Crop husbandry activities and wild plant gathering, use and consumption at the EPPNB Tell Qarassa North (south Syria)

Abstract

The Early Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (EPPNB) in southwest Asia is a fundamental period in research on the origins of domesticated plants. However, there are few archaeobotanical data with which to characterise the plant-based subsistence and crop husbandry activities during this time, which hinders the understanding of the factors that triggered the appearance of plant domestication. In this paper, analyses of non-woody plant macro-remains provide new insights into subsistence activities such as crop cultivation (husbandry activities and storage) and plant use (wild plant gathering and food preparation) during the EPPNB at Tell Qarassa North (south Syria). We make comparisons between Tell Qarassa North and the evidence at earlier and later periods as to how plants were used, and highlight similarities and differences in the practices attested, as well as describing some of the consequences that these plant-related activities may have had in terms of labour and social organization during EPPNB.