Macrobotanical Remains Research Articles

MicroCT analysis reveals insights into the beginning of rice domestication in the Lower Yangtze during the 10th millennium BP

The Lower Yangtze valley is widely recognized as the earliest center of rice agriculture. The process of rice domestication, based on the morphology of spikelet bases, has been traced between 9000 and 5000 BP. However, the domestication status of rice before 9000 BP remains a subject of debate due to the near absence of macrobotanical remains in the region. This research aims to address this gap by investigating rice impressions and inclusions found in ceramic sherds from Shangshan site, the earliest Neolithic site in the Lower Yangtze valley. Utilizing microCT analysis, this study examined 184 impressions of Oryza sp. spikelet bases from ceramics sherds, generating the most extensive database of rice remains dating to the early Shangshan phase. The results offer valuable insights into the early onset of rice domestication in the Lower Yangtze during the 10th millennium BP. This study represents a pioneering use of microCT analysis of ceramic sherds with early plant impressions.

The development of crop production in the northern Horn of Africa: a review of the archaeobotanical evidence

ABSTRACT This article presents a synthesis of the hypotheses and evidence for plant domestication and the origins of agriculture in the northern Horn of Africa. To date, available archaeological data point to an introduction of agricultural practices to Ethiopia during the late Holocene, c. 1600 BC, influenced by adjacent areas including eastern Sudan, Egypt and southern Arabia. The archaeobotanical record shows that farming in the northern highlands was based on the cultivation of barley, linseed and lentils, combined with the exploitation of local wild grasses from the Panicoideae and Chloridoideae sub-families. This indicates that local populations also played a role in the development of productive activities in the region, a process that might have been in place before the arrival of the southwest Asian agricultural package. After the first millennium BC, amidst an increase in sedentary settlements in the region, new domesticated crops appeared in the archaeological record. These include exogenous crops such as emmer wheat, but also indigenous plants such as t’ef and noog, which were locally domesticated likely throughout the Pre-Aksumite period. With the rise of the Aksumite Kingdom, c. 50 BC – AD 700, the agricultural package again expanded to include of a wide range of pulses, geophytes and other economic crops. Macrobotanical remains of sorghum and finger millet also appear for the first time during this period, although this contrasts with the microbotanical record of the region, which points to an earlier presence. In the southern highlands and southwest Ethiopia, evidence of Plectranthus edulis (Vatke) Agnew (Ethiopian potato or Oromo potato) has been identified by the late first millennium BC, pointing towards an earlier domestication than previously considered. Similarly, enset and coffee remains have been documented during the early first millennium AD. Altogether, new studies are needed to confirm some of these hypotheses, as archaeobotanical studies in the northern Horn are still limited. The combination of macrobotanical and microbotanical data, along with ethnoarchaeological and experimental research programs and linguistic studies, will be of critical importance for refining our current understanding of the processes associated with plant domestication and the introduction of crop production in the region.

Formation processes of archaeobotanical assemblages of an early Thule Iñupiaq dwelling at Cape Espenberg, northwest Alaska

Archaeobotany remains an underdeveloped discipline in the Arctic, with comparatively little known about the processes involved in the formation of plant assemblages in ancestral Inuit sites. Archaeobotanical records from seasonal forager sites at high latitudes present several peculiarities: 1) excellent preservation; 2) lack of domesticated species prior to contact with Europeans; 3) few, if any, carbonized remains; 4) taxa from the immediate environment. Under these conditions, it can be difficult to differentiate between macrobotanicals resulting from human activities and those introduced naturally during or after site occupation. In this article, we present the results of archaeobotanical analysis of an early Thule Iñupiaq winter dwelling dated to the late 13th – early 14th centuries at Cape Espenberg (KTZ-304), northwestern Alaska. In order to define plant-related practices among past Iñupiat people, we are attempting to determine how the archaeobotanical assemblage is formed, and delineate the macrobotanical remains associated with human activities. Comparison of roof and cultural layer samples with fill and off-site samples, as well as the results of five 14C dates on seeds, provide a clear archaeobotanical signature of the cultural levels and demonstrate that the plant assemblage associated with the occupation layers derives from human activities directly and indirectly linked to plant use.

Pre-Aksumite and Aksumite Agricultural Economy at Ona Adi, Tigrai (Ethiopia): First look at a 1000-Year History

Archaeobotanical investigations at the site of Ona Adi in Tigrai were conducted during the 2013–2015 field seasons within the framework of the Eastern Tigrai Archaeological Project (ETAP). The site occupation spanned the Middle/Late Pre-Aksumite period (ca. 750/600 BCE) to the fall of the Aksumite Kingdom (ca. 700 CE), including the Pre-Aksumite to Aksumite transition (ca. 400 BCE–CE 1). The main objective of the study was to examine the agricultural economy in Eastern Tigrai during these periods and to evaluate the impact of social and cultural developments on the agricultural practices at Ona Adi. Recovered macrobotanical remains included wheat, barley, linseed, noog, lentil, and wild/weedy plants. In addition, evidence of finger millet was recovered along with tentative identifications of t’ef. The phytolith record shows evidence of grass processing, including morphotypes associated with Chloridoideae, Panicoideae, and Pooideae grasses. Results indicate that plants of both African and Southwest Asian origins were present in the region from the mid-eighth century BCE to the eighth century CE, but their relative importance varied throughout time in relation to socio-political changes at the regional level. Our data demonstrate a significant degree of continuity in the local agricultural economy, which remained largely unchanged even after the decline of Aksumite state.

Comparable quantification methodologies in archaeobotany – a work-in-progress and debate

The way archaeobotanists name and quantify seed fragments is a determinant step not only in the interpretation of a given macrobotanical assemblage, but also in the degree of comparability across different sites. However, seed terminology and quantification have yet not been standardised among scholars but rely on the various geographical and laboratory traditions, as well as specific research needs and circumstances. This has created two major biases: first, the main focus has been put on plants of economic importance, specially Near Eastern and European cereals (barley, wheat, rye and oats); and second, while there has been notable discussion about quantification methods such as ubiquities, densities, proportions, or more complex multivariate statistics, there is often little explicit discussion of the actual first counting stage (i.e. how one goes from things under a microscope to things in raw data or how the Minimum Number of Individuals -MNI- is calculated). In the case of South Asian archaeobotany, the economic role of other cereal species (e.g. millets, rice) and non-cereal crops (e.g. pulses, oilseeds), as well as the usually high fragmentation state in which macrobotanical remains are found, lead us to reflect on the need to establish a more accurate and comparable quantification methodology in the region. We believe that applying this to all seed fragments will also be an important tool to better understand the role of wild taxa (e.g. fruits) in ancient diets and improve the potential contribution of weeds to disentangle past agricultural systems. In this paper, we propose a new work-in-progress terminology and counting method which, far from concluded, is intended to be a starting point for future fruitful debate and development.

Macrobotanical Remains in Archaeology: Preservation Modes and Method

Macrobotanical Remains in Archaeology: Preservation Modes and Method

Diet and habitat of the late Middle Pleistocene mammals from the Casal de’ Pazzi site (Rome, Italy) using stable carbon and oxygen isotope ratios

The late Middle Pleistocene archaeological site of Casal de’ Pazzi (MIS 7, ∼240–200 ka) in central Italy provided a complex of paleontological (both fauna and flora) and archaeological evidence, as well as a cranial fragment of Homo heidelbergensis.Here, we investigated the stable carbon and oxygen isotopic ratios of tooth enamel from six herbivore species (Palaeoloxodon antiquus, Hippopotamus amphibius, Bos primigenius, Stephanorhinus kirchbergensis, Equus ferus, and Dama Dama) to contribute to the understanding of the paleoenvironment of the site through the reconstruction of the diet and habitat of Pleistocene mammals. Our results indicate that the analyzed taxa fed on C3 plants and exploited both closed and open environments. This is consistent with the macro-botanical remains (leaf fossil impressions of Zelkova sp., Laurus nobilis, and Cercis siliquastrum) found at Casal de’ Pazzi and pollen evidence from the nearby lake of Valle di Castiglione. The area around the site was characterized by diversified Mediterranean evergreen forest tree species, accompanied by mesophilic elements of the mixed deciduous oak and beach forest, alternating with diversified wooded/forested vegetation and xeric vegetation. This was the environmental context in which the late Middle Pleistocene Homo lived. Comparisons with published isotopic data from other European archaeological localities between ∼600 and 125 ka evidenced considerable environmental differences through time and space, according to the general climate trends and local factors, such as latitude, temperature, and vegetation composition.

A Brief History of Broomcorn Millet Cultivation in Lithuania

The eastern Baltic region represents the world’s most northerly limit of successful broomcorn millet (Panicum miliaceum) (hereafter, millet) cultivation in the past, yet this crop has been almost forgotten today. The earliest millet in the eastern Baltic region has been identified from macrobotanical remains which were directly dated to ca 1000 BCE. Between 800 and 500 BCE, millet was one of the major staple foods in the territory of modern-day Lithuania. Millet continued to play an important role in past agriculture up until the 15th century, with its use significantly declining during the following centuries. This paper analyses both the archaeobotanical records and written sources on broomcorn millet cultivation in Lithuania from its first arrival all the way through to the 19th century. The manuscript reviews the evidence of millet cultivation in the past as documented by archaeobotanical remains and historical accounts. In light of fluctuating records of millet cultivation through time, we present the hypothetical reasons for the decline in millet use as human food. The paper hypothesizes that the significant decrease in broomcorn millet cultivation in Lithuania from the 15th century onwards was likely influenced by several factors, which include climate change (the Little Ice Age) and the agricultural reforms of the 16th century. However, more detailed research is required to link past fluctuations in millet cultivation with climatic and historical sources, thus better understanding the roots of collapsing crop biodiversity in the past.

Processing and storage of tree fruits, cereals and pulses at PPNA Sharara, southern Jordan

Recent excavations at the Pre-Pottery Neolithic A site of Sharara (ca. 9250 cal bc) in southern Jordan have yielded a rich assemblage of charred macrobotanical remains. The bulk of this assemblage was recovered from a single structure at the settlement that was destroyed by fire and which appears to have functioned as an area for processing and possibly also for storing plant foods. Among the charred plant remains recovered from this space were nearly 700 fig fruits. Based on detailed archaeobotanical and contextual analyses, we infer that these were laid out to dry on the roof of the structure when it burnt down. We also demonstrate that plant exploitation and processing strategies at Sharara focused on a range of wild cereals, pulses and tree fruits (fig and pistachio), including several taxa that are not part of the canonical ‘Neolithic founder crop package’. We discuss our findings in relation to broader understandings of pre-agricultural plant management in southwest Asia and within the southern Levant specifically.

Patterns of spread and adoption of millet agriculture along the eastern rim of the Tibetan Plateau: Archaeobotanical evidence from Houzidong, Southwest China (4200–4000 cal. BP)

The spread of domesticated crops has commonly occurred alongside broad patterns of long- and short-distance human movements and culture contact across regions. While exchange across Eurasia along the so-called Silk Road has been much discussed, recent work has revealed increasingly more evidence for early north-south contact along the eastern rim of the Tibetan Plateau. Main points of debate concern the timing and direction of the spread of agriculture and domesticated crops. This paper contributes to these discussions by presenting new data from macrobotanical remains and phytoliths from Houzidong in southwest Sichuan, a Neolithic site on the eastern rim of the Tibetan Plateau. The results show that the main crops during the late Neolithic (4200–4000 cal. BP) were foxtail millet (Setaria italica) and broomcorn millet (Panicum miliaceum), with a small amount of rice (Oryza sativa), but that agriculture was overall not a major focus. Rather, the subsistence at Houzidong like at other sites in the region was highly diverse, relying on gathering, hunting, and small-scale cultivation with considerable crop diversity aimed at minimizing the impact of potential crop failure. This paper shows that subsistence practices differed markedly between sites, local populations exploiting the rich natural resources in the respective ecological niches in various ways. We argue that the wide variety of food sources available in southwest China allowed people to mitigate risk but also made them more receptive to new food sources such as plant crops, experimenting with them and adding them to their portfolio. Similar patterns can be seen in the adoption and adaptation of other outside influences with each community picking and choosing what suited them best, thus creating the rich and varied patchwork of highly localized cultural phenomena that came to characterize southwest China.

Plant dependency and risk management in the Andean Puna during the Mid to Late-Holocene

The archeology of the Puna, a high elevation desert in South America, gives us a long-term perspective on the role of wild plants in people’s diets during the Holocene. We explore the impact of aridification on the use of edible wild plants among desert people through the study of macrobotanical remains. Our goal is to examine the variation in plant dependency and risk management strategies used over time, in particular during the drought of the Middle Holocene (ca. 8700–4500 BP). The macrobotanical record suggests the use of risk-averse strategies in order to cope with unpredictable resource productivity. Hunter-gatherers relied on carbohydrate rich resources from the vega wetlands and tolar shrublands, such as roots and tubers, as well as low-ranked seeds, stems, leaves, and fruits. They also obtained non-local edible plants by strengthening ties and forming safety nets with groups living in different ecozones that were not subject to the same resource fluctuation. Social interaction with areas lying beyond the ecological boundaries of the Puna has a longstanding tradition in this area beginning in the Early Holocene, and was likely a means of providing food security to populations whose subsistence depended mainly on camelid hunting, and eventually camelid pastoralism. A notable increase in that interaction began during the Late-Holocene, which was a period of lesser aridity, with the introduction of corn and quinoa.

Tracing Maize History in Northern Iroquoia Through Radiocarbon Date Summed Probability Distributions

Abstract The evolution of maize as an organism, its spread as an agricultural crop, and the evolution of Native American maize-based agricultural systems are topics of research throughout the Western Hemisphere. Maize was adopted in Northern Iroquoia, comprising portions of present-day New York, Ontario, and Québec by 300 BC. By the fourteenth-century AD, maize accounted for >50 to >70% of ancestral Iroquoian diets. Was this major commitment to maize agriculture a gradual incremental evolution, or was there a rapid increase in commitment to maize-based agriculture around AD 1000 as traditional archaeological narratives suggest? Summed probability distributions of direct radiocarbon dates on maize macrobotanical remains and cooking residues containing maize phytoliths combined with maize macrobotanical maize densities at sites and previously published stable isotope values on human bone collagen used with Bayesian dietary mixing models and cooking residues show an initial increase in maize use at AD 1200–1250 and a subsequent increase at AD 1400–1450. These results indicate maize history in Northern Iroquoia followed an exponential growth curve, consistent with Rindos’ (1984) model of agricultural evolution.

Multiproxy analysis on Indian wild ass (Equus hemionus khur) dung from Little Rann of Western India and its implications for the palaeoecology and archaeology of arid regions

The dung of the Indian wild ass was analyzed using biotic and abiotic proxies to determine its dietary habits in relation to the plant diversity and ecology in the arid region of western India. The presence of both micro and macrobotanical remains of Poaceae, Chenopodiaceae, and Fabaceae indicates they are the primary food plants of the wild ass. The continuous recovery of arboreal pollen taxa chiefly, Prosopis, Acacia, and Ephedra is indicative of dry thorny forest under semi-arid to arid conditions which display the existing vegetation and climate in the region. The recovery of marshy pollen taxa like Cyperaceae and Onagraceae along with Arcella indicates utilization of water-logged environments in the habitat. Spores of coprophilous fungi, Sporormiella, Sordaria, and Podospora are also present in the dung samples. The low value of stellate trichomes in winter dung samples reflects the seasonal migration of wild ass. Average δ13C values ranging between −15.8‰ and–26.3‰ are indicative of a mixed diet of both C3 and C4 plants. The generated multiproxy data from dung samples can provide a reliable counterpart to modern data for the interpretation of the palaeoecology in relation to the palaeoherbivory and palaeodietary analysis in the region. This study also provides a basis to distinguish between wild and domesticated herbivores by analyzing coprolites and cultural sediments in archaeological sites.

Assessing Open Science Practices in Phytolith Research

Open science is an integral part of all scientific research, but the extent of open science practices in phytolith research is unknown. Phytolith analysis examines silica bodies that are initially formed within and between plant cells during the life of the plant but become deposited in sediments once the plant dies. The use of phytoliths in archaeobotanical and palaeoecological studies has been increasing in recent years resulting in an upsurge in publications. The aims of this article are to assess open science practices in phytolith research by reviewing data and metadata sharing, and open access, in a sample of journal articles containing primary phytolith data from 16 prominent archaeological and palaeoecological journals (341 articles). This study builds on similar studies conducted for zooarchaeology (Kansa <em>et al</em>. 2020) and macro-botanical remains (Lodwick 2019). This study shows that 53% of papers shared data in any format but only 4% of papers contained reusable data, 74% included some pictures of phytolith morphotypes for identification purposes, 69% had a fully described method, 47% used the International code for phytolith nomenclature (ICPN 1.0) and only 13% of articles were open access. Steps forward are then proposed, including planning for open projects, making more articles openly accessible and implementing the FAIR data principles, to use as a starting point for discussions in the wider phytolith and archaeological communities to develop guidelines for greater integration of open science practices.

Archaeobotanical Data from villa rustica at Oarda-Bulza (Alba County). The 2019 Campaign

The article is discussing the macrobotanical remains which have been identified in soil samples taken from different archaeological contexts associated with the Roman villa rustica at Oarda-Bulza, Alba County, during the 2019 campaign. This is the first major agricultural estate from Roman Dacia which has been systematically investigated using an interdisciplinary approach, the primary aim being to shed light on the interplay between particular forms of production, cultural consumption, community formation, and the integration into a number of provincial and imperial networks. The analysis of this first set of macrobotanical remains is offering relevant data regarding the agricultural and consumption practices of the inhabitants who once lived on a very fertile area from the hinterland of Apulum, the most important conurbation from Roman Dacia.

Considerations regarding the macrobotanical remains from ceramic vessels found at Șoimuș – La Avicola (Ferma 2), Hunedoara County

In 2011, a joint team from various cultural institutions (“Vasile Pârvan” Institute of Archaeology, Museum of Dacian and Roman Civilisation and National Romanian History Museum) have collaborated in rescue excavations on the A1 highway (Lugoj– Deva). This research uncovered a multi‑stratified settlement with occupations dated to the Neolithic, Bronze Age, Iron Age, Roman and Medieval periods. The Neolithic period (Vinča culture) is represented by two main layers. Radiocarbon dated the Neolithic occupation between the end of the sixth millennium and the beginning of the fifth millennium BC (Vinča culture, B and C phases). It this study, the contents of twenty‑one complete and fragmented ceramic pots were analysed. The infill sediment from these vessels was wet sieved. The soil infill of eleven vessels yielded macrobotanical remains, mainly charred seeds. The context of these pots are as follows : five vessels were discovered in pits, two were found in dwellings, three came from the occupational layers, and one from an unknown context. The archaeobotanical samples recovered consist of fragments of caryopses, chaff of wheat (Triticum sp.) and einkorn (Triticum monococcum) and some seeds of weeds and shrubs.

Plants and Subsistence during the Fluted-Point Period of the Northeast

The role of plant foods during the fluted-point period (FPP) of North America is contested. Central to this debate is whether the scarcity of FPP macrobotanical materials stems from poor preservation of archaeological features and the macrobotanical remains they might contain or from the limited use of plants during the FPP. Employing summed probability distributions of radiocarbon date frequencies in northeastern North America, we find that FPP hearths are as common as expected, given the small number of well-dated FPP sites in the region. A second comparison shows that northeastern FPP hearths contain macrobotanical remains at a higher frequency than hearths from a region with better preservation and where small seeds formed a part of the diet. The macrobotanical materials so far recovered from FPP hearths in the Northeast show that plant foods contributed to diets during the FPP but that the plant diet breadth was relatively narrow, consistent with a specialized caribou hunting lifeway.

Understanding the Collapse of the Longshan Culture (4400-3800 BP) and the 4.2 ka Event in the Haidai Region of China – from an Agricultural Perspective

ABSTRACT The Haidai region was important for early Chinese cultures that reached their prehistoric peak during the Longshan period (4400–3800 BP). However, the continuous development of Longshan societies was interrupted from the Yueshi period (3800–3600 BP) in West-Haidai but in the Late Longshan phase (4100/4000–3800 BP) in East-Haidai. As archaeobotanical data has accumulated, a comprehensive study on agriculture over this time has become feasible, one which is quite sensitive to climate change and also crucial to human society. Therefore, we conducted a synthetic analysis of macro-botanical remains from 25 Longshan sites using Representativeness Index (RI) and Correspondence Analysis (CA). We identified sub-regional differences in crop structures and cultivation regimes between West- and East-Haidai that offer new insights into social changes that arose after the 4.2 ka BP event. While facing abrupt cooling and drought, societies engaged in millet farming in West-Haidai exhibited stronger resilience than those in East-Haidai that were occupied primarily with rice farming. Moreover, to cope with environmental deterioration, West-Haidai inhabitants may have attempted to change cropping practices by exploiting previously uncultivated lands whereas those in East-Haidai were preoccupied with intensive rice farming throughout the entire Longshan period and probably mitigated food shortages by population migration.

Ecosystem impacts by the Ancestral Puebloans of Chaco Canyon, New Mexico, USA.

The Ancestral Puebloans occupied Chaco Canyon, in what is now the southwestern USA, for more than a millennium and harvested useful timber and fuel from the trees of distant forests as well as local woodlands, especially juniper and pinyon pine. These pinyon juniper woodland products were an essential part of the resource base from Late Archaic times (3000–100 BC) to the Bonito phase (AD 800–1140) during the great florescence of Chacoan culture. During this vast expanse of time, the availability of portions of the woodland declined. We posit, based on pollen and macrobotanical remains, that the Chaco Canyon woodlands were substantially impacted during Late Archaic to Basketmaker II times (100 BC–AD 500) when agriculture became a major means of food production and the manufacture of pottery was introduced into the canyon. By the time of the Bonito phase, the local woodlands, especially the juniper component, had been decimated by centuries of continuous extraction of a slow-growing resource. The destabilizing impact resulting from recurrent woodland harvesting likely contributed to the environmental unpredictability and difficulty in procuring essential resources suffered by the Ancestral Puebloans prior to their ultimate departure from Chaco Canyon.

Red Panda feces from Eastern Himalaya as a modern analogue for palaeodietary and palaeoecological analyses

Modern feces samples of the endangered red panda (Ailurus fulgens) were examined using multiproxy analysis to characterize the dietary patterns in their natural habitat in India. An abundance of Bambusoideae phytoliths and leaves (macrobotanical remains) provide direct evidence of their primary dietary plants. In contrast, Bambusoideae pollen is sporadic or absent in the pollen assemblages. An abundance of Lepisorus spores and its leaves along with broadleaved taxa, Betula, Engelhardtia, and Quercus are indicative of other important food sources. Average δ13C values (− 29.6‰) of the red panda feces indicate typical C3 type of plants as the primary food source, while the, δ15N values vary in narrow range (3.3–5.1‰) but conspicuously reveal a seasonal difference in values most likely due to differing metabolic activities in summer and winter. The multiproxy data can provide a baseline for the reconstruction of the palaeodietary and palaeoecology of extinct herbivores at both regional and global scales.