Abstract
Abstract While we know that cereals played an important role in the diet of Linearbandkeramik (LBK) and Blicquy/Villeneuve-Saint-Germain (BVSG) populations in the Paris Basin, many questions remain to be answered as to the real contribution of other plants. To assess this topic, the recovery of other lines of data beyond macrobotanicals is crucial: starch grains have the potential to reveal additional information regarding past plant use. However, in Western Europe, in particular, for the Neolithic period, there is a significant lag in the development of the discipline. We, therefore, present how our current reference collection (composed of nearly 100 taxa spread across 35 families) was established, the reasoning behind our plant selections, and where the material comes from. Overall, our work shows that even though not all the selected plant organs produce diagnostic starch grains, it may be possible to broaden the spectrum of plants likely consumed by Early Neolithic (and beyond) populations in the Paris Basin, in particular concerning the use of wild plants and specific plant parts, especially underground storage organs (tubers, rhizomes, roots, bulbs, etc.). We believe our research will help guide future scholars in the creation of their own starch grain reference collection and to carry out such analyses on archaeological material from this region by consulting our image database. We conclude by providing a brief summary of what the starch grain record in the Paris Basin tells us to date on ancient plant use.
Highlights
Plant macroremains are some of the most direct evidence of the Neolithic diet, especially when they are found charred in a domestic context
Developing an Early Neolithic Starch Grain Reference Collection 1037 macrobotanical form, can we identify to species? Which ones are truly diagnostic? Which plants will we be unable to document through this methodology? We share our reference collection in the form of an image database1 in the hope that similar analyses will multiply in the Early Neolithic contexts of temperate Europe, broadening our perception, and understanding of the exploitation of plants for this period and region
We present the characteristics of the reference collection we assembled, to facilitate future analyses in this area in other Early Neolithic contexts in Western Temperate Europe
Summary
Plant macroremains (those visible to the naked eye) are some of the most direct evidence of the Neolithic diet, especially when they are found charred in a domestic context. Charred plant remains alone permit only a limited knowledge of the diversity of plants and plant parts that were consumed, as fire damages the most fragile plant parts (Fritz & Nesbitt, 2014). This statement is applicable to the Early. We share our reference collection in the form of an image database in the hope that similar analyses will multiply in the Early Neolithic contexts of temperate Europe, broadening our perception, and understanding of the exploitation of plants for this period and region Developing an Early Neolithic Starch Grain Reference Collection 1037 macrobotanical form, can we identify to species? Which ones are truly diagnostic? Which plants will we be unable to document through this methodology? We share our reference collection in the form of an image database in the hope that similar analyses will multiply in the Early Neolithic contexts of temperate Europe, broadening our perception, and understanding of the exploitation of plants for this period and region
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