreal inlands has previously been overlooked. In order to gain a deeper understanding of these past societies we have combined archaeological data with landscape-scale changes based on pollen records. The combined record clearly indicates landscape use characterized by domestication strategies that started during the Late Bronze Age ca. 1000 bce and further intensified during the Early Iron Age. Indications of cultivation of plants, as well as possible burning practices to clear shrub and forest, clearly show that arable farming and grazing were practiced in the area earlier than had previously been assumed. The farming economy seems to have involved mainly small scale arable farming. Fishing and hunting continued to be important, but the investment in the landscape shown by both pitfall systems and agriculture also express a domestication that would have required settled presence.
PubDate: 2023-11-01
-
- Modern phytolith assemblages as indicators of vegetation in the southern
Caucasus-
Free pre-print version: Loading...Rate this result: What is this?Please help us test our new pre-print finding feature by giving the pre-print link a rating.
A 5 star rating indicates the linked pre-print has the exact same content as the published article.
Abstract: Abstract As the southern Caucasus is extremely rich in archaeological sites, understanding the palaeoenvironmental conditions there is critical for interpreting the behavior, subsistence, and settlement patterns of the many and varied groups of hominins that occupied the region throughout the Pleistocene. Phytoliths can serve as valuable indicators of past environments, especially in cases where organic preservation is poor. Therefore, these results of a pilot-study on modern phytolith assemblages from Georgia and Armenia are presented here as a sound basis for the future interpretation of fossil assemblages from the region. The soil samples for phytoliths which were collected from modern vegetation units cover specifically open vegetation in steppes and semi-deserts and also closed vegetation, in broadleaved and coniferous woods, as well as in wetlands and riverside woodlands. Using relative abundance data and multivariate statistics, it is possible to show how the vegetation types in the region give rise to particular phytolith assemblages, which are statistically significant and recognizable. Especially strong statistical relationships occur between arid semi-deserts and the occurrence of Saddle phytolith types, while Rondel, Crenate, and Trapeziform are related to steppes. Bilobate, Bilobate with concave ends, and Cross are associated with wetlands and wet woodlands. Acute are clearly associated with conifers, whereas broadleaved trees do not show any characteristic phytolith association in the sampled dataset. However, some commonly used phytolith indices do not work properly in the region. The obtained results reveal statistical relationships between phytolith assemblages and vegetation that can be applied to fossil material and which may serve as an important resource for palaeoenvironmental reconstructions in this region.
PubDate: 2023-11-01
-
- Geometric morphometric analysis of Neolithic wheat grains: insights into
the early development of free-threshing forms-
Free pre-print version: Loading...Rate this result: What is this?Please help us test our new pre-print finding feature by giving the pre-print link a rating.
A 5 star rating indicates the linked pre-print has the exact same content as the published article.
Abstract: Abstract Current knowledge of the origins and routes of introduction of both tetraploid and hexaploid free-threshing wheats (FTWs) from western Asia into Europe remains imprecise. Archaeobotanical distinction of ploidy level is often dependent on sparsely recovered rachis segments, while more specific identification of cultivars within ploidy groups using morphological characteristics of either grain or chaff is generally considered unreliable. This study offers a complementary approach by using geometric morphometric (GMM) analysis of grain shape to assess taxonomic and variety level distinctions in archaeobotanical FTW remains. Two substantial and well-preserved assemblages of Neolithic FTW grains from 7th millennium bce Çatalhöyük (central Anatolia, Turkey) and 6th millennium Kouphovouno (Peloponnese, Greece) were analysed with the aim of shedding light on the naked wheats cultivated by these early agricultural communities. While chaff remains from Çatalhöyük indicate a hexaploid FTW crop, no such diagnostic remains were recovered from Kouphovouno. GMM analysis of the archaeobotanical grains has corroborated early cultivation of hexaploid naked wheat at Çatalhöyük, whilst revealing that a tetraploid wheat, most closely resembling ‘unimproved’ durum wheat, was likely grown at Kouphovouno. The Kouphovouno findings are contextualised within existing theories of a Mediterranean route for introduction of tetraploid FTWs from western Asia to south-western Europe. At both sites, an assessment of the role of FTWs over time suggests changes in the cultural value attributed to these crops and/or the sustainability of the agricultural regimes they were associated with.
PubDate: 2023-11-01
-
- New crops in the 1st millennium ce in northern Italy
-
Free pre-print version: Loading...Rate this result: What is this?Please help us test our new pre-print finding feature by giving the pre-print link a rating.
A 5 star rating indicates the linked pre-print has the exact same content as the published article.
Abstract: Abstract In order to identify new crops in the 1st millennium ce in northern Italy, a complex and diversified territory, archaeobotanical macroremains from 155 sites dating between the 2nd century bce and 12th century ce were analysed. In more than half of the sites, taxa were encountered that had never previously been recorded from the area. The new crops are about 30, mainly (~ 70%) fruit plants in the broad sense, which have a clear peak in this time period. Based on the available data, the most prominent time for the introduction of new food plants (both imports and cultivars) seems to have been the Roman Imperial period (1st–2nd century ce), but also later, in Late Antiquity (3rd–6th century ce) and the Middle Ages (7th–12 century ce), there was no lack of new arrivals. Some fruit trees, such as Prunus persica (peach) and Pinus pinea (stone pine) immediately played an important role, and have continued to do so over time, as these are still grown in the area now.
PubDate: 2023-10-26
-
- First identification of plant remains in earthen architecture of
Argentina: constructive and domestic archaeological data from early
colonial contexts (16th and 17th centuries)-
Free pre-print version: Loading...Rate this result: What is this?Please help us test our new pre-print finding feature by giving the pre-print link a rating.
A 5 star rating indicates the linked pre-print has the exact same content as the published article.
Abstract: Abstract This paper analyses, from an archaeological and ethnobotanical perspective, the botanical remains recovered from earthen architecture of Ibatín and Esteco I/II sites, ruins of the first cities established and depopulated in North-western Argentina along the Spanish advance during the 16th and 17th centuries. Sampling procedure, processing of the sediments and identification of botanical macro and microremains, predominantly opal silica phytoliths, were carried out on the basis of standard methodology to identify botanical remains. Diatoms and microcharcoals were also recorded. Additionally, ethnobotanical research was conducted in order to obtain data from local inhabitants related to traditional earth construction techniques and vegetable fibres used in the process. The integration of the results obtained from both approaches allowed us to generate some proposals regarding the techniques for obtaining and using the plants used in the construction activity and associated practices in the region during the colonial period.
PubDate: 2023-10-21
-
- Seeing the fields through the weeds: introducing the WeedEco R package for
comparing past and present arable farming systems using functional weed
ecology-
Free pre-print version: Loading...Rate this result: What is this?Please help us test our new pre-print finding feature by giving the pre-print link a rating.
A 5 star rating indicates the linked pre-print has the exact same content as the published article.
Abstract: Abstract The functional ecology of arable weeds provides a way of comparing present-day and past farming regimes. This paper presents the R package WeedEco, an open-source resource which allows users to compare their archaeobotanical dataset against three previously published arable weed models to understand fertility, disturbance or a combination of both. The package provides functions for data organisation, classification and visualisation, allowing users to enter raw archaeobotanical data, obtain trait values from the functional trait dataset, conduct discriminant analysis and plot the results against the relevant present-day model. Using data from the early medieval site of Stafford in the UK, the paper provides a detailed example of the use of the package, demonstrating its different functions, as well as how the results can be interpreted.
PubDate: 2023-10-19
-
- Plant remains preserved in products of metal corrosion: source of evidence
on ancient plant materials and environment from burial contexts-
Free pre-print version: Loading...Rate this result: What is this?Please help us test our new pre-print finding feature by giving the pre-print link a rating.
A 5 star rating indicates the linked pre-print has the exact same content as the published article.
Abstract: Abstract By-products of metal corrosion, when coming into contact with organic matter, have the capacity to preserve it from decay. A pilot study was conducted aiming to explore the potential and limitations of plant remains preserved in by-products of metal corrosion for archaeobotanical research. The organic remains considered come from the surface/immediate proximity of the metal funerary artefacts of two ancient cemeteries—Varna and Messambria, Eastern Bulgaria. Metal corrosion by-products were observed and sampled, under a low magnification stereo microscope. Subsequently, the plant macrofossils recognised were analysed under reflected light and a scanning electron microscope (SEM). Additionally, pollen was extracted from the metal corrosion by-products, using standard acetolysis. The analyses from the graves of both cemeteries allowed identification of textiles and plant fibres, as well as wood (Cornus sp., Pinus sp., Viburnum sp.). At Varna cemetery epidermis fragments of Juncus sp. were recognized, while at Messambria necropolis fruits of almond were found. The pollen analysis from Varna points to use of flowers in the ritual (Daphne tetrads were recorded) and shows a notably open landscape with 77% non-arboreal pollen (NAP). The palynological analysis from the Messambria necropolis revealed the use of flowers in the burial ritual indicated by clusters of Vitis, Cistus and Rosaceae pollen. The surrounding vegetation was dominated by open oak woodland and open habitats (43% NAP) with a strong presence of anthropogenic indicators. The outcome of the study proved to be promising for reconstructing details of the burial rituals including associated plant materials, as well as the surrounding plant habitats during the functioning of the cemeteries.
PubDate: 2023-10-17
-
- Pre-Hispanic use of edible Geoffroea decorticans fruits in central
Argentina - first approximations based on an integrated morphoanatomical
and archaeobotanical approach-
Free pre-print version: Loading...Rate this result: What is this?Please help us test our new pre-print finding feature by giving the pre-print link a rating.
A 5 star rating indicates the linked pre-print has the exact same content as the published article.
Abstract: Abstract The edible drupe of Geoffroea decorticans (Fabaceae) has been used in South America since ancient times. However, and despite its great current cultural importance, there are no details about the past modes of use. In the central mountains of Argentina, micro- and macrobotanical remains of this wild species were recovered from archaeological sites within three subregions. This evidence indicates that the taxon was part of the plants used as food by the communities who inhabited the area in the Late Pre-Hispanic period (LPP, 1,500 − 350 bp). Identifying the culinary practices involving these remains in the past requires an interpretive model built from processing activities currently performed with these fruits, as well as detailed knowledge of the anatomy of these fruits. As part of a major archaeological-ethnobotanical research project, in this work we present a micro-morphological and histological characterization of G. decorticans drupes and describe the charred carpological remains recovered from the study area to date. We use these anatomical data, as well as ethnographic information from previous studies, to infer the possible activities and processes that formed the archaeological specimens. The results indicate differences in the processing of G. decorticans during LPP at both local and subregional scales and enhance our knowledge about the interrelation between the LPP societies and wild edible plants.
PubDate: 2023-10-14
-
- New evidence for food in the Late-Medieval Balkans: archaeobotany of
Venetian houses at Butrint in southern Albania-
Free pre-print version: Loading...Rate this result: What is this?Please help us test our new pre-print finding feature by giving the pre-print link a rating.
A 5 star rating indicates the linked pre-print has the exact same content as the published article.
Abstract: Abstract The Roman Forum Excavations (RFE) Project discovered three Venetian houses, dating from the 14th to the 16th century, at the site of the Roman forum of Butrint, located on the coast of SW Albania. Inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1992, the city is among Albania’s most important archaeological sites, having evolved from a Greek emporium to a substantial Roman colony to a bishopric in the Middle Ages. The Republic of Venice acquired Butrint, together with Corfu, in 1386 and held them until the fall of the Republic in 1797. The Venetian houses are the first dwellings of the Late Medieval period to be excavated in this region and are among the few excavated in the Balkans, serving as exemplars of Late Medieval domestic architecture in Epeiros (NW Greece and S Albania). The larger, two-story house (Venetian House III) had been destroyed by fire in the first half of the 16th century, apparently connected with the sack of the city of 1537. Thereafter the Venetians abandoned the old city but maintained a small outpost on the edge of the headland to defend the lucrative fisheries and the enclave from small-scale Ottoman attacks. The collapsed roof of the house sealed and preserved the contents of a vast quantity of plant macro remains. The seeds and fruit discovered include cereals, pulses and other plants, of which the most abundant was naked wheat. The density distribution of the deposition suggests that foodstuffs were stored on the upper floor of the house, probably to keep them away from ground humidity. The presence of a wide range of vetches (Vicia sp.) and vetchlings (Lathyrus sp.) may be associated with cultural use. Indeed, baked products made with cereal-pulse mixtures were common during the Middle Ages, and traditional uses of some of these crops like Spanish vetchling (L. clymenum), common vetch (V. sativa), pea (Pisum sativum), grass pea (L. sativus), red pea (L. cicera), lentil (Lens culinaris) and one-flowered vetch (V. articulata) remain locally attested in regions associated with Albanian culture. The analysis of this assemblage provides a new window into a period and territory rarely studied for its archaeobotany.
PubDate: 2023-10-13
-
- Sicily and the process of Neolithisation: a review of the archaeobotanical
data-
Free pre-print version: Loading...Rate this result: What is this?Please help us test our new pre-print finding feature by giving the pre-print link a rating.
A 5 star rating indicates the linked pre-print has the exact same content as the published article.
Abstract: Abstract This review paper analyses the first steps of the spread of domestic plants into Sicily. Despite being the biggest island of the Mediterranean and its central position, the process of arrival and diffusion of crops in Sicily is still poorly understood. Starting from the limited but significant record from Grotta dell’Uzzo, the plant macrofossil data are presented and discussed with some comparison with the pollen, zooarchaeological and obsidian data. The closest regions to Sicily, from where these domesticates may have come, are discussed. The arrival of domesticated plants in Sicily fits perfectly with the model of dispersal by sea. The introduction of crops was a slow process that covered the whole of the Neolithic period. The intention is to raise interest in this field and to inspire researchers to analyse more plant macro- and micro-remains from prehistoric archaeological contexts in Sicily.
PubDate: 2023-10-13
-
- Triticum timopheevii s.l. (‘new glume wheat’) finds in regions of
southern and eastern Europe across space and time-
Free pre-print version: Loading...Rate this result: What is this?Please help us test our new pre-print finding feature by giving the pre-print link a rating.
A 5 star rating indicates the linked pre-print has the exact same content as the published article.
Abstract: Abstract Triticum timopheevii sensu lato (‘new glume wheat’, NGW) was first recognised as a distinct prehistoric cereal crop through work on archaeobotanical finds from Neolithic and Bronze Age sites in northern Greece. This was later followed by its identification in archaeobotanical assemblages from other parts of Europe. This paper provides an overview of the currently known archaeobotanical finds of Timopheev’s wheat in southeastern and eastern Europe and observes their temporal span and spatial distribution. To date, there are 89 prehistoric sites with these finds, located in different parts of the study region and dated from the Neolithic to the very late Iron Age. Their latest recorded presence in the region is in the last centuries bce. For assemblages from the site as a whole containing at least 30 grain and/or chaff remains of Timopheev’s wheat, we take a brief look at the overall relative proportions of Triticum monococcum (einkorn), T. dicoccum (emmer) and T. timopheevii s.l. (Timopheev’s wheat), the three most common glume wheats in our study region in prehistory. We highlight several sites where the overall proportions of Timopheev’s wheat might be taken to suggest it was a minor component of a mixed crop (maslin), or an unmonitored inclusion in einkorn or emmer fields. At the same sites, however, there are also discrete contexts where this wheat is strongly predominant, pointing to its cultivation as a pure crop. We therefore emphasise the need to evaluate the relative representation of Timopheev’s wheat at the level of individual samples or contexts before making inferences on its cultivation status. We also encourage re-examination of prehistoric and historic cereal assemblages for its remains.
PubDate: 2023-10-12
-
- Predynastic and Early Dynastic plant economy in the Nile Delta:
archaeobotanical evidence from Tell el-Iswid-
Free pre-print version: Loading...Rate this result: What is this?Please help us test our new pre-print finding feature by giving the pre-print link a rating.
A 5 star rating indicates the linked pre-print has the exact same content as the published article.
Abstract: Abstract The large-scale excavation at the prehistoric site of Tell el-Iswid made it possible to undertake a systematic archaeobotanical study of different structures covering the Predynastic and Early Dynastic period (Lower Egyptian Cultures, i.e. Buto II (3500−3300 bc) to Naqada III Culture (3300−2900 bc)). Here we present the results of the analysis of carpological remains preserved mostly in a charred state and coming from 62 samples processed by manual flotation, with total volume of 615 L and containing a total of 9,672 identifiable and quantifiable items. A further ca. 650 wood fragments (or woody vegetative remains) were subject to anthracological analysis. Besides the aim of overall characterisation and exploration of the plant economy of the site, the macrobotanical assemblages were also considered in relation to the structures from which they were uncovered. The study revealed that the agricultural economy of both studied periods relied on emmer, barley, lentils, and pea, but from Early Dynastic times onwards barley and pulses gained more importance, along with flax (Linum usitatissimum) and condiments (like Anethum graveolens and cf. Origanum sp.), which occur first during this period at the site. Together with the cultivated fields, the surrounding wetlands were also an important part of the plant resources utilized at the site. The stems of Phragmites are the most common among the anthracological remains, together with a small proportion of Tamarix and Acacia charcoal fragments. The overall composition of the plant assemblages (charred and mineralised chaff, small weed or wild growing seeds capable of passing herbivore digestion, dung fragments, awns) suggest that the major source of the retrieved plant remains was dung fuel.
PubDate: 2023-10-11
-
- The first extensive study of an Imperial Roman Garden in the city of Rome:
the Horti Lamiani-
Free pre-print version: Loading...Rate this result: What is this?Please help us test our new pre-print finding feature by giving the pre-print link a rating.
A 5 star rating indicates the linked pre-print has the exact same content as the published article.
Abstract: Abstract This paper presents the first systematic results of integrated plant macrofossil and pollen analyses from the Horti Lamiani (1st-3rd century ce), an aristocratic residence with a luxury garden which was established on the Esquilino (Esquiline Hill) in Rome during the time of the first Emperor, Caesar Augustus (27 bce-14 ce) and later became one of the most famous Imperial gardens around the ancient city. Different types of plant remains such as charcoal, seeds and fruits and pollen were recovered from pits and pots in the garden and reflect the presence of plants there. There seem to have been ornamental shrubs which were probably grown as decorative modelled hedges and/or isolated bushes, as well as cultivated trees. Several ornamental flowering plants grew in pots. Although this archaeobotanical assemblage could represent some patches of wild vegetation still growing in the study area at the time of the Imperial garden, it is likely that most of the identified plants were intentionally planted and organised to create a glimpse of the past wild landscape of Rome. They have special characteristics, such as bearing coloured flowers or fruits and offering shade, that made them suitable for embellishing a magnificent garden. Moreover this reflects the Roman desire to control nature, testified by the expansion of luxury gardens during the Imperial period and the spread of decorative horticultural techniques, like the miniaturisation of trees and shaping of trees and shrubs by topiary.
PubDate: 2023-10-11
-
- Pre-Aksumite plant husbandry in the Horn of Africa
-
Free pre-print version: Loading...Rate this result: What is this?Please help us test our new pre-print finding feature by giving the pre-print link a rating.
A 5 star rating indicates the linked pre-print has the exact same content as the published article.
Abstract: Abstract Palaeoethnobotanical studies completed at the archaeological site of Mezber in Tigrai, Ethiopia, have led to important new insights on plant husbandry practices of the Pre-Aksumite Period (1600 cal bc to cal ad 25) in the Horn of Africa. The Mezber material record includes a transition from an agro-pastoralist economy in the Initial Phase (1600–900 cal bc) to a more sedentary agricultural way of life in the Early, Middle and Late Phases (825 cal bc–cal ad 25). Macrobotanical samples are dominated by Southwest Asian C3 crops and weeds including emmer, barley, linseed, flax and Lolium, while microbotanical samples of phytoliths are dominated by plants belonging to the Chloridoideae and Panicoideae, indicative of African domesticates such as t’ef, finger millet, sorghum and wild grasses. The Mezber data constitute the earliest evidence to date for crops and plant use in the region, which are present by at least the mid-second millennium bc. In these early subsistence regimes, Southwest Asian crops likely formed one component of a complex plant husbandry system that also incorporated indigenous African C4 plants. This mode of subsistence is analogous to those encountered in other late Holocene archaeological sites in northeastern Africa and has now been demonstrated for the Ethiopian highlands.
PubDate: 2023-09-29
-
