The hard knock life. Archaeobotanical data on farming practices during the Neolithic (5400–2300 cal BC) in the NE of the Iberian Peninsula

Abstract

The archaeobotanical (seeds and fruits) dataset of the northeast of the Iberian Peninsula for the Neolithic period is presented and discussed in this paper in order to approach how early farmers produced their crops and how farming spread in the region. Ten crop plants were identified, including cereals (Triticum aestivum/durum/turgidum L., Triticum dicoccum Schübl., Triticum monococcum L., Hordeum vulgare L./distichon L. and Hordeum vulgare var. nudum), legumes (Vicia faba L., Lens culinaris Medik. and Pisum sativum L.) as well as oil plants (Linum usitatissimum L. and Papaver somniferum L.). Two different traditions were observed by looking at the crop assemblages of the early Neolithic (5400–4500 cal BC). It is proposed that one group of farmers settled in the northeastern area of the region and chose to grow free-threshing cereals, especially naked wheat, while a second group settled in the central Catalan coast and along the Llobregat river and included glume wheats as important crops. These different patterns seem to survive during the middle Neolithic period, when naked barley becomes the main crop at some sites, maybe due to contacts with northern groups. The late Neolithic seems to translate into further changes but more investigations are needed. The weed assemblages available are meagre but the lack of indicators for shifting agriculture allowed confirming that crops were sown in permanent fields. It is concluded that early Neolithic settlements must have been more sedentary and farming practices more effort-demanding than previously thought.