Agricultural activities and land use in a Neolithic village around 3900 B.C.: Hornstaad Hörnle I A, Lake Constance, Germany

Abstract

The archaeobotanical investigations in the Neolithic pile settlement of Hornstaad Hornle I A, Lake Constance, Germany (3919–3905 cal B.C.) has answered many questions concerning agricultural activities and land use in Neolithic times. Very large carbonized stores of unthreshed cereals there showed that every household had 210–280 kg of naked wheat, einkorn, barley and emmer. As most of the wild plant remains in the cereal stores were from annual field weeds it is concluded that the arable land was cultivated continuously, probably for the whole duration of the settlement's occupation. No hints of short or long period fallows were found. Intensive soil treatment such as hoeing and digging is indicated by the rarity of perennial weeds. Because of the high quality of the cultivated soils, manuring was not necessary. The cereals were harvested high on the culm, and the harvest was first stored unthreshed, probably to dry it completely. Every house (family) had its own cereal stores with various cereals. Naked wheat and probably naked barley were threshed outside the settlement, while dehusking of einkorn and probably of emmer took place inside the village. Evidence of cereal cleaning, winnowing, sieving and sorting by hand were found. More than 700 carbonized remains of food products showed that porridge made from ground and shredded wheat was one of the main foods in the settlement.