Description: The crop weed communities of dry calcareous soils are today very rare and endangered. In the first half of the 20th century this group was already in an advanced stage of disappearance, caused by the intensification of agriculture since the 19th century. Therefore, botanists only found these plants in a few regions with calcareous soils, obviously reflecting the geological conditions. But many archaeobotanical finds are in places where this species was never observed as a living plant and edaphic conditions seem to exclude it. In the western Lake Constance region floristic observations are lacking. Of Orlaya grandiflora , there is now proof from several pollen diagrams that this species did occur regularly and with high frequency in this region from the Late Bronze Age to the 19th century ad . Several other species of the Caucalidion are also reflected in the pollen record, but are less frequent, reflecting the ecological conditions triggered by agriculture; due to soil erosion, topsoils were thin, especially on slopes, with low water capacity, and low yields. The weeds with spiny fruits were distributed over long distances by migrating domestic animals. Pollen grains in high-resolution pollen profiles from the northern Black Forest and Allgäu, where these plants were not to be expected and were never observed, indicate a ubiquitous distribution of the Caucalidion between Late Bronze Age and early Modern Ages in Central Europe and adjacent regions, reflecting the tenuous situation of long-term extensive ard agriculture in hilly landscapes. More and better pollen diagrams and macrofossil studies would bring better evidence.

Description: The combination of an archaeobotanical analysis from two different sites in the city of Huelva (Spain) and the identification of vine fields in the same area suggests that different fruit tree species (grapevine, olive, almond and pomegranate) and vegetables such as melon were introduced into the Iberian peninsula in the transition from the 9th to the 8th century cal bc . These dates represent the earliest chronology for arboriculture within the Iberian Peninsula. The material has been preserved by waterlogging allowing the preservation of a wide variety of species which indicate the development of fruit tree cultivation. The archaeological context provides information on the connections between this innovation and the Phoenician communities that established in the region in search of metal resources. Fruit tree cultivation, and particularly wine production, had a great impact on the local agriculture which was traditionally based on the production of annual crops. The new crops soon became an essential agricultural element of the communities that lived in the south and east of the Iberian Peninsula. From the 8th century cal bc onwards, agricultural production would be mostly market oriented.

Description: There is an ongoing discussion about how organic material is preserved in settlement layers on lakeshores. Different scenarios have been suggested; was a permanent water cover needed at all times, or were there episodical water level fluctuations? In this paper, we use aquatic and wetland plants to shed light on layer formation processes of complex anthropogenic stratigraphies of the Neolithic lakeshore settlement Zug-Riedmatt (Central Switzerland). Botanical macroremains from the microarchaeologically investigated occupation layer were analysed and compared to modern analogue data from two lakes. Results suggest that the excavated area of the settlement was in a first phase located in the sublittoral zone (below water), with a massive input of anthropogenic waste material contributing to the layer formation, but then in a second phase, the shoreline shifted so that the excavated part of the settlement was located in the eulittoral zone and in a third phase probably even landwards of a reed belt. In a comparison with two previously investigated Neolithic lakeshore sites, we found that at least in one of these sites, such ‘drier’ conditions could also be found. This shows how important it is to know which part of the littoral zone is represented in an excavation, as conditions can differ within a settlement, and that there is very likely no universally valid ‘Pfahlbau scenario’.

Description: A fire drilling tool was a vital piece of equipment in ancient times for creating fire, and an understanding of the shape of ancient fire drills, the different ways of wood drilling and the strategy of wood selection are of great importance for studying past societies. Due to poor environmental conditions, equipment associated with the making of fire is rarely preserved at archaeological sites in China, and the anatomical characters of these wooden tools have never been investigated. However, the Turpan District in Xinjiang, China is characterized by year-round drought conditions, which provide us with well-preserved plant remains for studying the types of plants used for making fire drills. In the present work, 12 fire drilling tools from ten tombs of the Yanghai cemetery (c.1000  bc – ad 100) were studied. These fire drilling tools were identified as having been made from the wood of Picea sp., Salix sp., Populus sp., Clematis sp. or Aristolochia sp., with the former four taxa native to the local area. The anatomical characteristics of the wood suggest that all of these selected wood types were suitable for use in fire drills. In addition, among the different kinds of fire drilling methods, we found that hand drilling was the main method used by the ancient Yanghai inhabitants and that fire drills played an important part in their pastoral life.

Description: The subject of this study is the evaluation of the relationship between cereals grown in prehistory (ca. 5500  bc – ad 600) and environmental conditions during their cultivation on the land that is now the Czech Republic. Charred cereal macroremains were taken from 84 archaeological sites. The representation of species at individual sites was assessed with regard to site altitude, average temperature, precipitation, length of the growing season, soil types and soil productivity within a 1 km buffer zone around each archaeological site. The suitability of using present day environmental data to describe past environmental differences among archaeological sites was verified by expressing environmental conditions using Ellenberg indication values of macroremains of wild taxa. The results of the cereals-environmental conditions analysis show that the most important factor for the crop choice was the period of time of its cultivation. After eliminating the effect of time and length of the growing season, soil quality and altitude become conclusive variables, however with different importance in various periods. The main differences between the macroremain assemblages are represented by the varying proportions of cultivated wheats and barley. In the Neolithic (Proto–Eneolithic) there was no observable effect of environmental factors on the cereal composition. In the Middle Eneolithic–Middle Bronze Age soil type was the main factor in the selection of barley or emmer. In the Late Bronze–Early Iron Ages precipitation, altitude and Chernozems were the decisive factors influencing cereal cultivation while in the Late Iron Age–Migration Period heat load index, precipitation, and the proportion of Fluvisols were the primary determinants. It seems that prehistoric cereal varieties had ecological needs similar to present-day species and the selection of crops took place with respect to local conditions and an effort to achieve an optimum yield.

Description: A significant body of recent research shows that the first east–west transmission of cereal crops, Triticum spp. (wheat) and Hordeum spp. (barley) from the west and millets ( Setaria italica , foxtail millet, and Panicum miliaceum , common millet) from the east, took place sometime around the start of the 5th millennium bp , with part of the most likely route lying along the Tianshan mountains in northern Xinjiang, China. Here the dominant economic adaptation is, and was in prehistory, not crop-based agriculture but transhumant pastoralism. The site of Luanzagangzi (ca. 3,300–2,900 cal bp ) on the northern slope of the Tianshan is one of only a handful of Bronze Age sites in Xinjiang with evidence for well-established crop cultivation. In this paper, we report on ten samples collected for phytolith analysis from a 4 m deep profile at Luanzagangzi. The results show evidence that a range of cereal crops was being grown (multi-cropping), Triticum spp., Hordeum spp., Setaria italica and Panicum miliaceum . Pooideae, Paniceae woody plants, Phragmites (reed) and Cyperaceae (sedges) were presumably also exploited for subsistence purposes in this area. We speculate that the strategy of growing a range of crops, wheat/barley, common millet and foxtail millet was adopted by the Bronze Age population in this region as a supplement to herding. The findings of this study help us to understand the dispersal of cultivation strategies across the Eurasian steppe via the Xinjiang region, and the communication between China and the West in the late Bronze Age.

Description: This paper presents an integrated methodology for the analysis of archaeological remains of cereal meals, based on scanning electronic microscopic analyses of microstructures of charred food fragments from Neolithic Çatalhöyük (Turkey). The remains of cereal foods as ‘bread-like’ or ‘porridge-like’ small charred lumps of various amalgamated plant materials are frequently recovered from Neolithic and later archaeological sites in southwest Asia and Europe. Cereal food remains have recently attracted interest because the identification of their plant contents, the forms of food that they represent and the methods used in their creation can provide unique information about ancient culinary traditions and routine food processing, preparation and cooking techniques. Here, we focus on three methodological aspects: (1) the analysis of their composition; (2) the analysis of their microstructure to determine preparation and cooking processes; (3) the comparison with experimental reference materials. Preliminary results are presented on the botanical composition and cooking processes represented by the charred cereal preparations found at Neolithic Çatalhöyük (Turkey), for example cereals processed into bread, dough and/or porridge.

Description: Two high-resolution pollen and charcoal analyses were constructed from sediments obtained from a small bay in eastern Finland in order to gain information on human activity during the Neolithic Stone Age, 5200–1800  bc . We used measurements of loss on ignition (LOI), magnetic susceptibility and geochemical analyses to describe the sedimentological characteristics. Palaeomagnetic dating and measurements of 137 Cs-activity were supported by 14 C-datings. The analyses revealed human activity between 4400 and 3200  bc , which is synchronous with archaeological cultures defined through different stages of Comb Ware pottery types and Middle Neolithic pottery types with asbestos as a primary temper. Direct evidence of Hordeum cultivation was dated to 4040–3930 cal bc . According to the pollen data, more significant effort was put into the production of fibres from hemp and lime than the actual cultivation of food.

Description: In this paper we discuss the plant-based subsistence economy during the formation of archaeological horizons (AH) II and I at the aceramic Neolithic site of Chogha Golan, Iran. The deposits date to between 9,800 and 9,600 cal bp . In order to reconstruct subsistence practices and their development reliably, we conducted a taphonomic analysis to identify factors that influenced the composition of the archaeobotanical assemblage. The flotation samples derive from two excavation areas in the centre of the tell, the deep sounding and area A. Using correspondence analysis, we link the biased composition of the plant remains from AH I to their relatively poor preservation. Two different sampling strategies applied in excavation area A also affected the composition of the samples. In contrast, we did not find compositional differences among the samples from AH II of both excavation areas. Our results emphasize the need for taphonomic analyses prior to interpreting the taxonomic composition of charred archaeobotanical assemblages. Considering these results, we discuss the subsistence economy of Chogha Golan. Domestic emmer wheat was cultivated from AH II onwards. Wild barley, Aegilops sp., lentils, peas and various vetches may have been cultivated as well. This spectrum of typical Neolithic food plants was supplemented by a high diversity of other potential wild food resources, including medium and small-seeded grasses, Pistacia, Bolboschoenus glaucus, Malva and Brassicaceae. A compilation of ethnobotanical data, mainly from the Near and Middle East, represents the basis for assessing the potential uses of the wild plants.