Recent archaeobotanical investigations into the range and abundance of Neolithic crop plants in settlements around Lake Constance and in Upper Swabia (south-west Germany) in relation to cultural influences

Abstract

An overview is presented of the cultivated plants found at Lake Constance (Bodensee) and in the Upper Swabia region including the Federsee (Baden-Württemberg/south-west Germany) between 4000 and 2400 cal BC. This work relates to recent archaeobotanical investigations of the waterlogged sediments of 30 different Neolithic lakeside settlements. These sites provided almost 500,000 crop plant macro-remains, excellently preserved under waterlogged conditions. Taken in conjunction with other previously collected samples from the region, they provide an added dimension to the understanding of crop plant development in the lakeshore Neolithic in south-west Germany. Most probably due to cultural impacts from south-east Europe there has been a progressive change in the principal cereals cultivated. In the early phase of the Late Neolithic a tetraploid naked wheat had predominated ( Triticum durum Desf./ turgidum L.). However, emmer ( Triticum dicoccon Schrank) became the most abundant cereal during the late phase of the Late Neolithic. A simultaneous increase in the cultivation of flax ( Linum usitatissimum L.) and poppy ( Papaver somniferum L.) is similarly connected to south-eastern influences. Superimposed upon this, there were in Upper Swabia complex settlement patterns towards the end of the Neolithic period. There is evidence that some sites were devoted to the cultivation of oil and fibre plants. These sites were probably only used during the growing season and subsequent period of crop processing.