The importance of wild plant resources in the Neolithic: a case study of the Late Neolithic lakeshore settlement of Grandson-Corcelettes, Les Pins (Switzerland)

Abstract

The site of Grandson-Corcelettes, Les Pins is located at Lake Neuchâtel, Switzerland and was occupied during several phases of the Late Neolithic (between roughly 3000 and 2500 bc). Archaeobotanical analyses of the cultural layers revealed that, besides the cultivation of food plants, the inhabitants of Grandson used wild plant resources for many purposes. An estimation of the proportion of a selection of collected wild plants within the plant diet – based on calories – showed that they accounted for more than half of the calorific intake. This is in line with similar calculations performed for other Neolithic circum-Alpine settlements. The wild food plant spectrum indicates that most of them were gathered in the woodlands and semi-open habitats close to the village, whereas the riparian forest only seemed to play a marginal role. The analysis of macrofossils and pollen from dung pellets of goat and/or sheep showed that wild plants were also important as food for domestic animals, and that grazing took place in a variety of places, including forests, fallow fields and grassland-like habitats outside the village and throughout the year. Besides, there are indications that the nearby Jura mountains (reaching 1,600 m a.s.l. near the lakeshore villages) were exploited.