Wild and cultivated olive ( Olea europaea L.): a new approach to an old problem using inorganic analyses of modern wood and archaeological charcoal

Abstract

The elemental composition of wood varies according to the genotype and ecological conditions of plant development. Inorganic elements of wood are preserved in charcoal. Elemental composition analyses of olive wood combined with a multivariate statistical treatment show that wild and cultivated trees and their bioclimatic environments can be distinguished (thermomediterranean and mesomediterranean stages). The elemental composition of some olive charcoal from two archaeological sites in Spain is analysed. The bioclimatic and taxonomic information obtained from archaeological charcoal analyses records the anthropogenic processes interpreted as the transition from a mesophilous phase (Cardial Neolithic) to a thermophilous phase (Roman Age), correlated with the gradual replacement of the former mixed oak forest by the “matorral”. Finally, these results address the question of whether the cultivation of olive trees had occurred in Spain by the Neolithic.