Bringing together macro- and micro-botanical remains in Bronze Age Cyprus: The cases of Alambra-Kato Lakkos and Agios Sozomenos-Ampelia

Abstract

The integrated analysis of macrobotanical and microbotanical remains has the potential to contribute toward a holistic reconstruction of the interactions of past humans and plants at regional and interregional levels. This paper focuses on the Bronze Age in Cyprus and specifically, on the processing, storage and consumption of plants and plant-based foods, through the study of carbonized seeds and starch granules. The selected samples come from the Bronze Age sites of Agios Sozomenos-Ampelia and Alambra-Kato Lakkos. For the site of Agios Sozomenos-Ampelia, the archaeobotanical material derives from contexts connected with domestic and storage activities dating to the Late Cypriot period (ca. 1340–1200 BCE). All the potsherds originate from pithoi, and therefore are closely connected to food storage. The archaeobotanical samples from Alambra-Kato Lakkos derive from funerary contexts and have been collected from the interior of ceramic grave goods, such as cooking pots, bowls and jugs dating from the Early Cypriot III to the Middle Cypriot II periods (ca 2000–1700 BCE).