Archaeobotanical Analysis Research Articles

Food and Environment During the Late Roman Age at the Site of Alba Fucens (Abruzzi, Italy)

Archaeobotanical analyses in Italy are uneven in terms of geographical and chronological distribution. Amongst the different regions, Abruzzi is poorly represented, with only one study covering the Roman Age. In this framework, the analyses carried out on carpological remains collected from the Late Roman (late 5th–early 6th century AD) filling of a well in the Sanctuary of Hercules in Alba Fucens represents an important addition to the state of the art. The plant assemblage consists of over 1500 remains attributed to 68 different taxa. These are partly represented by gathered fruit plants, such as Corylus avellana, Juglans regia and Sambucus nigra, while cereals and pulses are missing. An interesting aspect is represented by evergreen plants (Pinus pinea and Cupressus sempervirens) that are likely to have been used for ritual purposes rather than for human consumption. Finally, the impressive amount of ruderal and spontaneous plants represents a unicum for this type of study, allowing us to describe the past environment surrounding Alba Fucens, characterized by substantial water availability, Apennine grasslands and influenced by human presence.

Investigating soils of barrows in the Rozumice Forest (SW Poland) – Dynamics of soil and landscape evolution in a Central European loess plateau

Soil properties reflect a host of environmental conditions and land-use patterns. Formation of cultural landscapes may well be studied at barrow cemeteries, which give the opportunity of comparing the properties of buried soils, the material building the mounds and the present-day soil cover. Current archaeo-pedological research on Late Neolithic long-barrows indicates a widespread Early Holocene presence of fertile chernozemic soils in the loess zone in Silesia (SW Poland) and their subsequent transformation (en masse) into Luvisols during the Subboreal and Subatlantic. Since the timing of the transformation remains a question – to elaborate the regional chronosequence of soil evolution – we examined the barrow cemetery in the Rozumice Forest, presumably of early medieval age. We assessed the chronology of the burial mounds and properties of the soil record by analysis of ALS data and magnetometer survey, as well as pedological and archaeobotanical analyses and 14C dating of samples from cores extracted from four of the barrows. The results show that the barrows in the Rozumice Forest were most likely built in the Early Middle Ages (7-9th c. AD) using local Luvisol (clay-illuvial soil) material, after vegetation clearance by fire. The buried Luvisols found beneath the mounds bear traces of human land-use – settlement and/or agriculture during the Late Neolithic, and may be polygenetic, being the result of transformation of Early Holocene chernozemic soils.

Biomolecular evidence for changing millet reliance in Late Bronze Age central Germany

The Bronze Age of Central Europe was a period of major social, economic, political and ideological change. The arrival of millet is often seen as part of wider Bronze Age connectivity, yet understanding of the subsistence regimes underpinning this dynamic period remains poor for this region, in large part due to a dominance of cremation funerary rites, which hinder biomolecular studies. Here, we apply stable isotope analysis, radiocarbon dating and archaeobotanical analysis to two Late Bronze Age (LBA) sites, Esperstedt and Kuckenburg, in central Germany, where human remains were inhumed rather than cremated. We find that people buried at these sites did not consume millet before the Middle Bronze Age (MBA) (ca. 1600 BCE). However, by the early LBA (ca. 1300–1050 BCE) people consumed millet, often in substantial quantities. This consumption appears to have subsequently diminished or ceased around 1050–800 BCE, despite charred millet grains still being found in the archaeological deposits from this period. The arrival of millet in this region, followed by a surge in consumption spanning two centuries, indicates a complex interplay of cultural and economic factors, as well as a potential use of millet to buffer changes in aridity in a region increasingly prone to crop failure in the face of climate change today.

The medieval croft plužina field system in a mountain region of central Europe: The interdisciplinary record of the earthen field boundaries in Debrné, Czechia

AbstractThe integration of archaeological, historical and geoarchaeological records represents a significant contribution to research into the medieval landscape. This study focuses on the medieval field system in the deserted village of Debrné, located in northeastern Bohemia, Czechia. The village features a well‐preserved croft plužina field system, a typical historical landscape of central Europe. The main and most visible elements of the field system are the earthen field boundaries, which were the focus of the geoarchaeological investigations. Archaeological excavations in trench S1 revealed a collection of larger stones at a depth of 1 m, potentially serving a drainage function akin to the observed plužina. Additionally, a boulder paving, identified as a remnant of a path between fields, provided insights into the historical use of the area. In trench S2, positioned closer to the village's core, layers with increasing stone content were recorded at a depth of 130 cm. However, the drainage structure observed in trench S1 was not replicated. The dating of earthen field boundaries indicated the creation of the terrace in the second half of the 16th century in trench S1. In trench S2, radiocarbon dating at a depth of 70 to 80 cm ranged from 1025 to 1175 A.D., predating the first written source about Debrné. Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating in trench S2 suggested exposure to sunlight during the third century A.D. Archaeobotanical analysis of charred macroremains from trench S1 revealed 236 plant macroremains belonging to approximately 20 taxa, showcasing wild‐growing, collected useful species such as raspberry, blackberry and elderberry. Trench S2 yielded 23 plant macroremains belonging to 11 taxa, with similar species as trench S1. Pedological and micromorphological examinations displayed distinct layering in both trenches, showing up to six layers. Micromorphological analysis unveiled vuggy microstructures, varying grain sizes and elemental patterns, shedding light on different periods of occupation. Multidisciplinary investigations of the buried soils forming the earthen field boundaries discovered that the original soil cover comprised automorphic lixisols and cambisols, which also form under present conditions. These results underscore the importance of integrating pedological, geoarchaeological, archaeobotanical and physical data to comprehend the intricate nature of anthropogenic landscape changes.

Genbesøg på Bjørnkær

Genbesøg på Bjørnkær

“CROPPING THE MARGINS”: NEW EVIDENCE FOR URBAN AGRICULTURE AT MID-3RD MILLENNIUM B.C.E. TELL BRAK, SYRIA

The excavation of a large administrative building at the city of Tell Brak in northern Syria saw the recovery of a considerable quantity of charred cereals dated to the mid-third millennium B.C.E. This remarkable discovery provides a rare snapshot into the nature of agriculture in Upper Mesopotamia during the Early Bronze Age. The material has been studied using a combination of primary archaeobotanical analysis, crop stable isotope determinations, and functional weed ecology to deliver new insights into cultivation strategies at Tell Brak as well as to contribute to the wider debate regarding trade and crop importation in this region. Specific crop regime choices also reveal how the farmers of Tell Brak were able to reduce the overall risk of crop failure by careful water management, a vitally important factor in this semi-arid region, with potential implications for the analysis of other large-scale urban agro-economies in the Middle East and beyond.

Living on the edge(s). Settlement revival in the Sacharewo microregion (Białowieża Forest, E Poland) during the Iron Age and Roman Period (1st c. BC/1st c. AD – 5th/6th c. AD)

Abstract The article presents the results of research carried out at Sacharewo in the Białowieża Forest, involving excavations of a barrow cemetery associated with the Roman Period and the nearby settlement, which delivered finds from the Early Bronze Age, the Iron Age, the Roman Period and the Modern Period. Noteworthy was a significant amount of material from the Iron Age and the Roman Period, linked with the Hatched Pottery and Wielbark cultures, possibly indicating a certain revival of settlement in that area between the turn of the eras and the 5th/6th century AD. Thanks to the analysis of airborne laser scanning data, it was also possible to identify a complex of ancient arable fields in the surroundings of the barrow cemetery. The excavations were conducted along with sampling for geoarchaeological and archaeobotanical analyses. A significant pool of 14C dates was also collected. The studies idientified the remains of a stable and continuous (though not very developed and intensive) settlement on the left side of the Leśna River, a barrow cemetery and a field system, possibly used at the same time. This microregion functioned in the first centuries AD, although materials linked to the early Middle Ages were also found. At this stage, however, it is not possible to determine their continuity with finds from the Roman Period. The discoveries also provide an insight into the external cultural influences on the area during the Roman Period. The conducted research complements other recent findings from the Białowieża Forest, which, given its primeval nature and the limited role of human activity during past centuries, is an excellent area for further investigations of settlement and economy patterns from different periods.

Roman farmers in eastern Iberia: A spatial, geoarchaeological and bioarchaeological approach to agrarian strategies

The aim of this paper is to present the archaeological data that allows us to characterise the agrarian practices of Roman farmers through the study of cultivated fields. To undertake this research, we designed an analytical strategy combining spatial analysis, microstratigraphic analysis through soil micromorphology and physical-chemical analyses of bulk soil samples, and archaeobotanical analyses including palynology, phytoliths and geochemical analysis. All this has allowed us to obtain data of interest for the reconstruction of agrarian land use and to establish a methodological basis for developing future research. This high-resolution, multiscalar, and multianalytical approach pursues to characterise these archaeological contexts to singularize intensive agricultural practices developed in terraced field. The creation of this Roman peasant landscape is related to a specific models of socioeconomic organisation of agricultural work based on the household and its workforce as a determining vector in agrarian intensification.

Late Bronze Age millet farmers at Arnbjerg N: an archaeobotanical analysis and a review of Late Bronze Age millet in Denmark

Late Bronze Age millet farmers at Arnbjerg N: an archaeobotanical analysis and a review of Late Bronze Age millet in Denmark

Diet of the fortified settlement communities in Lithuania from 1000 cal. BC to 200 cal. AD

The fortified settlements in Lithuania attest to a long-term phenomenon representing the behaviour of early farmers after the adoption of crop cultivation ca. 1300–1250 cal. BC. Hitherto, the subsistence economy and diet of this population were primarily understood via zooarchaeological and archaeobotanical analyses, however, understudied are the food residues in pottery. In this paper, we present the first results of stable isotope analysis on 209 charred organic residues sampled in pottery from nine sites. The food remains in pottery consisted of δ13C and δ15N values inherent for terrestrial sources with indications of millet consumption during the Late Bronze Age (1100–500 cal. BC). By comparison to the data from earlier periods, a significant dietary change in the local population ca. 1000 cal. BC was distinguished. Furthermore, 34 new AMS 14C dates acquired during this research allowed to better understand the chronology of fortified settlements. Our results provide the earliest evidence for the spread of this type of site in Lithuania and demonstrate the significance of the Daugava River basin during the early stages of this process.

New research on crop diversity of the early farmers in southeastern Europe (ca. 6400 − 5700 bce)

Pelagonia is a mountain valley in North Macedonia that was densely occupied by early farming communities in the second half of the 7th and early 6th millennium bce. Archaeobotanical analysis is being done on material from three sites there, Vrbjanska Čuka, Veluška Tumba and Vlaho. This paper presents the results of archaeobotanical analyses of remains from Pelagonia, which represent some of the oldest directly dated remains of cereals and pulses in Europe, and discusses the results on crop diversity among Early Neolithic communities within the region. The crop spectrum was broad, with five cereal species and several varieties, two pulses and potentially two oil crops. The diversity is slightly narrower than the one found in southwestern Asia, Greece and Bulgaria as Cicer arietinum (chickpea), Lathyrus sativus (grass pea) and Vicia ervilia (bitter vetch) were not present or very rare, and Triticum aestivum/durum (naked wheat) was only found in small amounts, probably because the early farmers were adapting their choices of crops to the different climatic conditions in Pelagonia. On the micro-regional level we have observed that the diversity and importance of certain crops may vary in relation to the 8.2 ka bp climate cooling event, as well as due to local environmental or cultural factors, showing the need for finer scale analyses beyond the level of site or phase.

Multi-site archaeobotanical analysis reveals wood-fuel supply, woodland impact and land use around Roman urban centres: The case of Barcino (Barcelona, NE Iberia)

Woodlands are especially important spaces for city fuel provisioning. During Roman times urban centres carried out numerous activities with frequent wood-energy requirements, and as a result, they potentially impacted the composition of the surrounding forests.Considering this premise, this study discusses the wood fuel economy and the configuration of the landscape around the Roman colony of Barcino (present-day Barcelona), located on the NW Mediterranean coast. We approached the topic starting from an analysis of wood charcoal fragments and pollen remains sampled from several rescue archaeological excavations along the perimeter wall of the Roman city, in order to shed light on the composition of the urban wood fuel exploited and the land cover of the suburban area between the 1st and the 6th centuries CE.The charcoal analysis revealed that most of the fuel procured for Barcino came from holm oak woodlands, with Quercus ilex, Arbutus unedo and Erica arborea woods predominantly being harvested. Furthermore, the composition of the fuel charcoal debris appeared similar in the different excavation-sectors as well as constant through time, suggesting the existence of a fuel supply economy common to the whole city and sustainable woodland management to fulfil these needs.Moreover, pollen analysis detected an important deforestation process in the ager of the city, accompanied by an increase in cereal and vine cultivation. In addition, either pollen and/or charcoal findings assessed the introduction of new fruit trees in the area (Castanea sativa, Juglans regia, Maloideae, Citrus sp., Punica granatum, Prunus sp.). Overall, these data suggest the fragmentation and ever-increasing shift of forested areas in the hinterland of the Barcelona plain, as well as on the hills.

Flora in the Latin East: Archaeobotanical Remains from Crusader Arsur

Archaeobotanical analysis in Crusader-period sites in the Southern Levant is rare, and the plant finds from Arsur (Apollonia-Arsuf ) add new data to the scarce Crusader botanical material. The fills of refuse from one cesspit from the 12th and 13th centuries CE have revealed mineralised plant finds seldom uncovered in the Southern Levant. Together with the carbonised plant material from other loci of Crusader-period contexts, this plant assemblage forms a comprehensive picture of the diet of the site inhabitants. The analysis of Crusader crop material shows a diet of typical Southern Levantine character that was based on the cultivation and use of indigenous crops also known from other contemporaneous sites.

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

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.

3D digitization and archaeobotanical analysis of wooden artifacts

The study of wooden artifacts recovered in dry context is scarce. The objective of this work is to identify morphometric patterns in wooden artifacts and to evaluate their relationship with the technological manufacturing processes. To this end, wooden artifacts were analyzed from the site Cerro Casa de Piedra 7, through the 3D scanning, calculation of curvature directions and archaeobotanical analysis. These artifacts are associated to hunter-gatherer groups and different occupations of the early Holocene. The results obtained show, on the one hand, the efficiency of the use of these techniques in the analysis of wooden artifacts recovered in completely dry contexts. The use of 3D scanning techniques showed that they can improve the analysis of manufacturing traces and/or use of wooden artifacts and the possibility of simulating the obtained results by computer. On the other hand, they show the existence of morphometric patterns, sustained in time, which are related to the manufacturing of the artifacts from the Cerro Casa de Piedra 7. In summary, the archaeobotanical analysis methodology presented and developed in this work allows its application to the study of different woody materials regardless of their chronology and recovery site.

Flora-vegetation history and land use in Medieval Tuscany: The palynological evidence of a local biodiversity heritage

This paper introduces the high resolution palynological analyses carried out on samples from four cores drilled in the coastal plains of the Cornia and Pecora rivers, southern Tuscany, Italy. This study provides new information on the landscape transformations that the area has undergone over the past 7500 years, with focus on Medieval times when settlement patterns and land use contributed the onset of the current landscape. The study area, considered one of the most important early centres of the European civilization, has been fully investigated by the ERC funded nEU-Med project through an interdisciplinary approach combining archaeological, geomorphological, chemical, and archaeobotanical analyses. Environmental features and resource availability were explored through pollen markers of natural environments and human activities suggesting similarities and dissimilarities between the two valleys. In the Cornia Valley, the high diversity and percentages of woody taxa is connected to agrarian exploitation with arboriculture, while the Pecora Valley had a mostly open landscape, with lower diversity and higher percentages of anthropogenic pollen indicators. In both valleys, the land was mainly exploited for grazing resources: the high presence of pasture indicators suggests that domesticated animals should have been an important local resource especially in Medieval times. Pastoral/breeding activities fit into a larger context of management of the territory with specific vocation (namely, salt and iron in these two valleys). The detailed palynological analysis and the comparison between the two valleys highlight the local character of these activities, probably carried out in a collateral way by the peasant communities between the 7th-12th centuries AD.

GC–MS analysis of soil faecal biomarkers uncovers mammalian species and the economic management of the archeological site "Le Colombare di Negrar"

The identification of the mammalian species based on faecal sediments in modern and ancient environments is the aim of the research of archaeologists, forensic scientists and ecologists. Here, we set up and validated an optimized gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC–MS) method, characterized by a time-saving sample preparation protocol, for the simultaneous analysis of faecal biomarkers (6 sterols/stanols and 5 bile acids) in 14 soil samples from the archaeological site of “Le Colombare di Negrar” in northern Italy. Although the archaeological sediment samples examined are numerically exiguous, a comparative reading of our faecal biomarkers findings with new studies on faunal materials collected in the same stratigraphic detail during recent excavation campaigns will allow to better clarify the economic interest of the animal species farmed in the Colombare site (such as bovines, goats, sheep and pigs) and to shed light on the management of breeding. Together with archaeozoological and archaeobotanical analyses, the investigation of faecal biomarkers can increase our knowledge of how ancient local communities exploited natural resources and may allow us to deduce what their impact on the landscape was.

Occupation of highland Central Asia: New evidence from Kurteke rockshelter, Eastern Pamir

The highlands of Central Asia played a crucial role in cultural development across the later Holocene, serving to foster the diffusion of cultural elements by late prehistoric populations and to support the trans-Eurasian exchange routes of the historic Silk Road. However, the early chronology of human occupation in many areas of Inner Asia – particularly the high Pamir Mountains – remains poorly understood. Intensive archaeological study of this area by Soviet archaeologists first began between 1950 and 1970, at which time scholars theorized that the earliest human occupation in the high valleys dates to the Final Pleistocene. To explore early human history in this key region of cultural transmission, a joint expedition conducted new excavations at the archaeological site of Kurteke, confirming that there was human presence in the area as far back as 14 ka BP, and that it persisted discontinuously until the Bronze Age (ca. 4000BP). We applied a multidisciplinary archaeological and paleoenvironmental approach to investigate early human activity at the site, including lithic analysis, absolute dating, and zooarchaeological and archaeobotanical analyses.

A Fluctuating Environment: Micromorphological and Archaeobotanical Investigations of the Early Iron Age Lakeshore Settlement at Traunkirchen (Upper Austria)

ABSTRACT Since its discovery in 1981, the site at Traunkirchen has remained among the very few Iron Age lakeshore settlements in the Circum-Alpine region. Micromorphological and archaeobotanical analyses of drilled cores from the lake bottom help to reconstruct the taphonomy of the Early Iron Age cultural layers and past environmental conditions. Our study also reveals that the water level of Lake Traunsee dropped twice by ca. 2.5/3 m within approximately 100–150 years during the Early Iron Age. The accumulation of well-preserved organic debris indicates the presence of building features in a shallow-water area, protected by a thick layer of lake marl. Carpological remains also provide insights into the local plant diet and land use based on cereals, legumes, edible fruits and nuts, all commonly used during the Iron Age. Our observations contribute to understanding Traunkirchen as an Iron Age key site, which was presumably involved in the distribution of salt from the mine at Hallstatt, down the Traun River and across Lake Traunsee.

Archaeobotanical Evidence of Funerary Plant Offerings at the Southern Etrurian Necropolis of “Valle Santa nell’Agro Veientano” (Rome, Italy)

The present study concerns the archaeobotanical analysis of soil samples and vase fillings from Etruscan tombs from the Necropolis of “Valle Santa nell’Agro Veientano”, found along via di Boccea, north of Rome (Italy). While the site was in use between the Archaic and Late Roman Age, the studied vestibule tombs belong to the Etruscan necropolis (second half of the 6th – beginning of the 4th centuries BC). Archaeological data, based on the incineration rite and funerary equipment, suggest that these were used by one high-status family (or two) originally from Veio. Carpological analyses reveal the presence of food plants comprised of cereals, pulses and fruits. Furthermore, anthracological data give indications concerning the past environment, with a prevalence of deciduous and semi-deciduous oaks, accompanied by other taxa such as evergreen oaks, hornbeam, ash and Rosaceae Prunoideae. This is in accordance with the present-day vegetation of northern Latium. Finally, remains of synanthropic weeds (e.g., Asteraceae, Caryophyllaceae and Polygonaceae) suggest a heavily anthropized environment. This study represents a step forward in the understanding of the still under-explored human-plant interactions of Etruscans.