Abstract
The Copper Age in the Carpathian Basin is marked by a distinct change in settlement patterns, material culture, social traditions and subsistence practices; however, few studies address the nature of crop cultivation in the region. This paper examines new archaeobotanical data from 13 Copper Age (ca. 4500–2500 cal BC) sites located in continental Croatia, in order to assess the extent to which crop agriculture may have changed and contributed to overall subsistence economies in the Copper Age. From the archaeobotanical results, a dominance in einkorn and emmer is seen followed by barley. Less frequently millet, naked wheat and spelt/new glume wheat are also recovered, but due to their limited numbers, it is less clear whether they were grown as crops or represent weeds. Pulses (e.g. lentil, pea and grass pea), fruit remains (e.g. cornelian cherry and chinese lantern) and wild plant and weed species are also recovered, although more commonly from the late Copper Age sites. The archaeobotanical results show a clear reduction in the quantity and range of plant species recovered during the early/middle Copper Age; however, this is likely the result of taphonomic bias rather than a reduction in crop cultivation. The results therefore highlight problems of recovery bias in the region, which makes comparisons between sites as well as the reconstruction of crop husbandry regimes difficult. Overall, the results from continental Croatia suggest that the type of crops cultivated continued relatively unchanged from the late Neolithic, although it is clear that more research is desperately needed to explore the relationship between crop agriculture and the changing socio-economic environment of the Copper Age in the region.
Highlights
The Copper Age in the Carpathian Basin is marked by a distinct change in settlement patterns, material culture, social traditions and subsistence practices (Bánffy 1994; BognarKutzian 1972:160–164; Gyucha et al 2014; Kalicz 1970; Parkinson 2006)
Continental Croatia is situated within the south-western area of the Carpathian Basin, which is bordered by the Carpathian Mountains, the Alps, the Dinaric Alps and the Balkan Mountains, and includes present day Hungary, eastern Slovenia, northern Serbia, western Slovakia, northern Bosnia and Herzegovina and northwestern Romania (Fig. 2)
Most notably is the difference in sieve sizes used between the sites, which means that smaller seeds and plant items may have been lost at Barbarsko, ĐakovoFranjevac, Jurjevac-Stara Vodenica, Lasinja, PajtenicaVelike Livade, Potočani, Tomašanci-Palača, Vučedol and Virovitica-Batelije, which used slightly larger mesh sizes
Summary
The Copper Age in the Carpathian Basin is marked by a distinct change in settlement patterns, material culture, social traditions and subsistence practices (Bánffy 1994; BognarKutzian 1972:160–164; Gyucha et al 2014; Kalicz 1970; Parkinson 2006). This is evident in Croatia where almost no information exists on the development of agriculture during the Copper Age. This paper presents new archaeobotanical evidence from 13 Copper Age sites in continental Croatia, exploring the range of domestic crops that may have been cultivated at this time. Located within continental Croatia, the Archaeol Anthropol Sci (2017) 9:1745–1765 region is roughly bordered by the river Drava to the north, the Sava to the south and the Danube to the east and is characterised by relatively flat and extremely fertile loess plains. Continental Croatia is situated within the south-western area of the Carpathian Basin, which is bordered by the Carpathian Mountains, the Alps, the Dinaric Alps and the Balkan Mountains, and includes present day Hungary, eastern Slovenia, northern Serbia, western Slovakia, northern Bosnia and Herzegovina and northwestern Romania (Fig. 2). The area covers ca. 300, 000 km and consists of two main geographical units, the peripheral mountains and the central fertile alluvial plains, i.e. Pannonian Plain, which is roughly dissected by the Danube and Tisza rivers
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