Evidence for possible use of plant foods in Palaeolithic and Mesolithic diet from the site of Całowanie in the central part of the Polish Plain

Całowanie site, which supported hunter-gatherer populations from ca. 11 380±95 until 8270±100 B.P., is the major terminal Palaeolithic and early Mesolithic occupation complex of the North European Plain. The archaeological layers are intercalated with biogenic sediments. The remains of plants that probably served as food were recovered from terminal Palaeolithic and early Mesolithic layers. Most of the charred plant remains, apart from wood charcoal, derives from vegetative parenchyma which forms a major part of organs such as root and tuber. Two taxa have been identified on the basis of the anatomy of parenchymatous tissue, namely Sagittaria cf. sagittifolia and Polygonum sp. In addition, several charred seeds and fruits were recovered. This is the first evidence for the probable use of plant foods, other than hazel nuts or water-chestnuts, in the diet of hunter-gatherers in the North European Plain during the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic.     

New evidence for the use of root foods in pre-agrarian subsistence recovered from the late Mesolithic site at Halsskov, Denmark

Roots and tubers, together with other plant storage organs such as rhizomes, bulbs, corms, etc. are known to be a source of human food. Until very recently, however, remains of root foods were rarely identified from archaeological contexts in temperate Europe. New evidence for the use of root foods has been recently recovered from the early Erteb?lle settlement at Halsskov in Denmark. Remains included charred bulbs of Allium cf. ursinum and tubers of Conopodium majus. They were accompanied by charred remains of parenchymatous tissues derived from underground parts of other plants. All parenchymatous remains were recovered from features that could be interpreted as pit-cooking depressions. A minimum of two periods of root food gathering can be assumed, spring to early summer and autumn. The presence of charred seeds of Nuphar pumilum suggests that either the seeds or rhizomes (or both) were use as food. Received September 4, 2001 / Accepted February 27, 2002     

Domestic burnt offerings and sacrifices at Roman and pre-Roman Pompeii, Italy

Excavations below the A.D. 79 destruction levels in two houses at the Roman town of Pompeii, Italy included programmes of sieving and flotation for the recovery of biological remains. In addition to the usual finds of charred plant material and bones representing crop processing or food waste, and mineralised remains from sewage, were numerous burnt offerings. Cones and seeds of stone pine, fruit such as fig and grape and nuts such as walnut and hazel were present in many of them. Some of the offerings contained burnt bone, with the heads and feet of cocks (male domestic fowl) being particularly well represented. There was some change in the plants and animals used for the burnt offerings with time. These offerings could be related to domestic worship described in literary sources and depicted as offerings on altars in Pompeiian wall paintings at shrines to the Lares (household gods). The burnt offerings resulted in the preservation by charring of fruit that are not usually burnt during their processing for consumption. They also presented a taphonomic problem because re-worked charred material from burnt offerings was likely to have been a major component of other charred assemblages from the sites. Received November 22, 2001 / Accepted February 26, 2002     

Archaeobotanical investigations in Liguria: preliminary data on the early Iron Age at Monte Trabocchetto (Pietra Ligure,Italy)

The archaeological site we studied is part of an early Iron Age hill fort (8th/7th cent. b.c.), located 800 m from the coast on the top of a hill named MonteTrabocchetto. This paper concerns an excavation, called saggio O, which disclosed a very varied stratigraphy characterised by highly anthropogenic layers and by a pit, presumably used as a silo for food storage, which was very rich in charred seeds and fruits. The study of the pit content showed the dominance of Hordeum vulgare, while Triticum dicoccon, T. monococcum, T. aestivum/durum, Panicum miliaceum and Setaria italica were less strongly represented. Some edible Leguminosae were also found (Lens culinaris, Vicia faba var. minor and V. ervilia). In the frequented areas around the pit, herbaceous weeds and fruit tree macro-remains were present (Prunus cf. spinosa, Corylus avellana, Quercus sp. and Vitis vinifera ssp. sylvestris). The identification of a large number of botanical taxa has provided important information on food of plant origin and agricultural practices during the early Iron Age on the Ligurian coast, the proto-historic archaeobotanical aspects of which are largely unknown.     

Plant macro-remains from a rock shelter in the temperate forests of southern Chile

The study of plant macro-remains from archaeological sites provides substantial information on the activities occurring in a settlement and living conditions during its occupation. This article reports the plant macro-remains (charred seeds and wood charcoal) recovered from a rock shelter in the temperate forests of southern Chile (Latitude 39°S). The main goal of the study was to assess the potential of these remains to indicate collection, use and consumption of plant resources available in this ecosystem by hunter-gatherer groups during the Holocene. Remains from three cultural periods were collected using wet sieving and flotation techniques. Macro-botanical remains found in the rock shelter represented a variety of native trees, shrubs and herbs, both native and introduced. Charred seeds included 19 plant taxa, divided into three groups according to their source: collected foods, including pulses (1 species) and grains (3 taxa, 1 probably cultivated); seeds introduced with food items, including fruit stones and nutshells from several native shrubs and trees; seeds introduced with non-food items, mainly from tree species with no evident use. Wood charcoal fragments represented 28 different native taxa (26 dicotyledons, 1 monocotyledon and 1 gymnosperm), none with a specific identifiable use. Analysis of seed remains indicated the use of grains and, to some extent, collection of fruits and nuts over summer and autumn. The analysis of dispersed charcoal fragments and those accumulated in hearths were especially useful to describe the vegetation surrounding the rock shelter, infer successional events, and identify taxa undetectable in the seed record.     

Gathered fruits and cultivated plants at Bercy (Paris), a Neolithic village in a fluvial context

Recent rescue excavations at Bercy (Paris), a site on the alluvial plain of the Seine valley, yielded plant remains which are associated with the recent occupation phase dating from the middle Neolithic II (Chasséen), when a village was established on the former channel of the river Seine. Various contexts (the channel, the flat lower part of the bank, and several archaeological features) have been studied and 84 taxa have been identified. Cultivated plants are represented by Triticum aestivum/durum, T. dicoccum, T. monococcum and Hordeum vulgare. Among the wild plants with potentially edible fruits or seeds, only very few satisfy the various criteria for association with human activities: Corylus avellana, Vitis sylvestris, Cornus sanguinea, Quercus sp. and Prunus spinosa of which carbonized fruits were also present, were found in archaeological features and were very abundant. Though not found in archaeological features, we consider that Crataegus monogyna (carbonized and well represented) and Rubus spp. (especially abundant) were not deposited there naturally and had also been intentionally collected. Finally, it is suggested that the allochthonous (varied) origin of these taxa is the reason why there are no concentrations of their fruits in the channel. The exploitation of wild seeds and fruits appears to have been very selective. All other wild taxa can be attributed to natural deposition.     

Trifolieae and related seeds from archaeological contexts: problems in identification

Small legume seeds are commonly recovered from Epipalaeolithic and Early Neolithic sites in north Africa and south-west Asia, often as a high proportion of the total plant remains. Their role is uncertain, but it is thought that small-seeded legumes may once have been a human food resource. They are difficult to identify. The gross morphology and testa surface micromorphology have been investigated in fresh seeds of members of the tribe Trifolieae and some related tribes in the same subfamily Faboideae. The separation of the four genera Medicago, Melilotus, Trifolium, and Trigonella has been attempted by multivariate analysis of seed characters that can be seen in experimentally charred seed specimens. The characters used have also been observed in well-preserved ancient charred small legume seeds, and so can be readily used for the purpose of identification. Although identification to the level of species is rarely possible, identification to generic level could provide information useful for the interpretation of this category of ancient plant remains.     

Archaeobotanical data and crop storage evidence from an early Bronze Age 2 burnt house at Arslantepe, Malatya, Turkey

Excavations on the southwest area at Arslantepe, Malatya, Turkey, by far the largest tell on the Malatya plain from the 5th millennium to the Neo-Hittite age, revealed an important change in the settlement patterns during the two main levels of the VI C Period of the site (Early Bronze Age 2, 2750–2500 cal b.c.). The latter level corresponds to a village founded on neatly shaped terraces in a layout which lasted for centuries, well into the following Early Bronze Age 3. This continuity was not broken even by violent fires that at times destroyed some houses, producing a huge quantity of charred plant remains, which comprised fruits, seeds and wood charcoal. The archaeobotanical data so far obtained from the EB2 house A607, the richest one in macro-remains, on which efforts have been concentrated first, provides much data about the use of the surrounding land. Charcoal of Quercus (deciduous oaks) (85%) followed by Populus (poplar) (9%) are dominant among wood remains, while Hordeum (barley) (70%) is the dominant crop found, followed by Cicer (chickpea) (17%). The crop storage methods were investigated by mapping the positions of charred fruits and seeds both according to the grid system and in comparison to the layout of facilities (grinding stone, hearths, oven) and the distribution of pottery (jars, bowls, pots) in order to detect where the crops were kept and the ways in which they were stored, processed, and used. The house facilities and furniture suggest that the house was a multifunctional place, which included storage space, but which was limited to household needs. The new archaeobotanical investigation so far carried out on the burnt house A607 suggests some implications on the degree of agriculture, on crop storage and on food processing practises and also gives information on the natural landscape surrounding the site.     

Four thousand years of plant exploitation in the Chad Basin of northeast Nigeria I: The archaeobotany of Kursakata

This paper discusses archaeobotanical remains from the settlement mound of Kursakata, Nigeria, comprising both charred and uncharred seeds and fruits as well as charcoal. In addition, impressions of plant tempering material in potsherds were analysed. The late Stone Age and Iron Age sequence at Kursakata is date from 1000 cal. B.C. to cal. A.D. 100. DomesticatedPennisetum (pearl millet), wild Paniceae and wild rice are the most common taxa. Kernels from tree fruits were regularly found including large numbers ofVitex simplicifolia—a tree which is absent from the area today. A distinct change in plant spectra can be observed between the late Stone Age and the Iron Age. Although domesticated pearl millet was already known at the beginning of the settlement sequence of Kursakata, it only gained greater economic importance during the Iron Age. Besides farming, pastoralism and fishing, gathering of wild plants always played a major role in the subsistence strategy of the inhabitants of Kursakata. The charcoal results show that firewood was mainly collected from woodlands on the clay plains, which must have been more diverse than today. The end of the late Stone Age in the Chad Basin was presumably accompanied by the onset of drier environmental conditions from ca. 800 cal. B.C. onwards.     

Asymmetrical Dependence Between a Neotropical Mistletoe and its Avian Seed Disperser

The degree of interdependence among interacting species has major implications for our understanding of the coevolutionary process and biodiversity maintenance. However, the mutualism strength among fruiting plants and their seed dispersers remains poorly understood in tropical ecosystems. We evaluated simultaneously the effectiveness of the avian seed dispersers of the mistletoe Struthanthus flexicaulis (Loranthaceae) and the contribution of its fruits to their diets in a highland rocky savanna in southeastern Brazil. The mistletoe fruits are small lipid‐rich pseudoberries available throughout the year. Four passerine birds fed on fruits, but Elaenia cristata (Tyrannidae) was the most effective disperser, responsible for more than 96 percent of the dispersed seeds. This bird swallowed fruits whole, expelling and depositing undamaged seeds by regurgitation and bill wiping on perches. From 646 dispersed seeds, 56 percent were deposited on safe sites, thin live twigs of 38 susceptible host species. Elaenia cristata were predominantly frugivorous, feeding on typically ornithocoric fruits of at least 12 species, but also on arthropods. Although fruits represented 75 percent of the feeding bouts along the year, S. flexicaulis fruits represented only 34 percent of the E. cristata diet. Our results highlight the asymmetrical nature of this mutualistic interaction, with the mistletoe life cycle locally linked to one highly effective seed disperser that is more weakly dependent on mistletoes fruits as a food source. We suggest that merging the seed dispersal effectiveness framework with diet assessment of seed dispersers is needed to clarify the asymmetries in mutualistic pairwise interactions involving plants and their animal partners.     

Feeding of small rodents on seeds and fruits: a comparative analysis of three species of rodents of the<Emphasis Type="Italic">Araucaria</Emphasis> forest,southern Brazil

We investigated the feeding of three small-sized sigmodontine rodents (Oligoryzomys nigripes Olfers, 1818,Akodon montensis Thomas, 1913, andDelomys dorsalis Hensel, 1872) on fruiting plants in theAraucaria forest of southern Brazil. We offered to wild-captured animals fruits of 22 plant species in 14 families. For each individual, we recorded consumption patterns of pulp and seed. We also analyzed fecal samples to determine the relative abundance of invertebrates, fruit and seed parts, and fungi. The three rodents showed marked potential frugivory, feeding on most species offered. OnlyO. nigripes showed differences in relation to seed-size categories, consuming a high proportion of ‘small’ (diameter ≤2.5 mm) vs ‘large’ seeds. The rodents may be involved in seed dispersion of three plant species, by defecation of viable seeds of twoLeandra (Melastomataceae) species and also by removing the pulp ofMyrceugenia miersiana (Myrtaceae) fruits without swallowing or damaging their relatively large seeds, thus, potentially increasing germination rates ofM. miersiana. Diet analyses indicated no significant difference among proportions of seed/fruit in the fecal samples of the three species of rodents (33 to 41% of plant material). Our results suggest that the three focal species are the main small-mammal seed predators on the ground ofAraucaria forests.     

Effectiveness of ants as pollinators of<Emphasis Type="Italic"> Lobularia maritima</Emphasis>: effects on main sequential fitness components of the host plant

The effectiveness of ants as pollinators of Lobularia maritima (Cruciferae) was experimentally analyzed by assessing (1) their quantitative importance at flowers; (2) their effect on host plant seed production; (3) their effect on the performance of host plant progeny, estimated as seed germination, seedling emergence, seedling survival to flowering, and (4) the overall effect of ants on a cumulative, more realistic measure of plant fitness related to the recruitment probability. Flowers of L. maritima were visited during the 2 years of study (1996 and 1997) by more than 50 pollinator species belonging to about 30 families of disparate taxonomic affiliation, notably ants and flies. There was significant seasonal variability in insect abundance and type. Ants, especially Camponotus micans (Formicidae), visited the flowers of L. maritima in summer, representing 81.2% of the visits during this season. This ant species acted as a pollinator of L. maritima, with flowers visited exclusively by ants producing significantly more seeds than flowers from which all pollinators were excluded, whereas flowers visited by only winged insects did not differ from self-pollination. Ant-pollinated flowers produced seeds with a germination rate comparable to the other treatments. Moreover, seedlings from these seeds emerged as fast, and survived at the same rate as controls. Consequently, both ants and winged insects had similar overall effects on host plant recruitment probability (0.6 and 0.7% of initial ovules produced flowering offspring, respectively), a result similar to that of open-pollinated flowers (1.0%). This study demonstrated that the overall effectiveness of the ant C. micans as a summer pollinator of L. maritima was as high as that of other winged insects, contributing not only to the seed production of this crucifer but also to the recruitment of new flowering offspring. Received: 17 February 1999 / Accepted: 26 August 1999     

Interaction between ants and fruits of<Emphasis Type="Italic"> Guapira opposita</Emphasis> (Nyctaginaceae) in a Brazilian sandy plain rainforest: ant effects on seeds and seedlings

This study examines the dispersal system of Guapira opposita in a tropical sandy rainforest in southeast Brazil. Guapira trees produce small fruits with a high protein content (28.4%) and low lipid content (0.3%), and the plant is primarily dispersed by birds. Mature fruits of G. opposita can fall spontaneously with the pulp intact, or be dropped by birds with bits of pulp attached. In either case, ground-dwelling ants rapidly remove the fruits to their nest (93% after 12 h). The ponerine ants Odontomachus chelifer and Pachycondyla striata are the main seed vectors among the ants, and together account for 56% (20 of 36) of the ant-fruit interactions recorded on the forest floor. Individual workers of O. chelifer and P. striata transport single fruits to their nests. Bits of pulp are fed to larvae and worker nestmates, and intact seeds are discarded outside the nest. Germination success in Guapira is higher for cleaned seeds (pulp removed) than for seeds coated by pulp. Guapira seedlings and juveniles are more frequent close to Odontomachus nests than at sites without such nests. Soil samples from Odontomachus nests had greater penetrability, and higher concentrations of P, K, and Ca than random soil samples. Field experiments suggest that the association between G. opposita seedlings and O. chelifer nests can potentially render the plant some protection against herbivores. Results indicate that fruit displacement by ponerine ants play an important role in the biology of G. opposita seeds and seedlings in the sandy forest, and illustrate the complex nature of the dispersal ecology of tropical tree species.     

Signs from a green desert: a preliminary examination of the archaeobotanical remains from a Byzantine dovecote near Shivta, Israel

This paper presents a preliminary examination of archaeobotanical material from pigeon dung samples obtained from Byzantine period destruction levels of a dovecote near the site of Shivta, Israel. Such pigeon dung was a valuable fertilizer in antiquity and would not have been abandoned without a reason. The plant remains from the dung provide direct evidence of pigeon diet and the local environment during the Byzantine period. Eleven plant taxa, represented by either seeds and/or plant parts (cereal chaff material), including five wild taxa, one legume, four fruit/nut taxa and several unidentified seed fragments were recovered. The most common seeds found were from weeds of the genus Thymelaea sp., and Ficus (fig). The finds indicate that the birds in the dovecote consumed a mixed diet of wild seeds including Thymelaea sp. and Fumaria sp. (fumitory), and small fruits of Vitis (grape), Ficus (fig), Olea (olive) and Phoenix (date). The sample analyzed also included Rumex (dock), Carex (sedge) and Androsace which may not have come from the feed. Apparently the pigeons were free to forage in the desert, the fallowed fields and refuse piles or/and were intentionally fed agricultural by-products including wild plants.     

Fruit size and shape: Allometry at different taxonomic levels in bird-dispersed plants

Summary The likelihood that a plant's seeds will be dispersed by fruit-eating birds may depend upon the size and shape of its fruits. Assuming that elongate fruits can be swallowed more easily than spherical fruits of equal volume and that plant fitness is enhanced by seed dispersal by many individuals and species of birds, natural selection should favour increasing fruit elongation with increasing fruit size in bird-dispersed plants. According to this view, this allometric pattern would be adaptive. Alternatively, fruit shape in bird-dispersed plants may be constrained by development or phylogeny. To determine whether there was any evidence to support the adaptive allometry hypothesis, we examined allometric relationships between length and diameter in fruits and seeds in a group of neotropical bird-dispersed plant species. Using the major axis technique, we regressed ln(diameter) on ln(length) for fruits and seeds at various taxonomic levels: (1) within individual trees ofOcotea tenera (Lauraceae) (2) among 19 trees within a population ofO. tenera, as well as among pooled fruits from multiple trees within 20 other species in the Lauraceae, (3) among 25 sympatric species within a plant family (Lauraceae) and (4) among 167 species representing 63 angiosperm families within a plant community in Monteverde, Costa Rica. At most taxonomic levels, a tendency for fruit length to increase more rapidly than fruit diameter among fruits (negative allometry) occurred more frequently than expected by chance. Estimated slopes of the regressions of fruit length on fruit diameter were < 1 within 15 of the 19 individualO. tenera trees, among tree means withinO. tenera, among pooled fruits within 16 of the 20 other species in the Lauraceae, among species means within the Lauraceae and among means of all bird-dispersed species in the lower montane forests of Monteverde. Seed allometry showed similar patterns, although for both fruits and seeds the broad confidence intervals of the slopes estimated by major axis regression overlapped 1 in many cases. Among the 63 Monteverde family means, fruit length and diameter scaled isometrically. Based on measurements of ontogenetic changes in fruit shape in a single species,O. viridifolia, we found no evidence that negative allometry in fruit shape within the Lauraceae was an inevitable consequence of developmental constraints. Instead, increasing elongation of fruits and seeds in certain plant taxa is consistent with adaptation to gape-limited avian seed dispersers. Contrary results from vertebrate-dispersed species from Malawi and Spain may reflect differences between the New and Old World in plant taxa, seed dispersers or evolutionary history.     

Electrophysiological studies of gustation in lepidopterous larvae

Summary Comparisons were made of the eleotrophysiological responses of the maxillary gustatory receptors of the following categories of caterpillars: (1) three closely related species (Papilio polyxenes L.,P. troilus L., andP. glaucus L.) each of which feeds on a different group of plants; (2) two unrelated oligophagous species (P. glaucus L. andMalacosoma americana Fabr.) that have one preferred food plant in common; (3) three unrelated monophagous species (Danaus plexippus L.,Euchaetias egle Drury, andPygarctia eglenensis Clemens) that share the same plant. Materials tested included sodium chloride, carbohydrates, amino acids, glycosides, and the saps ofDaucus carota L. andFoeniculum vulgare Mill. (the food plants ofP. polyxenes),Sassafras albidum (Nutt.) andLindera Benzoin (L.) (the food plants ofP. troilus),Prunus virginiana L. (a favored food ofP. glaucus andM. americana),Asclepias syriaca L. andApocynum androsaemifolium L. (eaten byD. plexippus,E. egle, andP. eglenensis), andBrassica oleraceae L. (food plant ofPieris rapae).The following conclusions were drawn: (1) no species of caterpillar gives a single standard electrophysiological response to all of the plants it rejects; that is, rejection is not a unitary modality; (2) a plant that is unacceptable to several species of caterpillars does not elicit the same pattern of response from each; (3) a food plant that is shared by several species of caterpillars does not elicit the same pattern of response from each; (4) a species of caterpillar that has more than one food plant does not generate the same sensory pattern to each; (5) there is no universal difference between sensory patterns for acceptance and those for rejection.A model based upon the hypothesis of across-fiber patterning is proposed to explain these results. The essence of this model is that the receptors have unique but overlapping action spectra and that each compound or mixture of compounds in leaf saps that can be discriminated generates a unique total pattern of response. Whether or not a plant is ingested depends, therefore, not on the presence or absence of a single stimulant or deterrent but upon the total sensory impression derived from integrated response to multiple plant components. Prior to the first bite a caterpillar makes its first discrimination on the basis of olfactory clues.This work was supported by National Science Foundation Grant GB 1472 and the Class of 1877 Professorship of Princeton University.     

A methodological approach to the study of archaeological cereal meals: a case study at Çatalhöyük East (Turkey)

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.     

Taxonomic reappraisal on<Emphasis Type="Italic">Suaeda australis</Emphasis> (Chenopodiaceae) in korea based on the morphological and molecular characteristics

We used morphological and molecular characteristics to perform a taxonomic reappraisal ofSuaeda australis (Brown) Moquin-Tandon from Korea. Populations of this species are dispersed at the bottoms of sand zones, and usually exhibit a depressed habit. Except for their total heights and leaf lengths, the morphology of these plants does not differ from that ofS. maritima. Molecular traits were examined based on ITS and psbB-psbH spacer region sequences. The former region included ITS-1, 5.8S, and ITS-2, which were 629 nucleotide bases long. Pair-wise distances (p-distance) among KoreanSuaeda species ranged from 1.12 to 17.84. The psbB-psbH spacer region sequences were 618 nucleotide bases long, and were conserved in the alignment of KoreanSuaeda species. In our ML and MrBayesian analysis of ITS sequences aligned with other sequences from GenBank, the plants of KoreanSuaeda made three clades: 1)S. japonica;S. australis, andS. maritima;2)S. malacosperma; and 3) S.glauca. However, the psbB-psbH region sequences could not be resolved amongS. japonica, S. maritima, andS. australis from Korea. Molecular and vegetative characteristics indicated that the plants now classified asS. australis from Korea should instead be named as S.maritima (L.) Dumont.     

The diet of Eneolithic (Copper Age, Fourth millennium cal b.c.) pile dwellers and the early formation of the cultural landscape south of the Alps: a case study from Slovenia

Analyses were performed of plant remains from the Late Neolithic (in Slovenian terminology corresponding to Eneolithic or Copper Age, ca. 4300–2300 b.c.) pile dwelling Hočevarica in the Ljubljansko barje (Ljubljana Moor), Slovenia. This settlement existed between ca. 3650 and 3550 cal b.c. Seeds, fruits, wooden piles, macroscopic charcoal and pollen from the cultural layers were analysed. The remains of domestic plants such as charred grains of Hordeum vulgare (barley), Triticum monococcum, T. dicoccum (einkorn and emmer wheat) and Papaver somniferum (poppy seeds), as well as seeds of weeds such as Chenopodium album-type indicate early cultivation in the area. In addition, numerous remains of nuts and berries, especially of Quercus sp., Cornus mas, Rubus fruticosus and Corylus avellana demonstrate that the gathering of wild plants was an important part of subsistence. Palaeoecological and archaeobotanical data from Hočevarica further suggest that cleared land was used for agriculture and pastures during the Neolithic, and that different wood was cut for construction and for fuel. The species assemblage from Hočevarica is very similar to those recovered from northern Alpine lake dwelling sites, however, several new taxa (e.g. Lathyrus sativus, Vicia sp.) appear in the assemblage. One of the most surprising finds is the seed of wild grape (Vitis vinifera ssp. sylvestris), which are the oldest on-site remains of grapevine from Slovenia.     

Charred plant remains from a 10th millennium B.P. kitchen at Jerf el Ahmar (Syria)

The Pre-potteryNeolithic A (PPNA) site of Jerf el Ahmar, Syria, dated to the 10th millennium uncal B.P., has produced over 657 flotation samples which are now under study. The results described in this article were obtained from the analysis of 32 samples of charred plant remains taken from a room of 2.5 × 3 m, which had been destroyed by fire. The room contained three saddle querns, two flat polished stone plates (each of 60 cm in diameter), one hearth, and three limestone "basins". These objects were in situ and the room appeared to represent a food preparation area (kitchen). On one of the querns two charred seed cakes were found. The finely ground seeds have been identified as Brassica/Sinapis, a rare taxon for this period. The major taxa, which are morphologically wild, have distinct spatial distributions, which provide evidence for plant processing activities. Hordeum spontaneum and Triticum/Secale were processed separately. The association of H. spontaneum with stone basins suggests soaking of this grain. Received August 10, 2001 / Accepted January 7, 2002